Even the best riders in the world can get caught in a time trial, and on Sunday it was Demi Vollering's turn to suffer the indignity of being passed by a rider who started 90 seconds after her.
But the Dutch superstar took getting passed by eventual winner Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) with grace and good sportswomanship in the elite women's time trial of the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal.
"I already had a feeling because [my coach] was talking on the radio and then suddenly he was quiet for a bit. I was like, 'Ah, I think he needs to pull over to the side.'
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"Then I heard Marlen was coming [on the radio]. I even cheered her on, because she's such a time trial champion. When she passed me, I was like, 'Allez, Marlen!' because she was really flying, so I also really admire that kind of performance from her."
The assembled media expected more from the world's number one rider and Tour de France winner, but in the longest time trial for women in Worlds history, Vollering seemed satisfied with her result even if she finished eighth, 1:50 slower than the Swiss rider.
"Of course, I came for more. You can say 'I want gold', but in the end, if the others are stronger, it is how it is. I cannot change that anymore, and I had the feeling I did a good TT.
"Actually I was happy about my own performance. The legs were actually feeling good and I think I had a good rhythm. So yeah, I will check my power and my file this afternoon with my coaches, and then we'll see if I left something in the tank somewhere or not.
"But from the feeling, I had a good TT and good legs today. In the end, you see that the others are just more TT specialists, and they were just flying on this course."
The 39.2-kilometre course took riders from the lower slopes of Mont Royal, along and across the St. Lawrence River, around the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve F1 course and back across the Concorde Bridge. It was a varied route with less elevation but plenty of technical turns, and this is where Vollering might have given away some time.
"It went by pretty fast for my feeling, also because you could really split the course into different sections: a super technical part first, then a long, straighter section, the circuit, and then the way back. It was nice to have parts to cut up the course.
"I liked the course afterwards. To be honest, I didn't feel my cornering was that good — sometimes you have days like that where you go a bit square into the corners. But like I say, afterwards you cannot change that anymore."
Vollering has a second chance next weekend to fight for her first elite rainbow jersey in the women's road race, where her climbing legs will be put to the test on the 180.1 kilometre course with eight 13.4km laps of the punchy circuit in downtown Montreal.
"Next week is a totally different day, so let's focus on that now."
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