The cyclocross season finished less than a month ago, but it feels like a year or more. In the last three weeks I have covered my first ever women’s cycling races and its been quite an adventure so far, although there have been a few flops – more on that in another post. I want to write, briefly, about the first World Cup race: the Ronde van Drenthe.
After not achieving much at the Strade Bianche, I was adamant aboutnot messing up the Ronde. I prepared meticulously yesterday and it payed off handsomely. I brought my bike with me and I recced the course on it. While it was a rather painful four hour ride, two of which I spent in a headwind, it allowed me to see the course from the perfect angle. I marked interesting sections on my Garmin and as soon as I got back to the house, I made a detailed plan. Apart form the famed Vamberg, I found three more spots that I wanted to cover on race day.
My plan wasambitious and I knew that the schedule would be tight, so I needed some luck to make all of the planned spots. Luck came in the form of a stiff headwind for the ladiespeloton,which slowed significantly and enabled me to get to all of myspots comfortably ahead of time.
Below you can enjoy my favourite photos from the race – but if you want a complete experience, head over to Cyclingtips Ella, where you can see a different edit of my photos and Jessi Bravermans great writing.

3 comments
Balint…very different to cross, but great job. Going to be a big year for you.
Carl, thanks for your kind words! It is indeed a different beast, but I am enjoying it immensely. Glad you like the photos.
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