‘If I had the legs, then I would have been alone’ – Canadian star Isabella Holmgren’s blueprint for gold turns to silver in women’s U23 road race at Road Worlds

“I think if I had the legs, then I would have been alone. In the end, it came down to a sprint, which isn’t ideal for me. But I did everything I could on the day.”

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The plan did not include a sprint finish. One of Isabella Holmgren’s four teammates, Kiara Lylyk, said after the race that they agreed the night before for each rider to take turns on early and late laps to move their leader safely around the 13.4km circuit. Isabella Holmgren was then prepped for a solo attack on the penultimate circuit.

With three laps to go, Team Canada had three riders in the front group of around 20 riders: Isabella Holmgren, Ava Holmgren and Sidney Swierenga. Viktória Chladoňová (Slovakia) moved close to the front and reacted with Isabella Holmgren when Fleur Moors (Belgium) accelerated with 31km remaining.

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“Yeah, Viki went, so I knew I needed to be there, and I had to follow her. And then with one lap to go, we knew that we had to try to lose Fleur on the first climb because you don’t want to sprint Fleur, you probably won’t win,” the silver medallist recalled, laughing lightly.

On the final lap of the Women Under-23 Road Race, Isabella Holmgren (Canada) tried to drop Viktória Chladoňová (Slovakia) before the sprint finish (Image credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

“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, Viki was able to follow.

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“I just had to give everything I could [in the final uphill of 600 metres], because you can see the line. So really, you just have to empty the tank until you get there. I knew maybe I don’t have the upper hand in a sprint, but I still had to try because yeah, you never know.”

Before the trio escaped, Isabella said she communicated with all her teammates, as there were no race radios. But they knew each rider had a job.

“I think Alex and Kira did a really good job at keeping us closer to the front and making sure no attacks were going. And then Ava asked me if she could do anything later on in the race, and I told her it had to be a bit harder, so she did a really, really strong climb. I was happy that the race was getting harder because I think that’s more suited to me.”

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That was with four and three laps to go, and then she found herself launching into a three-rider break one lap earlier than she wanted to go. Then it came down to the pair of highly-motivated racers who wanted the rainbows, the Slovakian who was second in the U23 road race last year in Kigali and the Canadian on home roads who was sixth last year.

“In the end, I wasn’t the strongest today, but I’m really proud of Viki. She’s such a nice competitor, so she really deserved it,” Isabella said.

“For sure, I wanted to win in front of a home crowd and finish the work that all of my teammates did to help me today. But yeah, it’s easy to be disappointed. But I think I just need to be really happy with how the race went and how we raced as a team.

“There were so many people cheering for us on the side of the road. It is so special just hearing my name. I could hear my friends and family cheering, but there were also just so many people that I didn’t know supporting me and supporting Team Canada.

“It’s definitely super special to race at home. I’ve never had a big international race like this in Canada. So, it was just such an amazing day. I’m just so grateful for the crowd.”