Furthermore, all hilly classics of the 2021 season were won by a woman from the Netherlands. Demi Vollering won Liège-Bastogne-Liège and La Course, Chantal van den Broek-Blaak the Strade Bianche, Marianne Vos the Amstel Gold Race, Anna van der Breggen La Flèche Wallonne, and Annemiek van Vleuten the Tour of Flanders. To underline the Dutch dominance, Ellen van Dijk recently soloed to victory on the hilly course of the European Championships in Trento.
Frankly, the biggest opponents of the Dutch are the Dutch themselves. Anna van der Breggen, Annemiek van Vleuten, Marianne Vos, Chantal van den Broek-Blaak – they are all former World Champions. Demi Vollering, Ellen van Dijk, Lucinda Brand and Amy Pieters have had their fare share of victories in several discplines. All these riders would hands down be the leader in other countries. Are they willing to work together as a team?
Favourites 2021 World Championships Road Race – women
**** Annemiek van Vleuten, Chantal van den Broek-Blaak, Demi Vollering
*** Lucinda Brand, Lotte Kopecky, Marianne Vos, Coryn Rivera, Lizzie Deignan
** Lianne Lippert, Ellen van Dijk, Elisa Longo Borghini, Kasia Niewiadoma
* Anna van der Breggen, Mavi García, Marlen Reusser, Amy Pieters, Leah Thomas