The Dutch spell is broken
The 23-year-old Elisa Balsamo outsprinted Marianne Vos and won herself the rainbow jersey. The 2016 Junior champion succeeded after a terrific lead out by the Italian national champion Elisa Longo-Borghini. Kasia Niewiadoma from Poland took the bronze medal.
The Dutch reign over the rainbow jersey is over then. For the past four years, the Dutch team have won each of the elite road races. And no wonder with such a strength of their team. So what happened this time? They did everything by the book. Attacking relentlessly and when the gap was closed, another team member attacked again. However, none of the attacks stuck. Perhaps the final part of the course wasn’t hard enough. And then it all came down to Marianne Vos. And the lead out by the Italians was just too good and Balsamo was truly magnificent.
Balsamo’s sprinting talent has been apparent for some time now. This win should more than make up for her misfortune at the Olympics where crashes marred her hopes of medal contention.
Road World Championships – Women’s Elite Road Race: Antwerp to Leuven (157.7km)
- Elisa Balsamo (Italy) in 3:52:27
- Marianne Vos (Netherlands)
- Kasia Niewiadoma (Poland) + 1s
- Kata Blanka Vas (Hungary)
- Arlenis Sierra (Cuba)
- Alison Jackson (Canada)
- Demi Vollering (Netherlands)
- Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark)
- Lisa Brennauer (Germany)
- Coryn Rivera (USA) all at same time.
Read all about the men’s race in our summary by Siegfried Mortkowitz!
