Brown and Niewiadoma beat Vollering
SD Worx-protime are far from unbeatable in 2024, as team misses out in Ardennes Classics
Kasia Niewiadoma and Grace Brown got the better of Demi Vollering at Flèche Wallonne and Liègebastogne Liège respectively last week, as the cloak of invincibility over the latter’s SD Worx Protime team vanished over Ardennes Week.
e wins were both breakthroughs in different ways for the riders from Canyon SRAM and FDJ Suez, but also represented setbacks for Vollering, who won both races last year.
For Niewiadoma, it was her rst victory since 2019, a period in which she has nished second or third 30 times, including twice third at the Tour de France Femmes. For Brown, it was the landmark win her ability pointed towards, and came after two second places at the same race.
Vollering, however, was left with tears of disappointment after a dispiriting Classics campaign. Last year, the Dutchwoman became only the second woman in history to complete the
Ardennes triple, winning the Amstel Gold Race, Flèche and Liège last year, but this year could not live up to the hype, and found herself standing lower down the podium at the nal two.
“I felt really good today, and I was again in the position to go for the win, but I couldn’t do it, because I gambled a bit too much in the sprint. at was a bit stupid,” Vollering said postliège on Sunday.
“I felt so good also in the sprint, I should have gone much earlier, because I had good legs... It’s a big disappointment to end the Classics season without a personal victory. But I’m even more disappointed that I couldn’t thank my team-mates with a win after all their work.”
On Sunday, Elisa Longo Borghini Lidltrek) launched her sprint rst, going toeto-toe with Vollering, but no one banked on Brown being able to round them both.
Vollering has not shown the same spark as she did last season, and is seemingly facing her rst difficult period since joining SD Worx in 2020.
e status of Vollering’s contract is likely to be playing on her mind and affecting her performance. She will move team at the end of the year after her current employer admitted it could not keep both her and Lotte Kopecky, the world champion. Has her condence suffered as a result? Or is there discord within the squad? Either is possible.
SD Worx’s lack of control over races has been noticeable this spring, and Brown and Niewiadoma are the latest beneciaries. e Dutch team still top the form table this year with 14 victories, but unlike last year there is now a feeling that they are there to be beaten.
“For Brown, it was the landmark win her ability pointed towards”