Demi Vollering launched a move to go solo at the World Championships with 38km to go in Montréal and it looked as though the pre-race favourite might stay clear to the line. However, Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini and Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney brought her back, forcing a battle for the rainbow jersey that went all the way to the line.
The pre-race favourite finished Saturday’s race by outsprinting Niewiadoma-Phinney in the sprint to the line with the Pole cramping up towards the end of the sprint. Longo Borghini had previously attacked but was caught and dropped. She took bronze four seconds down, ahead of Marlen Reusser at eight seconds. It was Vollering’s first elite road world title.
Results
Sep 26
| Pos | Rider | NATNationality | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Demi Vollering | NED | 4:45:09 |
| 🥈 | Katarzyna Anna Niewiadoma-Phinney | POL | +0:00 |
| 🥉 | Elisa Longo Borghini | ITA | +0:04 |
| 4 | Marlen Reusser | SUI | +0:08 |
| 5 | Juliette Berthet | FRA | +0:39 |
| 6 | Puck Pieterse | NED | +1:36 |
| 7 | Célia Gery | FRA | +2:55 |
| 8 | Dominika Wlodarczyk | POL | +4:16 |
| 9 | Maeva Squiban | FRA | +5:48 |
| 10 | Franziska Koch | GER | +5:51 |
| 11 | Pfeiffer Zara Georgi | GBR | +8:34 |
| 12 | Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini | ITA | +8:34 |
| 13 | Steffi Häberlin | SUI | +8:34 |
| 14 | Liane Lippert | GER | +8:34 |
| 15 | Noemi Rüegg | SUI | +8:34 |
| 16 | Henrietta Christie | NZL | +8:34 |
| 17 | Sarah van Dam | CAN | +8:34 |
| 18 | Lauren Dickson | GBR | +8:34 |
| 19 | Ashleigh Moolman Pasio | RSA | +8:34 |
| 20 | Lotte Kopecky | BEL | +8:34 |
| 21 | Kristen Faulkner | USA | +8:34 |
| 22 | Sara Casasola | ITA | +8:34 |
| 23 | Paula Andrea Patiño Bedoya | COL | +8:34 |
| 24 | Shari Bossuyt | BEL | +8:34 |
| 25 | Monica Trinca Colonel | ITA | +8:34 |
| 26 | Margarita Victoria Garcia Cañellas | ESP | +8:40 |
| 27 | Margot Vanpachtenbeke | BEL | +8:40 |
| 28 | Antonia Niedermaier | GER | +8:40 |
| 29 | Karlijn Swinkels | NED | +8:40 |
| 30 | Silvia Persico | ITA | +8:48 |
| 31 | Mireia Benito Pellicer | ESP | +8:48 |
| 32 | Cedrine Kerbaol | FRA | +8:48 |
| 33 | Ginia Caluori | SUI | +8:51 |
| 34 | Zoe Backstedt | GBR | +9:03 |
| 35 | Francesca Barale | ITA | +12:38 |
| 36 | Nina Berton | LUX | +14:21 |
| 37 | Ana Vitoria Gouvea Vieira Almeida Magalhaes | BRA | +14:21 |
| 38 | Riejanne Markus | NED | +14:21 |
| 39 | Amanda Spratt | AUS | +14:21 |
| 40 | Lauren Stephens | USA | +15:31 |
| 41 | Nadia Gontova | CAN | +15:33 |
| 42 | Sarah Gigante | AUS | +15:33 |
| 43 | Marte Berg Edseth | NOR | +15:33 |
| 44 | Lieke Nooijen | NED | +15:33 |
| 45 | Mary Patricia Kimberley le Court de Billot - Pienaar | MRI | +15:33 |
| 46 | Anna Henderson | GBR | +15:33 |
| 47 | Katharina Sadnik | AUT | +15:33 |
| 48 | Femke de Vries | NED | +15:33 |
| 49 | Evita Muzic | FRA | +15:33 |
Before the amazing racing on the final few laps there was an awful crash in the peloton with roughly 95km to go on a fairly benign bit of straight and reasonably wide road with around 15 riders brought down, splitting the peloton. Caroline Andersson and Lauretta Hanson both needed to go to hospital and were both described as conscious in a very worrying incident for the riders. Defending champion Magdeleine Vallières as well as Spanish talent Paula Blasi were both caught up in the crash with others such as Kim Le Court, Lauren Dickson and Kate Courtney all being caught in the splits and never making it back into contention.
“The whole team was riding so strong from the start till the finish,” Vollering told Cycling Pro Net. “We took the race in our own hands.” She said they had fewer riders left than hoped at one point: “Maybe we were like a little bit too enthusiastic but in the end it worked out, so I'm so proud of the whole team.”
When Vollering went clear with 38km to go it did look as though the Tour and Giro winner had gone on the winning move and the rest were fighting for second, however, despite getting over 20 seconds advantage the chasers managed to split up and work to bring her back. First Niewiadoma-Phinney and Longo-Borghini made the bridge shortly followed by France’s Juliette Berthet (Vollering’s trade teammate).
Berthet was soon dropped again before Longo Borghini took off on her own solo move with just over a lap to go. Again, it looked as though she was going to go solo but Vollering turned on the power and pulled her back while pushing the tempo herself to stop any attacks from Niewiadoma-Phinney.
When Vollering went clear with 38km remaining, a solo finish looked possible. Niewiadoma-Phinney and Longo Borghini helped bring her back, and the leaders briefly numbered four before the fourth rider lost contact. Longo Borghini then attacked just over a lap from the finish and opened a gap of her own. Vollering, who had been the rider to catch, now had to close down the Italian.
Longo Borghini credited her national teammates with putting her in a position to race for it, and gave everything to go for the rainbow jersey. “When you attack, you have to believe in your attacks,” she said. “I attack to win and I wanted to win.”
“I tried everything,” Longo Borghini said. “In the end I won the bronze.”
After Longo Borghini was distanced Niewiadoma-Phinney attacked with around 4km remaining on one of the final kickers on the course but Vollering was level to it. It all came down to the sprint. Niewiadoma-Phinney opened it up with 200 metres to go. Vollering matched her, and as Niewiadoma-Phinney appeared to cramp in the closing metres, seeing the Dutch rider power away to the the win.
“I knew that I just had to be patient and yeah I gave my best, she is super fast,” Niewiadoma-Phinney said of the sprint.
“I'm happy in some ways to see that like I am capable of kind of closing this gap and coming closer,” she said. “I lost rainbow jersey but yeah you know I keep fighting and believing that it's going to come.” Vollering, still struggling to believe she had won it, called her rivals “incredible competitors” who pushed her to become a better rider.
There was an amazing stat that came out of the race and a first for road cycling as the podium in Canada matched the final podium at the Tour de France Femmes general classification. This is the first time ever in men’s and women’s racing that this has happened. It is a true showing of what an amazing year all three of the riders have had and the battles they have faced against one another.
It wasn’t all good news for Vollering, though. The commissaires’ notice for the race also lists a penalty for Vollering: a CHF 1,000 fine, a deduction of 25 UCI ranking points and a yellow card under UCI Article 2.12.007.9 for “Using a non-compliant position or point of support on the bicycle.” The notice gives no further detail about the position or when the infringement occurred. Katharina Sadnik received the same penalty.
