Van der Duin takes Canyon-SRAM’s first podium at Ronde van Drenthe

Regardless of the result Guided tour of Drenthe would be a special race for Mike van der Duin (Canyon-SRAM). Born, raised and still living in Assen, less than 30km from VAMberg, the 21-year-old had been looking forward to her local race for a while, but finishing in third place was a surprise and Van der Duin sported a big smile on her covered in mud during a televised post-race interview with local RTV station Drenthe.

“It’s actually a dream. If someone had suggested this to me before the race, I would have agreed. I was hoping for it, but not really expecting it. perhaps also go in the wrong direction.

“I felt really good in the race and the last time I ran VAMberg in the top ten I thought, ‘OK, now everything is in the sprint. How great it would be to get the first podium.” for my team as a new contract.” It’s wonderful,” Van der Duin said.

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Van der Duin has only raced the Ronde van Drenthe once, finishing 69th in 2022 after a bad race, but her other on-track and off-track results – such as winning the interim sprint jersey on the Women’s Tour and finishing fifth and sixth at the stages. Tour de France Femmes – She received a two-year Women’s WorldTour contract with Canyon-SRAMannounced in September.

In October, the Dutchwoman finished second in the scratch and omnium races at the World Championships in Athletics, and she also started her 2023 season on the boards by finishing third in the knockout race at the European Championships before switching to the road for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. .

But track cycling once again played a part in her preparation for Ronda van Drenthe: “The weather was really bad last week, so I gave it my all on the track for three days. worked well,” Van der Duin said.

The 21-year-old now tops the Women’s WorldTour U23 rankings: she scored four points as the second best U23 rider at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and six points as the best young rider in Drenthe earned her 10 points – the same. as many as previous leader Henrietta Christie (Human Powered Health) but scored points in later races.