Demi Vollering (Netherlands) won the women’s road race at the World Championships (Canada) on 26 September, in a 2-up sprint, in 4h45’09”. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Poland) was second, Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) third.
The race
The women’s road race started in Brossard and finished in Montréal, after 180 kilometres. To approach the city, the riders covered a long transfer section. They then entered the 13.4-kilometre city circuit, to be lapped eight times, with the Camillien-Houde as the main climb.
A few kilometres in, four riders went clear and built a lead of about 4 minutes. The Netherlands led the bunch throughout the first part. Puck Pieterse raised the pace on the Camillien-Houde, and the bunch thinned out.
On the flat, a crash split the lead group. The defending champion, Canada’s Magdeleine Vallières, and Spain’s Paula Blasi also went down. Vallières was unable to get back on and abandoned. About 38 riders remained in the lead group.
The race was decided three laps from the finish. Pieterse pulled on the Camillien-Houde and Vollering attacked straight after. She caught France’s Maeva Squiban, who was out in front alone, and held an advantage of 15-20 seconds for many kilometres. Behind, Niewiadoma and Elisa Longo Borghini chased, with Juliette Berthet and Marlen Reusser close by.
Shortly before the last lap, Niewiadoma and Longo Borghini caught Vollering. Berthet got back on soon after and the four began the last lap together. Longo Borghini attacked immediately and gained a few seconds. On the Camillien-Houde, Vollering took up the pace again, dropped Berthet and caught Longo Borghini. Only Niewiadoma managed to stay on her wheel.
The finale was a duel. Niewiadoma left most of the work to Vollering. She responded to an acceleration of hers on the final climbs, but could not open a gap. In the last kilometres each tried to put the other at the front. In the final kilometre Niewiadoma cramped. Vollering beat her with a surge in the last 200 metres.
Longo Borghini finished third, 4″ back, ahead of Reusser, fourth at 8″: the Swiss rider had tried to rejoin the leaders, without success. For Vollering, 30, it is a first world title. In 2026 she had already won the Tour de France Femmes and the Giro d’Italia Women.
The best-placed Italian is Elisa Longo Borghini, 3rd at 4″. 49 riders finished out of 138 starters.
How they finished
The top ten
| # | Rider | Country | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Demi Vollering | Netherlands | 4h45’09” |
| 2 | Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney | Poland | s.t. |
| 3 | Elisa Longo Borghini | Italy | +4″ |
| 4 | Marlen Reusser | Switzerland | +8″ |
| 5 | Juliette Berthet | France | +39″ |
| 6 | Puck Pieterse | Netherlands | +1’36” |
| 7 | Célia Gery | France | +2’55” |
| 8 | Dominika Wlodarczyk | Poland | +4’16” |
| 9 | Maeva Squiban | France | +5’48” |
| 10 | Franziska Koch | Germany | +5’51” |
The race in numbers
- Selection index
- 92 out of 100 Of 49 finishers: 4 within 30 seconds of the winner, 6 within 2 minutes, 34 within 10 minutes (her included). It runs from 0, a bunch sprint, to 98, a solo finish.
News written with the help of Mnemosyne.
Sources
- Results and times: UCI, official results.
- Photo: Cs-wolves, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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