but frankly that’s pretty amateur by the rest of the group. “She took the whole of the group by surprise….” bollocks, anyone with a hint of knowledge knew that was going to happen so to let her just breeze past and gain 50m just like that was just daft.
I think most people had written her off. Elbow injury, clearly suffering on the climbs so when the group came back together, no-one was really thinking of her, everyone was watching Kopecky (probably the best sprinter within the group), Vos had been on and off the group so probably wasn’t a threat, you could almost see them all working out who was a threat, who’s wheel to go for and besides which they were all wrecked anyway, you lose a lot of mental faculty after 100 miles like that.
And AvV just took the chance.
Place went absolutely wild when she launched and then went up another notch when she won. Popular win, definitely.
Also Pfeiffer Georgi got a silver in the U23 so Team GB salvaged something from the race after the great early break from Elynor Backstedt.