'I did everything I could' – Isabella Holmgren takes bittersweet Worlds silver in front of home crowd
A two-up sprint left the Canadian just short of a home Worlds title in the women's U23 race, but Holmgren was proud of a strong team effort
Isabella Holmgren’s teammates couldn’t contain their joy.
Crossing the line long after the sprint for the medals had taken place, they screamed with delight, then darted through the media tent towards the podium to cheer for their Bella.
But on the podium, Holmgren herself looked to be fighting back tears. Yes, she had won silver in the under-23 women’s road race at a home World Championships, but she had come for gold.
After an attritional 10 laps around the challenging Montréal circuit, the race came down to a two-up sprint with Slovakia’s Viktória Chladoňová, last year’s runner-up, reaching the line first. From the small chase, Belgium’s Fleur Moors won the sprint for bronze 33 seconds later, ahead of Switzerland’s Mara Winter and Australia’s Talia Appleton.
The repetitive 134km/83.3-mile course packed a serious punch with 2,690 metres/8,825 feet of climbing, gradually wearing down the field. Slovakia raced a smart race with a rider in the break at all times. Sofia Ungerová did a lot of the work for the country, staying out front with Finland's Wilma Antila for six laps. The breakaway was finally caught when, with 31 kilometres remaining, Chladoňová, Holmgren and Moors made the decisive move.
Homgren did a lot of work and even tried to shed her breakaway companion but Chladoňová held firm, surviving the Canadian’s attacks before coming around her in the sprint to claim the rainbow jersey.
"For sure, I wanted to win in front of a home crowd," Holmgren said in the press conference afterwards. "I'm disappointed to not win for Canada, but there were so many positives from today, so I can't be too upset."
Holmgren and Chladoňová both race on the WorldTour for Lidl-Trek and Visma-Leas a Bike, respectively, and know eachother well. As such, Holmgren knew the Slovakian has a kick and tried to avoid a sprint, but each time Chladoňová stayed with her.
“I gave everything on that first climb on the last lap, and it wasn’t enough to be solo. And then I tried again on the last climb, but once again, [Chladoňová] was able to follow," she said.
"In the end, it came down to a sprint, which isn’t ideal for me, but I did everything I could on the day."
Behind Homgren's medal was a collective Canadian effort. Alex Volstad and Kiara Lylyk kept the team near the front and covered attacks, while Holmgren's twin sister, Ava Holmgren, raised the pace on a climb after Holmgren asked for a harder race. Sydney Swierenga also covered moves and provided support.
"I think [the medal] was won by the whole team today, and I'm really proud of that.," Holmgren acknowledged.
"I'm just really grateful to have raced in Canada and to see everybody out supporting us," she said. "So I think it was a positive day altogether."
