SD Worx rule the Strade Bianche
Winner Chantal van den Broek-blaak benefits from team strength, reports James Shrubsall
The Dutch SD Worx team reiterated their dominance last weekend at Strade Bianche, thanks to a win by former world champion Chantal van den Broekblaak, third place from reigning world champion Anna van der Breggen and two further riders rounding out the top 11.
It follows up van der Breggen’s victory the previous weekend at Het Nieuwsblad and must serve to underline to the team’s new title sponsor that, despite considerable personnel changes, this is still the world-beating set-up it was as Boels-dolmans.
“We changed sponsor last year and we have a lot of new riders in the team too,” team boss Danny Stam told Cycling
Weekly. “It’s always a challenge to be back on the same high level where you want to be, and we worked very hard to get that realised.
“It’s definitely a plus point to start this way… we have already two big races now in the bucket. And that gives a lot of confidence,” he said.
The team reached the final of the Italian one-day race, held over the dusty ‘white roads’ of Tuscany, with considerable strength in numbers over their rivals. While that meant the pressure was on SD
“We have two big races in the bucket, that gives us confidence”
Worx, it also gave them plenty of options.
“It was in the plan that we should send Chantal up the road,” Stam said. “We like to race aggressively, and the race created the situation for this.”
The team also leaned heavily on tactics, with van den Broek-blaak forcing fellow escapee and dangerous rival Elisa Longoborghini to sit on the front going into the final kilometres, while pressuring her from behind with van der Breggen, Demi Vollering and Ashleigh Moolman.
“We tried to keep the pressure a little bit on Longo[-borghini] with attacking from the back,” Stam explained, “because she is an extremely good rider at finishing uphill. So yeah, we could play it good with the riders behind.”
Van den Broek-blaak took the win after distancing her rival on the final, steep hill into Siena, belying her status as a rider set to retire next season. With team-mate van der Breggen bowing out at the end of this year, it would appear the pair are determined to finish their careers with a flourish.
The team will ride the Healthy Ageing Tour this week as part of their preparation for the fast approaching Northern Classics.