Armitstead retires through sickness, but Boels-Dolmans still take the win at Ronde van Drenthe
The win showed the depth of talent on the Boels-Dolmans squad after leader Lizzie Armitstead withdrew from the Ronde van Drenthe with illness
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Lizzie Armitstead’s winning streak came to an end in the Netherlands on Saturday. The world champion abandoned the second round of the Women’s WorldTour after around 50 km of the Ronde van Drenthe, apparently feeling sick.
According to her Boels-Dolmans team directeur sportif Danny Stam, Armitstead had been feeling unwell since Tuesday.
Though the British rider now loses her WorldTour lead to Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv), who finished fourth, the race was won by her team mate, Chantal Blaak.
Dutch woman Blaak sprinted clear of four riders who had escaped the peloton with nearly 60km to race, allowing her to claim her second win of the season.
The race, based around the Dutch town of Hoogeveen in the north east of the country, is known for its vicious cobbles, resembling fist sized pebbles, and for the steep ascent of the VAMberg.
That climb, covered three times in the 138km race, is built on a landfill site and tops out at 23%, though it averages 17% over its 400 metres.
It was these factors, as opposed to the wind, so often a defining factor in Dutch racing, which proved the decisive factor in today’s race. On the third and final cobbles sector the peloton split and Trixi Worrak (Canyon-SRAM), Gracie Elvin (Orica-AIS) and Van der Breggen joined Blaak as they built a gap.
Notable by their absence were Wiggle-High5. The British team had started the race with six riders capable of taking the win, and worked hard to bring the break to heel. For a while they managed to keep the gap to 20 seconds, but ultimately could not break them back.
With only 28 km to ride, on the final ascent of the VAMberg the group had an advantage of 1-30 which was to prove unassailable as Wiggle finally gave up the chase.
“We knew it would split over the cobbles,” Blaak’s British team mate Nikki Harris said after the race. “There wasn’t much wind, so then it was a case of staying at the front and following attacks. Luckily Chantal got in the right group, we knew she had a good sprint, so when she was there we were quite confident she could go for it.”
>>> ‘It’s ludicrous that there isn’t equal prize money for women in road cycling’
The race was Harris’s fifth of the season and follows on from a successful winter racing cyclo-cross. Twenty-nine year old Harris had a stellar winter, regaining the British national champion’s jersey and becoming the first Briton to win a World Cup.
With two top ten rides and over 30 km in the break to set up Armitstead’s win at Strade Bianche last week, it’s been a good start to the road season for Harris.
“I’ve gone straight in from the cross season to the road season,” she explained. “I’m going to take a little bit of a rest at the end of April but so far it’s working out well. I’ve got good form and I can get stuck in with the girls. The team are happy with me and I’ve been able to do any job I’ve been asked.”
The victory was the Boels-Dolmans team’s fifth year and as any cyclist knows, cake is the key to success, “Banana bread, that fuelled the girls this morning. Every week one of us makes a cake, so I put it down to that.”
In the men’s race, a UCI 1.1 ranked competition, British rider Mark McNally came in second place. The race, held over a 197km route similar to the women’s event, culminated in a small group heading to the line.
With his Wanty-Groupe Gobert teammate Kenny de Haes in the group with him and eventual winner Jesper Asselmann (Roompot-Oranje Pelton) off the front the Liverpudlian was told on the race radio to work.
“Kenny’s quite fast and no one really wanted to help me,” Mc Nally told Cycling Weekly.
“So I thought I would keep the pace up so no one would attack, but then and then about a kilometre and a half to go I got swamped so I had a little bit of respite. I was thinking more about getting the line going again and then I had a gap. I thought that’s a long 'k’ this, but I hung on for grim death.”
The result is McNally’s best result since signing with the Belgian Pro Continental outfit at the start of the season.
Women's Ronde van Drenthe results
1. Chantal Blaak (Ned) Boels-Dolmans at 3:36. 13
2. Gracie Elvin (Aus) Orica-AIS, st
3. Trixi Worrak (Ger) Canyon-SRAM, st
4. Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Rabo-Liv, st
5. Marta Bastianelli (Ita) Ale Cipollini at 1-49
6. Shelley Olds (USA) Cylance, st
7. Floortje Mackaij (Ned) Liv-Plantur, st
8. Lauren Kitchen (Aus) Hitec Products, st
9. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Orica-AIS, st
10. Leah Kirchmann (Can) Liv-Plantur, st
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Owen Rogers is an experienced journalist, covering professional cycling and specialising in women's road racing. He has followed races such as the Women's Tour and Giro d'Italia Donne, live-tweeting from Women's WorldTour events as well as providing race reports, interviews, analysis and news stories. He has also worked for race teams, to provide post race reports and communications.
-
-
Tech of the Month August: Magnesium bikes, wheels and pedals; new Vittoria tyres and Enve's Melee road bike
Are magnesium alloys really the wonder material they're cracked up to be?
By Stefan Abram • Published
-
Commonwealth Games 2022: Aaron Gate wins the men's road race for New Zealand in a dramatic sprint finish
New Zealander lands a fourth gold medal at the games after beating Daryl Impey of South Africa
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
WorldTour riders still yet to confirm a contract for 2022
Some riders have yet to put pen to paper for the 2022 season and have almost run out of time to impress
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Lizzie Deignan: Tour de France Femmes will be 'dynamic' compared to men's Tour
Trek-Segafredo rider says that eventually she would like to see a three-week Tour for women
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Arkéa-Samsic manager says they are 'at the gates of the WorldTour' with aims to join in 2023
The team of Nairo Quintana will get an automatic invite to every WorldTour race in 2022
By Tim Bonville-Ginn • Published
-
Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli boss Gianni Savio sets out big goal of joining the WorldTour in 2024
The second division team has set out some big goals for the future with its young squad
By Tim Bonville-Ginn • Published
-
11 WorldTour riders still yet to confirm a contract for 2022
Some riders have yet to put pen to paper for the 2022 season and have almost run out of races to impress
By Tim Bonville-Ginn • Published
-
Here are all the riders retiring from the men's & women's WorldTour peloton in 2021
A list of every rider who is hanging up the bike and stepping back from racing at the end of 2021
By Tim Bonville-Ginn • Published
-
Here is the Great Britain women’s team for World Championships 2020 in Imola
The swiftly re-arranged World Championships are just a few weeks away and the Great Britain women’s team has been confirmed.
By Alex Ballinger • Published
-