A few hours after the third stage of the Tour de Suisse finished, Mischa Bredewold was still disappointed. The former European champion was beaten by Italy's Elisa Balsamo by the narrowest of margins. “There could have been more in it,” Bredewold concluded after replaying the stage several times in her head.
'Of course, Elisa Balsamo was super strong. Normally, my second gear in a sprint is better. You could argue that the finish line should have been a few metres further on, but the truth is that I should have started my sprint a few metres earlier. My timing was certainly not perfect. Balsamo's early dive into the inside corner gave her an advantage, but that's not where I lost the race. I just waited too long to start my sprint.'
Bredewold was certainly pleased with the lead-out the team did for her. 'It was perfect. Nobody made a mistake. In the end, I was on Blanka Vas's wheel, and our collaboration went perfectly. Blanka was very strong, and I trust her implicitly. This is only the first time we've sprinted together in a race like this, but we did regular lead-outs with each other at the training camp in February. We both know we have a strong sprint in us for these tougher stages. We also love these chaotic finishes.
While the first stage of the Tour de Suisse was disappointing for Team SD Worx-Protime, the team has shown resilience over the past two days. 'The first day was indeed well below par. Everyone had a bad day, and of course we were very disappointed. Maybe it was because of the heat, but it's not something you can afford to dwell on. We knew we had to change our approach. That's something we're good at. After Martha Lach came second in the second stage, I finished second too. It's a good result, but we could have done better. That's why I'm a little disappointed."