There was a vision of a gold medal and rainbow jersey pulling Shirin van Anrooij toward the finish line in Maastricht as she launched a solo attack with under 15km to go at the UCI Gravel World Championships on Saturday.
However, a 20-second margin faded and was blown apart, and she was caught just a few hundred metres from the finish line by the charging group led by her Dutch teammates, Lorena Wiebes out-sprinting defending gravel winner Marianne Vos, for the title at the 2025 UCI Gravel World Championship.
Van Anrooij was shocked to finish without a signature career victory or even a medal.
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Italian Silvia Persico, who was second at the UCI Gravel Worlds in 2023, secured the bronze medal, and fellow Dutch rider Yara Kastelijn took fourth, six seconds ahead of Van Androoij, with Julia Kopecký of Czechia trailing in sixth.
Van Anrooij seemed dazed at the end, telling NOS, "My chance to win the world title has been taken away from me," and also reported by Wielerflits.
"I just don't understand why it has to be closed down now. It's clear: if someone is leading the race and is certain to become world champion, and they're from the same country, you let them go."
The 131km race for elite women at the fourth edition of UCI Gravel Worlds stayed together for much of the day through South Limburg in the Netherlands. With 52km to go, Romy Kasper (Germany) ignited the race with four Dutch riders - Femke Gerritse, Maud Rijnbeek, Wiebes and Vos.
Another 20km later, Kasper was gone and more riders joined in the front, including Van Anrooij, Persico, Kopecký and Kastelijn.
Across the top of the decisive climb at the Bronsdalweg with 15km to go, a trio of Dutch riders - Vos, Wiebes and Kastelijn - were in the lead with Persico joining and Van Anrooij chasing. Once the 23-year-old caught the group, she attacked solo and looked set for victory with a 20-second gap with 10km to go. Her ride looked charmed for gold.
That gap, however, was erased completely when Wiebes set her massive pedal strokes to warp speed and made the pass of Van Anrooij with 500 metres to go, holding off Vos by a wheel at the line.
But it was who was involved in the chase and catch that perplexed Van Anrooij, as Kopecký did the bulk of the work for 8km and then Dutch rider Kastelijn attacked her compatriot.
"I understand everyone wants to go for the title, but Persico still finishes third. Otherwise, we'd be one, two, three," Van Anrooij told NOS about her hopes to cross the line first, and then Wiebes and Vos could take the other medals. "So yeah, I'm just really disappointed.
"Ultimately, I think I was strong enough to stay ahead of them and become world champion here. I don't want to say too much about it; I don't want to say anything wrong. But I think this was my chance at the world title, and it was taken away from me.
"I understand that there are a lot of Dutch players here and that everyone ultimately wants to go for the title. I have nothing more to say about it," she closed and quickly left the mixed zone.
After the race, Cyclingnews spoke with Dutch team head coach Laurens ten Dam. He said the team was incredibly strong, and in the end it came down to an individual race for one world champion's jersey, with the plan always to have a Dutch rider win.
"It's a gravel race, so tactics look strange, but at the end, it's also more or less individual [racing]," he said.
"The two strongest were on the top two steps. But at the other end is the devastating last 300 metres, from Shirin van Anrooij. You know, she was about to win the Worlds and then she got caught, and fifth in the end. So she got nothing.
"I feel for her too, you know, like for that disappointment. So the feelings are mixed. It's just half an hour after the finish, those feelings are all dashed. I really feel for her."
Dashed indeed were the hopes of Van Anrooij, who had been on a comeback from iliac artery surgery at the end of her 2024 season. She missed the entire 2024-2025 cyclocross season and returned to road racing for spring Classics in March this year.
She finished fourth at the Dutch nationals in the time trial, followed by third place on stage 6 at the Giro d'Italia and fourth on stage 7 at the Tour de France Femmes.
The Lidl-Trek rider has been described by her trade team as "one of the most exciting young riders in the world" for her diversity on the road and off-road. Her calendar for cyclocross with Baloise Glowi Lions has not been confirmed yet.
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