Lorena Wiebes will be the sole leader of a powerful Dutch team in the elite women’s race on August 4 at the Paris Olympic Games.
National coach Loes Gunnewijk confirmed the decision to appoint Wiebes as the team leader in an interview with NOS but also stated that the four-rider selection provides for options across different race scenarios.
“Lorena will be the leader. We have several irons in the fire. The competition will have a hard time with this group,” Gunnewijk said.
The Dutch team announced the elite women’s team earlier this week, which also includes Tour de France champion Demi Vollering, former multi-time world champion and Olympic champion Marianne Vos and three-time time trial world champion Ellen van Dijk.
Vollering and Van Dijk will also compete in the individual time trial on July 27.
“It was not an easy choice,” Gunnewijk said. “The level of the Dutch riders is high. Based on the course, we have developed different scenarios. We looked at the possible course of the race, the time trial and the skills required. These four names belong to that.”
The elite women’s road race is a 158km event that starts and finishes at the Eiffel Tower on the Pont d’Iéna between the tower and the Trocadéro Gardens. The women will race a larger loop of 110km before returning to complete two laps of an 18.4km circuit.
The course has been compared to that of the Tour of Flanders in terms of its challenging, short but sharp ascents along a one-day classics-type route.
Gunnewijk stated that the route wasn’t the only deciding factor in determining who would race for the Dutch team; other factors included the riders’ strengths, personalities, and how well they fit together as a team.
She said the longlist also attended a type of training camp that focused on team-building exercises.
“We organised team days for this purpose and carried out personality analyses,” she said. “We looked at how they can best use each other’s qualities and how they can strengthen each other in this regard.”
