Round Two of the UCI Women’s WorldTour is the 157km Ronde van Drenthe based around the cities of Emmen (start town) and the finishing town of Hoogeveen in the north-east of the Netherlands.
Sunday looks like being rainy but fairly mild however the weather could still play a big part in proceedings. Should crosswinds hammer the field, the race is certain to split apart, essentially what decided the 2017 event won by Amalie Dideriksen.
There are six nasty cobblestoned sections earlier in the near-100 mile race which will serve to weaken the riders but not necessarily cause significant problems.
Hoogeveen is a town built on what used to be a peat swamp, through which multiple canals were dug during peat extraction. As the town grew rapidly in the mid-20th century, the town municipality filled in most of the canals. With the VAMberg not far away, a hill built out of society’s detritus, this is a landscape very much shaped by human ‘progress’. The VAMberg is short, less than 750 meters, but kicks up to 20% and its steepness is an ideal launchpad for race-shaping attacks. Not only that, for this year it is climbed four times in just 20 kilometers, with sprint points on ascents one and three.
With the VAMberg out of the way, there are three final cobbled sectors to offer escape opportunities, and three passages across the finish line before the final sprint.
The contenders
Boels-Dolmans could bring an understrength team that would still be one of the most potent in the field; after Anna van der Breggen’s win at Strade Bianche, she will wear the World Tour leader’s jersey, backed by Chantal Blaak (who won in 2016) and defending champion Amalie Dideriksen, fresh off her track season.
Another previous winner is Jolien D’Hoore who will line up with her Michelton-Scott squad, still smarting from a sequence of results that haven’t given her the season opening she wished for. Gracie Elvin, second last year should also ride. Sunweb will have Lucinda Brand (third last year) and Floortje Mackaij who won the Omloop van de Westhoek last weekend.
Canyon-SRAM Racing bring a strong line-up to the Ronde van Drenthe including the on-form Alexis Ryan (second at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad), experienced veterans Tiffany Cromwell and Trixi Worrack, and young talents Alice Barnes, German national champion Lisa Klein and newcomer Christa Riffel.
Alice Barnes of Canyon-SRAM noted: “I’ve only ever raced Ronde van Drenthe once which was last year. I got a top ten which was my first really good result and set me up for the rest of the season so I’m looking forward to going back. It’s a typical flat Dutch race aside from the VAMberg which we go up four times this year. That’s the toughest part of the race. It’s a really tight left-hand turn into the climb and positioning is important.”
The Ronde van Drenthe starts at 09:45 GMT with Twitter updates via #UCIWWT.