Lorena Wiebes has arrived in Paris and will compete in her first Olympic Games because the chief of the Dutch crew within the ladies’s highway race on August 4.
Wiebes is taken into account the quickest sprinter in ladies’s highway biking, however she has additionally reworked herself into a strong climber in recent times. This has made her a favorite to win the gold medal, however she says she is heading into this weekend relaxed about her prospects.
“I’m actually trying ahead to it. I don’t actually really feel the strain but, however that can come within the coming days. Maybe when we’ve had the final crew conferences, or when the lads have ridden their highway race. Then you possibly can style the Olympic Games much more,” Wiebes stated in an interview with Wielerflits.
Wiebes stated that rising up, she participated in gymnastics, and so she has watched Olympic gymnasts similar to Simone Biles on TV throughout newer summer season Olympic Games. Now that she is on the Games herself, she stated she is taking an excellent greater curiosity in different sports activities.
“I’ve at all times adopted the Olympic Games, however I used to be not likely concerned in them. Now that I’ve been chosen for the summer season Games myself, I’ve began to delve a bit deeper into it. Then you begin to have a look at extra sports activities. In the previous, I used to be primarily focused on gymnastics. I nonetheless have a look at it with admiration. That is as a result of I did acrobatic gymnastics myself as a toddler. I simply assume it’s lovely to observe. The explosiveness that these women have is wonderful. Especially now with Simone Biles, I can actually take pleasure in it,” she stated.
She stated that she had been eyeing the Paris Olympic Games since 2020, however that she realised she could possibly be a medal contender when the ladies’s highway race route was introduced final 12 months.
The ladies’s highway race is 158 kilometres lengthy with 1,700 metres of climbing and 9 named ascents, utilizing the identical run-out and ending circuits as the lads’s race and just one loop outdoors town centre, by the Vallée de Chevreuse.
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The peloton will then end on two laps of 18.4km, together with the Côte de la butte Montmartre earlier than the flat end alongside the Seine previous the Quai d’Orsay and ending on the Pont d’Iéna.
“When the course was introduced final autumn, it instantly appealed to me. I like a finale with laps by town,” she stated.
“I instantly had the sensation in regards to the climb at Montmartre that this can be a place the place the race might be determined. It is a reasonably quick climb. Actually, all of the climbs within the loop are usually not very troublesome.
“I ought to usually be capable of deal with them. After the reconnaissance of the course, I did achieve confidence in it, and from then on, I labored much more in the direction of this race.”
Wiebes will spearhead a Dutch crew which additionally consists of Tour de France winner Demi Vollering, who may additionally win a medal in Paris, former multi-time world champion and Olympic champion Marianne Vos, and three-time time trial world champion Ellen van Dijk.
National coach Loes Gunnewijk confirmed the choice to nominate Wiebes because the crew chief. If the race comes right down to a diminished group dash, and the Dutch crew are all current on the entrance, Wiebes could have the perfect lead-out within the subject, and a transparent probability on the gold medal.
“It is now customary follow that the nationwide coach presents us with our position and that we are able to take into consideration whether or not or not we would like it. Of course, I did not want any time to consider it,” Wiebes instructed Wielerflits.
“In the identical phone dialog, I indicated that I used to be up for it. Of course, it turned extra of a precedence from that second on. Although I do attempt to work in the direction of it as usually as attainable.”
Wiebes stated that she is used to dealing with crew management pressures in flat to hilly WorldTour racing with SD Worx-Protime, the place she typically shares that position with Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky, whereas her Dutch compatriot Vollering leads the crew in most of the difficult one-days and mountainous stage races.
In truth, Wiebes and Kopecky, the reigning highway race World Champion, are sometimes a tough-to-beat duo as commerce teammates and have claimed many 1-2 victories all through the final two seasons, which means they know one another’s strengths and weaknesses very properly. In Paris, they are going to be racing in opposition to each other and it will likely be fascinating to see how they compete amongst their respective nationwide groups.
Wiebes has named the Italian crew with former World Champion Elisa Balsamo and Giro d’Italia winner Elisa Longo Borghini and favourites, too.
“My aim is to hold on to it so long as attainable. I see Lotte as one of many most important rivals in that, particularly as a result of the course is considerably paying homage to the road circuit of the World Championship in Glasgow, with twists and turns, the place she received the world title final 12 months,” Wiebes stated.
“The Italian block can be very robust. The competitors is kind of large anyway. Everything simply has to fall into place on Sunday. I’ll have the proper preparation now, however quite a bit can nonetheless go unsuitable.”
If something does go unsuitable, Wiebes stated the Dutch crew comes ready with multiple card to play with Vollering, Vos, and Van Dijk, and any one in all them may win a medal.
“You can’t simply have a plan A. We must have a number of plans. For me, it needs to be an ideal race that ends in a dash. But alongside the way in which, something can go unsuitable. So a lot can occur,” she stated.
“That’s why it is nice that we’ve a number of women with Demi and Marianne who can end the match. We can play a number of trump playing cards, and we’ve just one most important aim: Winning gold with the Netherlands.”
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