Trofeo Binda & Holland Hills post-race: No-one does it like Pooley and Vos!
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 27, 2011 12:51 PM EDT
in Women's Cycling
Email
Print
The first World Cup of the season is always a good one, and with Varese province full of rain and hills, Trofeo Alfredo Binda was one for the tough riders.
The early parts of the race were dominated by Diadora-Pasta Zara, with Claudia Häusler winning the sprint points. It was always going to be a race of attrition, with the wet roads causing a number of crashes, and by the climb at Grantola, there were only 50 riders in the main group. The first big attacks came from Diadora-Pasta Zara's Olga Zabelinskaya and Garmin-Cervélo's Sharon Laws, two riders who were never going to be allowed to escape. This has been a classic Cervélo tactic, sending Laws out early, so the peloton has to spend precious energy chasing her down - and by the time they were caught, only 37 riders were in contention.
Emma Pooley surprised us with one of her classic jumps less than half-way through the race - we always expect her to do it, but not necessarily that early, but she made lots of early efforts, before the important one - making her move classic-Pooley style on the climb EDIT! Not on the climb, Stef W saw it on tv and said it was on the flat for once - in which case, that's even more impressive! , and despite the very strong group shedding riders as it chased her down, her lead reached three minutes, and she solo-ed for over 60km to take the win. While riders were being pulled off the road at the back, various riders tried to escape from the chase group, and towards the end of the race, Ruth Corset, Loes Gunnewijk and Christel Ferrier-Bruneau attacked hard - but they were swallowed up in the final kilometres, and the group of 25 sprinted for the podium and the valuable World Cup points.
1. Emma Pooley (GBR) Garmin-Cervélo, 3:08:17
2. Emma Johansson (Swe) Hitec UCK, + 1:32
3. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Netherlands, s.t.
4. Martine Bras (Ned) Dolmans Landscaping, s.t.
5. Shelley Olds (USA) Diadora-Pasta Zara, s.t.
6. Chantal Blaak (Ned) AA Drink-Leontien.nl, s.t.
7. Judith Arndt (Ger) HTC-Highroad, s.t.
8. Grace Verbeke (Bel) Belgium, + 0:01
9. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Fra) France, s.t.
10. Lucinda Brand (Ned) Netherlands, s.t.
It was a classic Pooley win, repeating her 2008 victory, and a great start to the World Cup. This is a great race for coverage, so watch the comments for video, photos, blogs etc that we'll find over the coming week - if you find anything fun, please, please add it in! And follow me below the jump for info on the other women's race of the day!
Holland Hills, aka Parkhotel Rooding Hills Classic, aka Valkenberg, was never going to have as strong a field as Binda, but it still had all the members of Nederland Bloeit and AA Drink-Leontien.nl who weren't riding in the Netherlands National Team in Italy.... and the biggest name in women's cycling, Marianne Vos.
We weren't sure how well Vos would do - after all, she's been focusing on the Track World Championships, and last night had won the gold medal in the scratch race in fine style. Not necessarily the best preparation for the road, we thought... but oh, how we were proved wrong! Vos was in an early break with team-mate Marieke van Wanroij, Garmin-Cervélo rider Jessie Daams and Café favourite Marijn de Vries, that at one point gained seven minutes on the peloton - and ended up solo-ing home for victory. It wasn't the deepest field - and it's NOT a wvds race - but still, this is a hard course - including twice over the Cauberg - and not one that track prepares you for. But Vos, now with two rainbow jerseys in two different disciplines in 2011, is a very special rider - and although she's missed the first race, will definitely have her eye on the Road World Cup!
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit, 03:04:28
2. Marieke van Wanroij (Ned) Nederland Bloeit) + 02:46
3. Jessie Daams (Bel), s.t.
4. Marijn de Vries (Ned) AA Drink-Leontien.nl, s.t.
5. Amy Pieters (Ned) Skil-Koga, 04:55
6. Alison Testroete (Swi) Skil-Koga, s.t.
7. Sarah Düster (Ger) Nederland Bloeit, 05:55
8. Emma Crum (NZl) Specialized-DPD Pakket Service, s.t.
9. Esther Oltius (Ned) DWV De Zwaluwen, + 07:55
10. Patricia Schwager (Swi) Nederland Bloeit, + 11:05
EDIT!! Although the official results are being given out as Marijn de Vries finishing with Pieters, she says on twitter that she was beaten in the sprint for 2nd & 3rd, and finished with Van Wanroij and Daams. I think I'll believe her!
There's bound to be bloggage about this race - again, anything you find, add it in!
Full results from Binda are here - and you can see more of how it unfolded from the open thread - and full results from Holland Hills via wielerland. Plus see whether Jens was right in his World Cup PowerPoll!
113 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I've edited the article, but the official results had put Marijn de Vries as finishing with Pieters in Holland Hills
She’s been tweeting, though, that she’s gutted that she lost the sprint for podium spots, and definitely finished with Van Wonroij & Daams – so I believe her! I’m sure the official results will be updated shortly too
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 27, 2011 12:59 PM EDT reply actions
Gah, thankyou!
(Am I getting my Dutch surnames right, spelling aside? A Van or a De is lower-case in the middle of a name, upper-case if I’m just using the surname? Marieke van Wanroij rode../..later on Van Wanroij… ?)
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 27, 2011 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Bedankt!
I do pay attention sometimes!
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 27, 2011 3:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Very good to know.
Will try and remember this.
And in Belgian-Dutch
Is it capitalised all the way through? Or only in non-Flanders-Dutch-Belgium? eg Liesbet De Vocht?
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 27, 2011 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions
Depends on the name
If it makes you feel any better, we don’t know either. Just guess. Or call them all VDB etc.
I like tinkering with the boys.
- majope
My impression is: normally, yes
but a lot of variation possible: J. Van Den Walle, J. Van den Walle, J. Vandenwalle. Never sure which it is.
I see a clean road behind her.
Only the absolute best can win in this way. On another note I do wonder why none of my Italian team members were at the front today. Berlato in 12th is will not pay for all the wining and dining on my team.
Clearly less wining and more training is in order...
…and possibly more dining, if they’re bonking in races.
Much better than the last photo I saw
where you could just about make out Emma beyond the gloom somewhere…
They always seem to get a fair few turn out at the finish of these Italian races.
"There is nobody doing it for the money. Everybody is doing it because they want to ride bikes." Lizzie Armitstead
At some level, I'm always happy for Emma...
…when it seems like someone has found her a jersey that fits. She’s often riding wearing what appears to be a sail, and still beating everyone.
Heh, that's be those race leader/Queen of the Mountains/World Champion jerseys!
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 27, 2011 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions
or World Cup Leader, apparently.
You’d think they could find one she’d ever be able to wear again in her life.
Luckily for them
she’s not going to ride Flanders next week, so chances are that Emma J will have it after that
That's what she said to Cicloweb
penultimate paragraph of the report discussed further down
can't be. she must go. no other option. with a PhD coming surely
she must be able to comprehend the game’s rules.
Yep, she says she doesn't get on with them
Plus with Cervélo’s team of stars (Kirsten Wild’s been on the podium of Flanders three or four times there) she never really needed to. Can’t think of who would be Garvélo’s best bet – Noemi Cantele, maybe?
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 5:12 AM EDT up reply actions
Thanks both.
Will have to get Cantele to perform instead.
Your team has a lot of riders who won't be there
(don’t despair, those trackies will come back and be super-sprinters later on for you in the year, and in the stage races) but I hope Monia Baccaille will show – and Liesbet de Vocht will be wanting to get up there, what with being Belgian & on TopSport…
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 5:56 AM EDT up reply actions
Too tiny
and hasn’t been that comfortable with placing herself in the peloton which is pretty essential on Flanders roads.
I think being allergic to the peloton is usually a probem for a cyclist
but if it encourages riders to make mad escapes, it’s all to the good!
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 5:44 AM EDT up reply actions
In 2008 apparently
Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger...
by TheFigurehead on Mar 28, 2011 6:18 AM EDT up reply actions
I *knew* there was something different about her in that photo...
"There is nobody doing it for the money. Everybody is doing it because they want to ride bikes." Lizzie Armitstead
CN has a nice set of photos up too
I wonder if this is the corner where she, Verbeke and Molicheva were wiped out last year?
Two dominating wins
Pooley amazing from so far out. Vos equally amazing with that gap, on what was probably a less selective course.
specially having ridden track yesterday...
"There is nobody doing it for the money. Everybody is doing it because they want to ride bikes." Lizzie Armitstead
Aaaaaah
That sound you hear is me relaxing, as far as my WVDS team is concerned. Weird to have 100 points wrapped up in two riders, but it feels less stupid today than it did yesterday.
Edity edit!
Stef Wyman saw it on tv and said that it WASN’T the hills Pooley escaped from, but the flat – she must’ve just Cancellara-ed off, because I can’t imagine anyone thinking “never mind, we’re bound to catch her later on”…..
Having just watched it on TV, it certainly looked that way. She had already attempted 2 breakaways prior to this, again on relatively ‘flattish’ territory. She’s just a rocket, regardless of terrain!
Wow, that's amazing!
Do you think it looked like they were crazy to let her go, or they had no choice?
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 27, 2011 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Probably the latter. She was just relentless in attacking…. bet they thought, arghhh, not again, then looked at each other…:)
She'd made a couple of tries just before then
and even tried to get a group with her, Berlato, Olga Z and someone else to work together. Then she just toook off on a slight downhill just before they all got back to Cittiglio for the first time. Lise Nostvold led the chase at first, ,but no-one else worked with her. Emma had 40s lead the first time she crossed the climb on the little lap, then 2mins, 3 mins, 2:20.
That moment where no one works is really odd
Neither AA, Diadora or the dutchies seem willing to do anything, HTC are nowhere to be seen. I wonder if the bigs don’t have to go to it in these situations when Pooley goes off (as opposed to depending on their teammates)? It may open the door for other Garmins but surely they know by now that not working together to pull Pooley back will inevitably lead to the result we had yesterday.
I was wondering if they're so used to Vos trying to follow, that they missed her!
I think about last year’s Binda, where IIRC it was a Dutch-based chase-down of Zabelinskaya – and at Plouay, when Vos was covering all of Pooley’s moves, until that superb Vos-looks-back-left-so-Pooley-attacks-hard-up-the-right, and then Vos was chasing, but couldn’t catch by herself….
…or maybe she picked the perfect psychological moment, when everyone was cold & miserable, & they hadn’t even ridden halfway, and they just couldn’t face chasing her down, just for her to inevitably attack on the hills, and they assumed they had time to get her back (like some of us did in the thread), and….
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions
They are definitely relaxed and unaware when the attack comes
some at the front are sitting up eating. But it’s the minute after that that puzzle me. Nöstvold signals for someone to pull through and no one is there. Then when she veers off tired there’s a whole bunch of riders completely uninterested in chasing.
Heh, Pooley agrees with you!
"I didn’t expect it to be a successful move at all, to be honest," Pooley told Cyclingnews.
"As a team we were trying to make it hard and there were lots of attacks. It’s just kind of lucky that that one stuck. We could have been very unlucky and I could have wasted a lot of energy and been caught five kilometres from the finish. The race had been quite hard up until that point and as a team we’d been attacking all the time. You have to try though, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t."
CN article (also put it down below as it has the HOT NEWS! Emma is riding Flanders after all!)
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions
(I adore the combo of typical Pooley self-deprecation
and “you have to try” attitude. Yeah, definitely my joint-favourite rider!)
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions
A bit up on Sporza
Nothing you don’t know already, but they don’t do this often, so it’s still cool.
I like tinkering with the boys.
- majope
If you've been throwing cushions at the TV this week
as the commentators mix up their Kiwi trackies and their Spurs strikers of the eighties, think of the poor Italian audience who’ve just watched an hour of Oscar Zabelinskaya, or sometimes just Zabeliya…ya..ya..(fade to black).
They were working well together today
lots of shots with two or three of them leading the peloton, and Olga was strong at first, but then she crashed on one of the downhills which slowed her up a bit afterwards
Best google-translated line...
…conquered by the force of a lion, although the [Briton] is a wren…
Not even the google-elves can quite kill the Italian love for a metaphor.
Yeah, but I'm still wondering about this...
He had tried to mate with Noemi Cantele, the route of the Trofeo Binda.
I yearn for the cobbles--Edvald Boasson Hagen
Yes, figuring out the appropriate gender of personal pronouns...
…from context in Italian, NOT a strength of google translate.
As for mating in bike races, lots of that going on today, if some of the CN photos of the tangle at the end of GW are seen in a certain light ;)
Two pics from Holland Hills, from Anton Vos
The 4-woman breakaway – Vos, Van Wanroij, De Vries & Daams
The podium – Vos, Van Wanroij & Daams
More photos - from CJ Farquharson (who does a great job of covering the women's races)
and different ones on her women’s cycling site – it’s well-worth book-marking her site, she posts results, race reports & photos and lots of fun things there
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions
One of the crashes (Carla Ryan said there were quite a few crashes)
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions
RAI coverage
Here – says it’s part 3 of the coverage, so hopefully we’ll see parts 1 & 2 at some stage too?
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions
I liked the shots of Sharon Laws roaming around the front of the chase group, generally looking very annoying to anyone who wanted to up the speed!
Plus the jump of Gunnewijk, Corset & Ferrier-Bruneau was a great moment to see!
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions
It was a bit hard to get the timing of all events
since there was no kms to go graphic but the dutch team seemed to me to be clucking up a bit. They were one of the few teams who had numbers up there but they did nothing to bring Pooley back. Instead they did those darts off the front attacking rather aimlessly for second place. Odd-ish?
Maybe that's the down-side of riding national team, not trade team?
No one rider they were riding for? Also wondering if the Ned Bloeit riders have their eye on the World Cup for Vos, so were more about trying to stop eg Johansson ending in second? Except Tabak and Gunnewijk were two who did have a try? Think you’re right about them riding for second…
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Emma J quotes
“I knew today with so many strong teams that it would be difficult if there was a break. Garmin had so many options when Emma [Pooley] was up the road I was alone in the chase group. There were two and three riders from most of the teams and no one wanted to chase. In the end they were racing for second and I took it from them,” said Johansson.
“It was a little frustrating. I could not do it on my own, I just had to accept it and try to make the race hard. There was hardly any wind and it was difficult to break up the chase group. In the last lap I thought I would give it a try but then it came back together. I thought to myself, ‘OK that’s it now save yourself for the sprint’. I started early and it paid off,” added Johansson.
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 2:22 PM EDT up reply actions
This is a little later though
Originally when the gap was still small she has Nöstvold there but I think she blows herself up when she is the only one working to close the gap and then loses contact on the climb.
In hindsight, I think Emma J maybe should have helped Nöstvold chase, that might have spurred some of the other teams to chip in too? It would have been a gamble though. She might have had a chance to win but she had a better shot at second this way.
Ja
Better chance at second, yeah. But also, why help drag the rest of the riders to the line. If she contributes, it’s probably to someone else’s advantage. Better to sit on, see if someone steps up, and if not, take the sprint. Also better for her World Cup hopes.
The 4th and final part - massive thanks to our anonymous youtube buddies who let us see these things – I’m full of appreciation
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 29, 2011 6:37 AM EDT up reply actions
I love the last ten seconds of that
when a little figure suddenly shoots up the far side of the pack
Nicole Cooke si ritira, per lei una giornata no quella odierna
said Cicloweb – retired due to a bad day? Nothing as yet on her website or the team website….
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions
HOT NEWS!! Pooley WILL ride Flanders, even though she hates cobbles!
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 11:30 AM EDT reply actions
Morale booster for my team, even if she can't win.
That woman is pure class.
Civetta tweeted this - an interview with Emma Pooley in CycleSport
Full of amazing quotes and interesting stuff – about her worrying, overcoming her demons about descents and funny stuff that makes her seem really funny & sweet
Thanks Civetta!
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 12:14 PM EDT reply actions
Heh, I also liked
One year, she got in trouble with her teammates at the Tour de l’Ardèche for enthusing about the stunning vista from the top of a mountain. "I was like ‘Did you see the view, wasn’t it amazing?’ and they replied: "Shut up about the view, I was hanging onto the wheel in front," she reflects, imitating the tired voices of teammates.
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Together with
"The directeur sportif joked that that was the plan – ‘keep the aero bike in the car and we’ll swap it over halfway through.’ You have to look at the course, you can’t do that on any other. We looked on the start grid, and all the other favourites were at the back. Heh heh heh," she laughs like a comic villain.
I think Evil Pixie was a good description.
Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger...
by TheFigurehead on Mar 28, 2011 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Heh, and
The improvements continued, as did the successful solo breakaways. It came to a head at the Montreal World Cup race in 2009; Pooley attacked 400 metres after the start and won. In essence, was a 110-kilometre time-trial.
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions
If I were her opponents reading that
I’d be really scared.
"I’m hoping for the Mortirolo-Gavia combination, then we can ride down to Bormio for ice cream." Emma Pooley on the Giro Donne
Marijn de Vries
posted a the kind of funny blog that only she can write on the intimate art of dope testing at Holland Hills – and also bits on the race, too!
(She also tweeted a little film RTV made of her, about how she got into pro-cycling, in Dutch, but nice sunny visuals, if you just pretend you understand the language)
Ash Moolman has written a report
here.
And here’s Christel Ferrier-Bruneau’s take on the day. She also has a big piccy of the sweet Gauss 2011 calendar
Poor Ash, that sounds like a really crappy day
I really feel for the Lotto Honda team – those who couldn’t start cos of the food poisoning, and those who started and felt like death. Hope they’re all back to normal, and have sued the hell out of that hotel that poisoned them!
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 28, 2011 5:21 PM EDT up reply actions
See Emma Pooley interviewed in French before Trofeo Binda
(anyone who understands French, if you’d like to do a translate of anything other than the usual “yeah it’s be a hard race, with loads of great riders” type thing riders always say pre-race! Not saying Emma’s saying that, but you know, lots of cyclist interviews can sound similar!)
They have LOADS of cyclists-on-the-eve-of-Binda videos up! In a range of different languages, for those scared of french (like I am!)
Adrie Visser (HTC)
Christel Ferrier-Bruneau - Gauss (made a big attack at the end)
Mara Abbott – Diadora-Pasta Zara (USA über-climber!)
Martine Bras – Dolman’s – she’s having a fab season, and is well-known for being a real help to young riders, especially helping non-Dutch-speaking riders get to ride in Europe
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot - riding for team France (multi-discipline junior superstar!)
Modesta Vzesniauskaite – Colavita Forno d’Asolo
Linda Villumsen – AA Drink-Leontien.nl (Kiwi-Danish TT star)
Valentina Scandolara
Polona Batalgelj
I LOVE Petites Reines! Here’s their youtube page, to have a look in case they put more up
(there are lots more up – click the youtube page link to have a look who else they spoke to)
by Sarah Connolly on Mar 29, 2011 6:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Funny how Pooley has the perfect accent
but still searches for some words http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgPdXa9cn_g
quick translation of the pooley interview in french
they ask her what she thinks of the new course: She says she finds it to be a very beautiful course and that they’ve added a harder and longer climb and she finds that to her advantage. Again she says it’s very pretty, it mounts to a nice village and again she says the new course is great.
Then they skip over the question so we don’t hear it but her answer is that cycling is her job but it’s also a great pleasure. It’s wonderful to ride in such a beautiful countryside but also she enjoys the challenge of pushing herself.
A few more translations
Carretta:
You’ve had a big problem?
At the last moment I had a physical problem and the only thing to do was withdraw. Now I’m seeing someone Tuesday and I hope we can manage to sort it out as soon as possible in the way we’re planning, with a month off, and then start things off slowly. I hope to be ready for Luxembourg.
Jasinska Malgorzata:
Why did you start cycling?
It’s a family thing. I love it and now it’s my job.
Jennifer Hohl:
Cycling’s part of my life, ever since I was 11.
Christel Ferrier Bruneau:
I’m hoping for a top ten place, top five would be better. It’s hard at the beginning of the season when I’m just coming in to form. I was here two years ago with Vision One, but I think I’ve improved a lot since then and I hope to do better. It’s important to avoid the crashes, then I think it will come down to a sprint from a small group. I also hope to do well at Flanders and even more at the Fleche Wallonne which is a course that well suits me.
Pauline Ferrand Prevot:
A top fifteen place would be very nice… I had a good cross season, I’ve had a month off to recover and now I’m ready to go again.
Manel Lacambra:
You change team every year. Why?
Every year there are new challenges, but if you look I have the same staff. I change some riders, but I’ve brought some riders I had last year with me.
Julie Krasniak sounded interesting, but either contradicted herself lots, or I didn’t understand it. She’s planning more one day races up to June, but no stage races. She wants to do more cross, but also wants to do MTB and road, with the focus on road but she’d like to improve her MTB skills. She’s also thinking af retiring next year after ten years of competition.
Oh wow, we're really spoilt for coverage!
Here’s the first ever video from women’scycling.net – Trofeo Binda – hope we get more of these!
It’s 9 mins, with some interviews & stuff
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Podium Cafe
Related FanShots on Podium Cafe
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
Celebrate the Giro d'Italia at Podium Cafe!
Check our Giro Section for race updates, on-the-scene reports, and other hijinx.
Featured Stories
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recent FanShots
