Whatever the outcome, the Ronde van Drenthe would have been a particular race for Maike van der Duin (Canyon-SRAM). Born, raised, and nonetheless residing in Assen, lower than 30 km from the VAMberg, the 21-year-old had been trying ahead to her native race for a while – however ending in third place was sudden, and Van der Duin sported an enormous smile on her dirt-encrusted face in the course of the post-race TV interview with native station RTV Drenthe.
“It is a dream, actually. If somebody had provided me this earlier than the race, I’d have taken it. I had hoped for it, however probably not anticipated it. Six instances up the VAMberg, that might work out effectively for me, however possibly additionally go within the unsuitable course.
“I felt actually good within the race, and once I went over the VAMberg for the final time among the many first ten, I assumed, ‘okay, now it is all-in for the dash. How nice would it not be to get the primary podium for my crew as a brand new signing’. It is stunning,” Van der Duin stated.
Van der Duin had solely raced the Ronde van Drenthe as soon as earlier than, ending 69th in 2022 after an unfortunate race, however her different street and observe outcomes – for instance profitable the intermediate dash jersey on the Ladies’s Tour and taking fifth and sixth locations on levels of the Tour de France Femmes – netted her a two-year Ladies’s WorldTour contract with Canyon-SRAM, introduced in September.
October noticed the Dutchwoman end second within the Scratch Race and Omnium on the World Observe Championships, and she or he began her 2023 season on the boards as effectively, ending third within the Elimination Race on the European Championships earlier than switching to the street for the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
However observe biking once more performed a task in her preparation for the Ronde van Drenthe: “The climate was actually dangerous final week, so I pushed myself to the restrict on the observe for 3 days. Then I might relaxation once more in direction of this weekend, and that labored out effectively,” Van der Duin stated.
The 21-year-old now leads the Ladies’s WorldTour U23 rating: She scored 4 factors because the second-best U23 rider on the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and the six factors as the perfect younger rider in Drenthe put her at 10 factors – the identical quantity as earlier chief Henrietta Christie (Human Powered Well being), however scored in newer races.
