‘I came to win so I’m a bit upset’ – Isabella Holmgren unable to match French team in first women’s under-23 Worlds road race

“I came to win. I think everybody comes to win, so [I’m] a bit upset about that, but I gave it everything and my teammates gave their everything as well, so I’m super proud of that and just wasn’t the strongest today,” Holmgren said to Cyclingnews.

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It was the first separate race for the under-23 women at Road Worlds after three years of a combined race with the elite women, and the resulting confusion in terms of race tactics and team selections. The Rwandan fans packed the final climb to cheer on the women by banging on the barriers and drums.

“It was so amazing, such a cool experience to have road world championships in Rwanda, and the atmosphere was so good, especially the climbs,” Holmgren said. “It was a great race.”

With such a demanding circuit, there weren’t many major attacks or breakaways as attrition whittled down the peloton. Holmgren tried to spark a move on the third lap but was reeled in.

“No one really did any attacks at the start. I tried to do a decent pace on the climbs because I knew the repetitive effort is better for me, but the attacks really started closer to the last half of the race and that’s when it got super tough,” Holmgren said.

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“I think everyone was on the limit before the climb even started, so of course it was super tough. Everyone just went as hard as they could and then Manion Bunel attacked and that was a really smart move because she was able to get away with Célia and they were able to pull off the win.”

Canada had the numbers in the race, fielding a five-rider team to France’s three, but in the end, the trio of French riders proved to be the strongest in the race.

“My teammates helped a lot, especially with the positioning going into the climbs. Jenaya [Francis] was pulling me down into the last climb for many laps in a row, so it was really helpful. But the French are so strong, all three of them, so I think they did a really good job today.”