Vollering delivers flawless rainbow jersey debut to defend European title

Demi Vollering (Netherlands) soloed to an emphatic victory to defend her European road race title in Šenčur, Slovenia, after powering clear on the brutal Možjanca climb with 14.6km remaining. 

In her first race since becoming the world champion in Montréal, Canada, Vollering arrived in Slovenia as the overwhelming favourite for victory and duly delivered. 

The Dutch set a devastating pace on the second ascent of Možjanca with Femke De Vries and Puck Pieterse.

Eventually, only Pieterse, Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Poland) remained at the head of the race, before Vollering launched her race-winning attack with 14.6km remaining. 

Niewiadoma-Phinney was unable to follow the move of Vollering and had Pieterse locked on her wheel, as the rainbow jersey sailed into the distance. 

Vollering continued to push the pace along the fast run-in back to Šenčur, where she had more than enough time to celebrate the defence of her title and first victory in the rainbow jersey. 

Behind, Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy), Antonia Niedermaier (Germany) and Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) made contact with Niewiadoma-Phinney and Pieterse in the contest for the remaining medals.

Niewiadoma-Phinney crashed in the final kilometre, before Pieterse won the sprint for silver to complete a Dutch 1-2. Reusser rounded out the podium.

Long before the riders hit the local circuit, Carina Schrempf (Austria) and Margot Vanpachtenbeke (Belgium) formed the early breakaway 

The peloton kept the duo on a tight leash, capping their advantage at a couple of minutes, with the Dutch contributing to the control of the chase. Lorena Wiebes also put in a significant shift on the front of the peloton during the early phase of the race.

Nerves began to fray as the final circuit approached, causing a crash in the peloton with 44km remaining.

However, the peloton kept the duo within a couple of minutes, with the Dutch team playing a key role in the chase as Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) contributed significantly.

There was a crash in the peloton with 44km remaining, just before passing the finish line for the first time, with the leading duo caught a few kilometres later. 

The race then hit the lower slopes of the brutal Možjanca climb, where Karlijn Swinkels (Netherlands) took the front and unleashed a blistering tempo. Her pace completely decimated the field to less than 15 riders. 

When Swinkels pulled off with 37km to go, Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) seized the momentum. 

Reusser's acceleration towards to the summit shattered the lead group down to just seven elite riders: Reusser, Juliette Berthet (France), Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy), Antonia Niedermaier (Germany), Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Poland), Puck Pieterse (Netherlands), and Demi Vollering (Netherlands).

Over the crest and onto the descent, a flurry of testing attacks from Niewiadoma-Phinney and Reusser failed to stick. As the front seven stalled and hesitated, a chasing group, notably containing three additional Dutch riders, successfully bridged the gap

Taking full advantage of the momentary regrouping and lack of cooperation, Franziska Koch (Germany) launched a surprise counter-attack with 28.2km remaining. 

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark) instantly glued herself to the German’s wheel, and the duo quickly established a 30-second advantage over the indecisive chasers. 

However, the pressure behind eventually began to mount; as they crossed the line to take the bell with 22km to go, the leading pair saw their advantage shaved down to a razor-thin 16 seconds.

As the duo were caught with 18.5km remaining, Liane Lippert (Germany) was next to go, and was followed by Noemi Rüegg (Switzerland) and Femke De Vries (Netherlands), and the trio also built up an advantage of over 10 seconds by the time they reached the Mozjanca climb with 16km to go.

The trio were shortly caught, but De Vries wasn’t finished, as the Visma rider set a stern tempo which only Pieterse, Vollering, Niewiadoma, Longo Borghini and Niedermaier could follow. 

With 15.3km to go, it was Pieterse who took over from De Vries, which saw Longo Borghini and Niedermaier start to slide.

Vollering made her move with 14.6 km remaining, to no response, and was well on her way to defending the European stripes.