The Dutch women came into this Road World Championships in Montreal with a unique strategy compared to previous years; the nucleus centred on one rider. While it may seem obvious that Demi Vollering, the world's top rider, would lead the charge, it wasn't a slam dunk.
The decision breaks from the multi-faceted options used in the past by the Dutch team. Vollering is a prolific winner, but she has never won a world or national title. But you can't ignore that she is a European Champion, has two yellow jerseys from the Tour de France Femmes and plenty of momentum coming into Canada.
"She is incredibly focused, that's true. Two days after the Tour de France, I got the first message already from her, 'OK, job's not finished'. I was like, 'OK, she's on'," Laurens ten Dam, the Dutch coach, told Cyclingnews on Thursday evening.
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"I think 10 days after the Tour de France, I saw her [at a F1 race] and I saw the fire in her eyes. It showed me that she's not done yet with the season. She wants to have this jersey for next season, so that's the most important."
He said the team selection was made looking at all results, as well as how races unfolded. While there is no Marianne Vos or Anna van der Breggen out with illness – Ed.], he said the team was solid and "Demi is the biggest chance of winning".
"I think Laurens especially did a really good job with [team selection]. He had a lot of contact with everyone, and he also reported back to me. All the girls are fully on board with that," Vollering told a small media gathering, including Cyclingnews, two days before the road race.
"We have a nice selection here and also really a luxury position representing the Netherlands. We have Anna [van der Breggen] out, of course, and Chantal [van den Broek-Blaak, retired – Ed.] is out, but in the end I don't necessarily think that we have a lesser team here.
"I really think that we have a very nice plan that is super clear for all of us, but of course I'm not going to tell you that. We can say afterwards, I think," she laughed.
This year she lines up with Karlijn Swinkels, Riejanne Markus, Lieke Nooijen, Puck Pieterse, Amber Kraak and Femke De Vries. Last year, Markus was fifth in the Worlds road race, while Swinkels is in form, having recently won the GP de Wallonie.
"I also kind of like specific pressure, that all these riders are [supporting] you now. That ultimately gives me that extra percentage on the course later, during the race, to be able to finish it off, and I actually thrive on that. [It is] a bit of a sense of responsibility to also give the girls a reward for their work."
The reigning European Champion goes back to work at her first UCI race since winning back-to-back Grand Tours. And before that, she dominated the spring with wins at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the Tour of Flanders, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège for a third time.
"I think I'm in good shape, but in the end, you only really start feeling that when you're riding around on the course and when you also see the competition," she said.
"I also think this is a course where, if you don't have the absolute best legs, you can still come a very long way. So even if the feeling isn't 100%, then you should never lose hope, because it's so long. I think it can really become a very interesting race in that regard."
The elite women face a hilly 180.1km route that favours Vollering, with the closing Mount Royal circuit done eight times, featuring the Camillien-Houde climb.
Her Worlds road race history consists of a silver in Glasgow, fifth in Zurich, and seventh places in Leuven and Kigali. She wants to add a rainbow jersey, but it is not ever-present in her mindset going into race day.
"Hopefully this is the reward, but we don't know; that is something we don't have in control. But what we do during the race, we have control, so that's more what I thought.
"This year I've shown that whether the climbs are shorter or longer, that I'm in a position to make a difference in different places. I definitely think it can be a Demi-course if it's just made hard enough."
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