There are plenty of ways to win, and lose, a World Championship, but few can be quite as impressive as Chantal Blaak was on continuing the Dutch domination of affairs at Bergen with a sensational win in the women’s road race.
The Boels-Domans rider soloed in for victory, having made the most of the astonishing strength off the Dutch team by attacking with 8.5 kilometres to go whilst the Dutch had three riders in the then leading group of seven, with teammates Anna van der Breggen and Annemiek van Vleuten alongside that Katrin Garfoot (Australia), Audrey Cordon (France), Hannah Barnes (Great Britain) and Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland).
Van der Breggen and van Vleuten were two of the biggest engines in the group, and when Garfoot, third in the time trial earlier in the week, refused to drive the group, Blaak was always in the drivers’ seat.
For all that Katarzyna Niewiadoma showed her prodigious talent, she nor Hannah Barnes could get a coordinated chase going, and eventually Blaak would have enough time to savour her achievement by rolling across the line, finishing 28 seconds ahead of a peloton what would eventually finish as one, having caught the escapees around the final turn.
Garfoot’s choice not to invest in the chase worked out with a silver medal, and bronze was taken by 2016 champion Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark), who showed that her future – as well as that of Denmark in the women’s peloton – is very bright indeed.
The race promised to be hard from the start, with a wide and varied range of contenders going for overall victory, and there was a very high pace on the opening laps of the circuit. Only Sweden’s Sara Penton managed to get clear, and it was to her credit that she managed to get as much of a gap as 37 seconds over the field.
It would be nearly one lap before another else was able to break clear of the Peloton, with Great Britain’s Melissa Lowther going clear of the pack as they went across the line for the second time. She would eventually bridge upto, and then pass Penton, but she would be caught by the main field over the top of Salmon Hill second time around.
The action would really start on the fourth lap, where Susanne Andersen delighted the home crowds with an attack that was quickly reeled in before a doubleheader of attacks saw the first serious escape of the race go.
Amy Pieters (Netherlands) jumped away shortly after reeling in Anderson and she was joined by Rachel Neylan (Australia) and Hannah Barnes (Great Britain), with the three working together to get a gap of 30 seconds.
That would then extend further when there was a nasty crash that took out Blaak and also America’s Megan Guarnier, one of the prime contenders for the medals. Guarnier appeared to be in particular distress, making for some upsetting scenes, although the other riders involved would make it back onto the peloton. Guarnier, however, would not manage to continue.
🥇 @ChantalBlaak 🇳🇱
🥈 @Katrin_Garfoot 🇦🇺
🥉 @AmalieDiderikse 🇩🇰
#Bergen2017
Barnes would be joined by team-mate Elinor Barker, part of a particularly impressive showing from the British team. Soon after the Dutch played another card in Lucinda Brand, followed by Gracie Elvin (Australia).
They would be brought back to the original peloton, which was now down to 69 riders from 150 starters. Another crash would bring down Neylan, Ashley Moolman-Paseo (South Africa), and Hayley Simmonds (Great Britain).
The penultimate ascent of Salmon Hill would see several serious attacks, and they were started with Amanda Spratt (Australia) followed by Dani King (Great Britain), Janneke Ensing (Netherlands), Elise Delzenne (France) and Hanna Nilson (Sweden).
They had a lead of 32 seconds over just 52 riders on the final lap, with Sarah Roy limboing inbetween, 11 seconds off the lead, but by now much of the field were on their limit and the final climb of Slamon Hill saw the race explode.
Katarzyna Niewiadoma knew this was her best chance to put things in her favour and her repeated, searing accelerations blew apart the field, even dropping van der Breggen for a second whilst Katrina Garfoot and Annemiek Van Vleuten struggled to stay within the wheel. They would eventually just about hold on though, meaning that the leading group over the top was Anna van der Breggen, Chantal Blaak, Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands), Katrin Garfoot (Australia), Audrey Cordon (France), Hannah Barnes (Great Britain) and Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland).
A group that included Pauline Ferrand Prevot would chase, but in vain, and the battle was between the seven upfront. The winner could have been any of them, but the Dutch always had the whip hand and once Blaak went, she never looked back.
