The road race of the Women’s Cycling World Cup will be talked about for a long time to come. Demi Vollering is the bitten dog: Kopecky was placed in a seat, eventually won the sprint and was able to laugh. A seething Thijs Zonneveld goes into his podcast In the Wheel completely crazy about the leader of the Netherlands and the tactical decisions.
“What the fuck Hidde?!,” Zonneveld starts his tirade to his podcast buddy Hidde van Warmerdam. ‘I can’t explain this. I have never seen such a bad masterclass. Well okay, Tokyo might have been worse, but it’s close. I think it’s really scandalous. What Vollering has done, what SD Worx has done, I think it’s shameful.’
‘I think the Netherlands actually had the ideal situation one lap before the end with Vos and Markus in front. It was actually bizarre that all kinds of Dutch riders were riding behind Markus and Vos. I think everyone in the Netherlands has driven after it. Certainly Bredewold, Pieterse. After that Vollering took the lead many times. He personally ensured that Markus’ neck was first wrung and then Vos’s neck was wrung. And for what?’
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‘She robbed Markus and Vos of the world title’
‘What do you even think you are going to do against all kinds of riders who are already faster than you on paper? Kopecky wins all flat sprints from Vollering. She just rides that to the finish, she rides in the lead for the last kilometer. She’s going to get that Roseman-Gannon herself. This is a kind of combination of selfishness and megalomania, that she thinks she can just sprint everyone out of the wheel.’
The thunderous sermon from the BEAT Cycling rider came from his toes. The tunnel vision of the leader of the Dutch selection ultimately cost her teammates, according to Zonneveld: according to him, they were in a perfect position, but Vollering personally brought them back. ‘I think when Markus and Vos watch this match again, they will burst into tears, to be honest. I think she certainly robbed Markus but also Vos of a chance at the world title.’
‘There was a moment when the Netherlands was riding in the lead with Markus, behind him Vos was riding with Roseman-Gannon, and behind that Bredewold. The Netherlands drove behind the Netherlands drove behind the Netherlands’, the Gravel expert continues. ‘There is no better way to end the Gunnewijk era. This is the summary of the Gunnewijk period. Everyone just do something. Everyone go for your own chance, we agree on all kinds of things in advance, but if you want to do it all for yourself during the competition, then go ahead. At one point it was simply SD Worx versus Visma in the Netherlands.’
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‘Kopecky is laughing hard now’
‘How do you want him to be Kopecky? He had struggled with himself the entire race, he was suffering from the cold, he was not doing well on the climb, he had crashed and crashed again. It was simply handed to him on a silver platter. Vollering brought back all her own teammates and then sprinted for Kopecky. It’s really incredible. What else do you have to do next? Should you still ride for Vollering at the next World Cup or the Olympic Games if you are her teammate? If I were Markus or Vos, I wouldn’t even want to be selected if she is selected.’
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‘I understand that she is frustrated that she did not win the Tour last year. And that she is frustrated at SD-Worx, that they have not competed in all kinds of competitions for her’, Zonneveld tried to put things into perspective. ‘But you can’t compete in a World Cup like that. You can’t just pretend your teammates don’t exist. She went to get everyone. Longo Borghini goes: Vollering goes to get her. Roseman-Gannon goes: Vollering goes to get her. Kopecky didn’t have to do anything, he’s laughing really hard now.’
