Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland) gave the all-conquering Dutch a run for their money in the elite women's road race at the UCI Road World Championships but had to settle for fifth in the finale.
The Polish climber tried to explode the race on the final lap with a series of searing attacks but each time she was pulled back by the Dutch team which had three riders in the race's major breakaway. When eventual winner, Chantal Blaak, broke free to win solo Niewiadoma found herself marking the wrong Dutch rider, and in that instant, her chances of winning were over. She still had enough in the tank to salvage her gutsy display with a top-five finish but admitted the course hadn't been hard enough for her.
"It didn't work out as I planned but that's because the Dutch team controlled the race from the start until the end," she told Cyclingnews.
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"They had really strong girls and even though I tried to attack it was impossible for me to drop them."
The Dutch team's strength and depth were clear for all to see when Annemiek van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen joined Blaak, who had been in an earlier move, at the head of the race.
As soon as the Dutch trio were united it was their race to lose. Niewiadoma, to her credit, tried to break free but she had to pick a rider to mark and unfortunately left Blaak unguarded.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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