NOS Wielrennen•vandaag, 20:58
Angry Vollering in tears after third place: ‘Just stupid, I waited too long’
They both finished third, but the state of mind of Demi Vollering and that of Mathieu van der Poel differed considerably after the cycling classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Vollering let her tears flow freely. Again no victory in this disappointing spring, while last year she was unbeatable during this period. “I started the sprint too late today, just very stupid. I am very angry,” she said, after she had barely recovered from the disappointment.
In contrast to Vollering, Van der Poel had a successful spring, with victories in the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Saxo Classic. He felt that he had achieved “the highest possible” in this edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Van der Poel happy with third place in Liège: ‘Never had the feeling that I was on track’
27-year-old Vollering mainly saw her third place in the cycling classic as a missed opportunity. “I also had the feeling all the time that we had everything under control. It’s just a shame because I was in the situation where I could finish it, but I don’t. That’s just stupid because I had good legs. “
Australian Grace Brown eventually sprinted to victory ahead of Italian Elisa Longo Borghini and Vollering. The Dutch woman remained strict to herself during the interview. Did she throw away the win? “Of course.”
Van der Poel happy
Van der Poel feared the climbing of Liège-Bastogne-Liège in advance. “Even if I had had the legs of the Tour and Paris-Roubaix, I am not going to beat Pogacar here, I have to be honest about that,” said Van der Poel. “But I’m happy that I still finished on the podium, because I wouldn’t have given another euro for it after that chase.”
Van der Poel was held up by a fall earlier in the race and therefore had to catch up. “I was happy that I could get back into the race and I continued to ride hard. In the end I finished third, so I have to be very satisfied with that.”
The 29-year-old Van der Poel says he will recover from all the spring efforts in the coming days and wants to soon consider the details of the rest of his season.
2024-04-21 18:58:52
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