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World Championships - CM
Verona, Italy, September 27-October 3, 2004
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Race 6 - Friday October 1: Road Race - Junior Women, 73.75km
Marianne Vos solos to Gold
Dutch Junior Women RR victories continue in Verona
By Hedwig Kröner
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The World Junior Women's Road Championship has another Dutch champion: Marianne Vos, who after finishing fifth in the Junior Women's time trial, made it to the top in her category in the road race. The Junior Women's title has been Dutch for the last two years, with Loes Markerink winning it last year and Suzanne de Goede in 2002. After a rather controlled race until the final climb, Vos attacked at the right spot and soloed the remaining 10 km to the finish. The silver medal went to Marta Bastianelli (Italy), winning the chase group sprint half a minute behind. Third on the podium was another Dutch rider, Eleonora Van Dijk.
How it unfolded
On a rather cloudy morning in Verona, 66 Junior Women embarked on the 73.75 km race, made up of five 14.75 km laps. After approximately three kilometres, the Torricelle climb of 3.1 km was the decisive part of the race, with the subsequent descent and flat roads toward the finish giving few opportunities to break away. Marianne Vos signaled her presence right after the start, as she attacked during the first kilometre, but was caught soon after. The tempo was high from the beginning, and the first climb saw some riders struggling already. In front of the peloton, the Polish and Lithuanian riders were setting the pace, as well as Rebecca Much (USA) - who was present in front during the whole race.
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The first lap was completed after 26'05 minutes, with the peloton still together. Climbing the Torricelle for the second time, the race got a little more nervous with some attacks, but the leading riders from Italy, Germany, the East-European countries controlled the pace, and nobody could get away. Another rider in front was Amanda Spratt from Australia, who closed the gap to a Polish rider's attack.
The field slowly diminished in number, as some struggled to keep up and the first abandons of the day were signaled. After passing the finish line for the second time, at the foot of the Torricelle climb, Amanda Spratt (Australia) crashed inside the bunch, but got up quickly again, apparently unhurt. She made it back to the front, and even attacked soon after that. But the Italian team was paying attention, and she could not get away. Instead, Francesca Andina and Savrina Bernardi broke away, but were caught by the leading bunch under control of the Ukrainian riders.
Spratt was relentless in her efforts, but could not create a gap on her own. With two laps to go, the action started: The Italian Savrina Bernardi set the pace in the climb, and the only riders able to follow were Spratt and the Russian Ekaterina Tretiakova, until a chase group of about 15 joined them on the descent. For the final lap, another group of 15 joined them, so it was a field of about 30 riders - half of the peloton - that rode the decisive phase of the race.
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The Italian and Dutch teams attacked each other on the last climb, but no break attempt was as powerful as the one by Marianne Vos. She took off and nobody could follow. Increasing her lead rapidly, it was about 20 seconds on top of the Torricelle climb, and the chase group down the descent had three other Dutch riders in it, not helping it much. Rebecca Much (USA) was leading the group on her own, and during the last kilometres it became apparent that Vos would take her solo to the finish. The other Dutch riders therefore did not hold back any more - and managed to place a second rider on the podium, Eleonora Van Dijk, who crossed the line right after Marta Bastianelli from Italy.
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Rebecca Much, meanwhile, finished 15th. "That last attack was really explosive," Much explained. "I knew right when the Dutch girl jumped that she was going to win." Realizing the gold was now out of reach, Much put in a last ditch effort for the podium 700 meters away but was immediately reeled in. A self proclaimed poor sprinter, the move was Much's only hope left at making a second appearance on the podium this week. "I can't sprint," she said of her chances amongst the rest of her competitors. "I tried to go at the very end but I was pretty tired from all the chasing, I didn't have much left. I'm a little frustrated, but I also need a lot more experience."
Photography
Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti
- The rear of the peloton at the start
- The German girls mean business
- The peloton through the streets of Verona
- Marianne Vos on the podium with her teammate and bronze medallist Eleonora Van Dijk
- The junior women's peloton sets off
- The peloton on the Torricelle
- Marianne Vos (Netherlands) celebrates her victory
- Marianne Vos (Netherlands) wins the junior women's road race
- Marta Bastianelli (Italy) was perhaps a little too excited about winning silver
- The podium (L-R): Marta Bastianelli (Italy, 2nd), Marianne Vos (Netherlands, 1st), Eleonora Van Dijk (Netherlands, 3rd)
- Marianne Vos (Netherlands) gets a taste of gold
- Marta Bastianelli (Italy) with the silver medal
- The Dutch girls watch their teammates on the podium
Images by Mitch Friedman Photography
- Italian girls on the start line (far left Mara Bastianelli, who won the silver)
- The German girls on the line
- Let's show off our fingernail paint. The dutch girls had too much fun
- Aussie Amanda Spratt waits on the line to start. She ended up in 9th.
- Two of the Lithuanian girls
- Aussie Natasha Mapley waits for the start.
- Marianne Vos (Netherlands) takes off at the start to make the girls hurt and show them she wanted to take the World Championship back to Holland.
- Natasha Mapley (Aus) on her way to 41st overall
- Italian Marta Bastianelli and Lithuinia's Daiva Tuslaite battle in the pack coming out of a turn. Bastianelli finished in 2nd place and Teslaite in 6th place
- The junior women's peloton
- Mexico's Berenice Castro Plaza leads the pack into a turn.
- The pack getting ready for another lap
- Francesca Andina of Italy goes around a turn. She finished in 32nd place.
- Amanda Spratt (Aus) tried to get away numerous times, but was brought back into the pack, finishing 9th.
- USA's only rider Rebecca Much finished in 15th place
- Marianne Vos of the Netherlands takes the win
- The podium (L-R): Marta Bastianelli (Italy, 2nd), Marianne Vos (Netherlands, 1st), Eleonora Van Dijk (Netherlands, 3rd)
Images by Roberto Bettini
- The junior women starting out
- The peloton comes through Porta Nuova in Verona
- Marianne Vos (Netherlands) makes her race winning attack
- Marianne Vos (Netherlands) celebrates her victory
- Marta Bastianelli (Italy) a delighted silver medalist
- Marta Bastianelli (Italy) on the podium
Results
1 Marianne Vos (Netherlands) 2.11.44 (33.578 km/h) 2 Marta Bastianelli (Italy) 0.30 3 Eleonora Van Dijk (Netherlands) 4 Olena Andruk (Ukraine) 5 Roxane Knetemann (Netherlands) 6 Daiva Tuslaite (Lithuania) 7 Ekaterina Tretiakova (Russia) 8 Savrina Bernardi (Italy) 9 Amanda Spratt (Australia) 10 Suzanne Van Veen (Netherlands) 11 Olena Sharha (Ukraine) 12 Tereza Hurikova (Czech Republic) 13 Caroline Ibele (Germany) 14 Olha Polkhovska (Ukraine) 0.33 15 Rebecca Much (USA) 16 Virginia Hennig (Germany) 0.37 17 Emmanuelle Merlot (France) 1.19 18 Jwona Pytel (Poland) 1.41 19 Sabine Fischer (Germany) 1.58 20 Florence Girardet (France) 21 Mayuko Hagiwara (Japan) 22 Aleksandra Dawidowicz (Poland) 23 Maria Kazachenko (Russia) 24 Kim Schoonbaert (Belgium) 25 Agne Maracinskaite (Lithuania) 26 Barbara Gromaszek (Poland) 27 Inga Cilvinaite (Lithuania) 28 Karin Metzler (Switzerland) 29 Francesca Andina (Italy) 2.02 30 Veronika Sprügel (Austria) 3.15 31 Jennifer Hohl (Switzerland) 32 Federica Balestri (Italy) 3.18 33 Danielys Garcia (Venezuela) 7.13 34 Hannah Banks (Australia) 7.29 35 Jarmila Machacova (Czech Republic) 7.30 36 Catrine Josefsson (Sweden) 37 Marie Lindberg (Sweden) 9.25 38 Andrea Wolfer (Switzerland) 39 Berenice Castro Plaza (Mexico) 40 Ine Beyen (Belgium) 41 Natasha Mapley (Australia) 42 Naomi Cooper (Canada) 43 Patricia Perez Jimenez (Spain) 44 Blendys Rojas (Venezuela) 45 Veranika Vyrastka (Bielorussia) 46 Anna Sanchis Chafer (Spain) 9.31 47 Sandrine Allais (France) 10.24 48 Andrea Babunkova (Czech Republic) 11.18 49 Anna Tratnyek (Canada) 11.32 50 Joelle Numainville (Canada) 13.52 51 Marie Le Moing (France) 52 Irina Tolmacheva (Russia) 53 Laura Lepasalu (Estonia) 14.26 54 Diana Dzemikavichyute (Russia) 55 Mylene Laliberte (Canada) 14.40 56 Ramona Weder (Switzerland) 15.28 57 Axelle Doisy (Belgium) 18.56 58 Kata - Liina Normak (Estonia) 19.41 59 Simona Muraskaite (Lithuania) 19.51 60 Gabriella Palotai (Hungary) 20.31 DNF Maria De Lourdes Garcia-Navas Llaneras (Spain) DNF Magdalena Pyrgies (Poland) DNF Maria Auxiliadora Martin Morales (Spain) DNF Franziska Kniesche (Germany) DNF Mary Brennan (Ireland) DNF Stefanie Wiedner (Austria)
