Anouska Koster and Riejanne Markus finished within the top 10 of the Dutch championship time trial on Wednesday afternoon in ’s-Heerenberg (resp. 8th and 10th). Both women are satisfied with their performance. Annemiek van Vleuten extended her title in this discipline.
“I couldn’t go very deep. This had nothing to do with the heat, but more with the route which is continuously up and downhill. One constantly needs to change the pace which makes it very tough. The wind also played a role on some parts of the track”, says Anouska, who ended over 2 minutes behind van Vleuten, but less than 1.5 minutes from the top 5. “I didn’t have a particular goal in mind prior to the trial. One can merely ride a solide time trial and reflect afterwards what it was worth.”
Riejanne Markus was happy with her 10th place. “I have been in Livigno for nearly a month on trainingcamp and prior to that, I was in Tuscany with the Dutch selection. After a period with no races, it is always difficult to assess the condition. I was hoping for a place in the top 10 and I succeeded. I started very strong but towards the end, it was over”, says Riejanne, who, prior to the trainingcamp, improved her bike position at the Cycling Performance Centre in Eindhoven. “In Italy, I completed some long trainings in this new position.”
Anna close to the podium
Earlier in the day, Anna Plichta rode to the 4th place in the Polish championship time trial. She gave away 32 seconds to the winner Katarzyna Pawlowska, and was 9 seconds short for a podium spot. “It could have more”, says Anna. “I had a great start and already caught my predecessor after 5 kilometres. A chain problem on the 2nd climb unfortunately took some time. A pity, but these things happen. I will make the switch now to the road championship on Saturday. I will do a recon of the final on Thursday.”
