JENS VOIGT
Bauke Mollema’s solo victory at Il Lombardia was a spectacle to celebrate this month
Our race columnist on the latest events
Sometimes it’s not the strongest rider or the big favourite who wins a race. Sometimes it’s the rider who dares to take chances, who dares to make his own luck. The 2019 edition of Il Lombardia is a great example of that. There was a moment of hesitation and observation amongst the favourites and Bauke Mollema took his only chance and surprised all the big names with his attack. All the favourites looked at each other and in that moment they all let the win slip away from them.
Bauke is an incredible rider and if we look at his palmarès you can see that. He’s a quiet champion and a quiet achiever. He’s won Clásica San Sebastián, a stage in the Tour de France and now his first monument. Although let’s be honest my dear readers, we all know he is good but probably only a few of us had him as a winner on their list. But he proved us all wrong and delivered a wonderful win. Not because he was stronger or faster. No, in my eyes he won because he wanted it more than the others. He was willing to risk it all, to go all in. To win in glory or to lose it all.
You could tell he was giving it everything – he had one attack and one effort to give and he was relentless all the way to the line. And please look at the names he beat. Last year’s world champion Alejandro Valverde, reigning Tour de France champion Egan Bernal, reigning LiègeBastogne-Liège winner Jacob Fuglsang and the reigning Vuelta a España champion Primož Roglic. It was a real all-star field at the end, and they all deeply wanted to finish their own seasons with a win. My deepest respect, chapeau, hats off... I am running out of words to describe his achievement.
And why am I writing about it at such epic length? Because to me it shows the beauty of our sport, or of any sport. A little fairytale can come true in our modern sport. After all, it’s still not all about the money and who has the biggest budget. It’s heart, instinct, work ethic and having the bravery to give luck a punch in the guts.
In my eyes Bauke Mollema won not because he was stronger or faster, but because he wanted it more. He was willing to risk it all, to go all in. To win in glory or to lose it all
Riders like Bauke sometimes need to wait for a year or more between wins - in fact, Bauke’s last before this one came almost a year ago at GP Bruno Beghelli in October 2018. But Bauke never stops believing, never stops working hard, never stops trying and he gives it his all, every time. Bauke is the perfect example of a hardworking, straightforward man who has earned every win the hard way, and always in an interesting way. If you have some spare time please look at a video clip of him racing - there is always a lot of pain in his facial expression and only after crossing the line, only after the work is done, do you see the joy on his face. Truly he has the right to say: ‘I earned every single win.’
There were no lucky wins and for sure no easy wins in his career. He is the type of rider many teams want: reliable and always ready to put his head down and work. That’s why I am writing this column about Bauke Mollema. He’s not a classic superstar, but for me he’s a true superstar.