THE RISE IN FALL OF BAUKE MOLLEMA

FScott Fitzgerald once wrote: “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” Bauke Mollema probably couldn’t agree more. As the cycling season eased through autumn, the Dutchman achieved the best victory of his life in Il Lombardia, and a career which looked to be entering its late stages looks to have started all over again.

Mollema is there or thereabouts in so many big races, but he’s won 14 times in total over 12 seasons as a pro. Depending on your outlook, that’s not very many considering his obvious strength, or a decent return given that he cannot sprint. The lack of fasttwitch fibres which prevents him from punching past his rivals on the finishing straight is one side of a coin; the other is the steady, asphyxiating diesel power with which he rides. In short, riders know that if they go to the finish with Mollema, they’ll probably beat him; however, if they let him up the road, they probably won’t.

So it has proven in the Tour de France (stage win, 2017) and Clásica San Sebastián (2016), and now in Il Lombardia. In the final monument 0f 2019, Mollema looked to be one of the least favoured riders in the lead group as it tackled the Civiglio climb - he was up against the in-form Egan Bernal, Alejandro Valverde, Primož Roglic and Michael Woods, among others, all of whom arguably pack more of a punch in a sprint than him. However, when he attacked, his rivals dithered. Then they broke down into repeatedly attacking, then slowing down, and all the while Mollema was forging steadily ahead. A small group managed to close to 16 seconds, but Mollema maintained his effort to the line. The Dutchman essentially has one tactic, but when he’s given the room to use it, he’s extremely difficult to stop.