When Mischa Bredewold (Parkhotel Valkenburg) crossed the finish line in Arnhem as the winner of the final stage 6 of the 2022 Simac Ladies Tour, it was both the culmination of a long road back from a heavy injury in 2018 and the start of a new chapter as she claimed her first big victory.
“This wasn’t planned at all, I am really happy. It’s really cool, bizarre really. I felt so, so good today, it all went, I wouldn’t say easy, but I felt really good. Today was my day,” Bredewold was over the moon.
She and her teammates Kirstie van Haaften – who won the polka-dot jersey – and Quinty Schoens had been raising their arms every time the TV camera turned to them after the finish, and Schoens and Van Haaften broke in mid-interview to cheer their teammate who also took home the white U23 jersey after performing well all week, finishing in sixth place overall.
Describing her race-winning attack, Bredewold explained that the white jersey held her back a bit at first before she committed to the move.
“It was a great moment, but I was still in doubt because I didn’t want to be caught and then lose time for the white jersey. But Raymond Rol, my sports director, went in my ear, ‘you have to go all-out’, and Gasparrini also went all-out, she did so well," said Bredewold.
"Our cooperation was excellent, and then I sat there with the feeling, ‘Mischa, it’s all or nothing, either you get nothing, or you win a WorldTour race’. I simply had to do it, and I was happy with the sprint because Gasparrini is very fast, but I just felt so good today."
Recovery from serious injury
Mischa Bredewold (Parkhotel Valkenburg) at Simac Ladies Tour (Image credit: Getty Images)
On August 20, 2018, in her second junior season, Bredewold was hit by a truck during training and broke six ribs and three vertebrae as well as her pelvis bone and also suffered brain injuries. It took many months of physical and mental recovery until she could ride a bike again.
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Continuing with her former junior team that had become the U23 club team Rogelli-Gyproc-APB (now Continental team AG Insurance-NXTG), Bredewold did not race at all in 2019, her first elite season, and only did selected races in 2020, with a 13th place in the Trophée des Grimpeuses her stand-out result.
Bredewold then signed with Parkhotel Valkenburg for 2021, and after two seasons with the team,
The 22-year-old recently put pen to paper on a two-year contract with Team SD Worx, one of the top teams in the women’s peloton. Bredewold was happy that she could repay the faith of her soon-to-be-former team with a big victory.
“I have come such a long way. It was a long rehab, and then two years ago, I got the chance from the team manager to get on the team. That was purely on good faith as I really hadn’t done much, and I am so thankful to the team for all they have done. I am very happy that I could bring in this victory before I left, it’s fantastic," she said.
"Going to SD Worx next year is very nice, too, of course, but I am especially happy that I could do this with my current team, this was really a team performance,” Bredewold described her path in the last years.
Moving to one of the biggest teams in women’s cycling will be the next step in her career, and she has big dreams for the future.
“I want to win. I want to win it all. I want to win Flanders, and Amstel, and I want to become World Champion … but I am also in a bubble of euphoria right now. I am happy that it all worked out today, and I want to continue like this and hopefully get a lot more victories in the process,” Bredewold said.
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Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.
