An ecstatic Vollering, mixed emotions for Longo Borghini: What the stars said after Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Demi Vollering sprinted to victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège to take just the second-ever women’s Ardennes triple, after a strong showing from her SD Worx squad.

SD Worx got up the road early with Marlen Reusser getting into a breakaway with four other riders, including Amanda Spratt (Trek-Segafredo).

Also read: Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Demi Vollering completes the Ardennes triple

The race broke apart on the Côte de la Redoute with Reusser going solo up the road, but she would eventually be reeled back in on the approach to Liège. It was Vollering and Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) that would duke it out in a tense finale for the victory with the former having the power she needed on the line.

Here’s what the stars had to say after the race:

Demi Vollering (SD Worx) 1st

“It’s amazing, I cannot believe it. I’m so grateful for my teammates and I’m super proud. I was really happy that Elisa wanted to work with me and then in the last kilometer we really had to gamble. I knew I could gamble because I knew I had Marlen behind me, of course, and that made it a bit easier for me. I’m just really happy that I could win the sprint and take it home.

“I really wanted to win this one, especially because I had the chance to win three in a row and that’s a chance you don’t get every day so I really wanted to take this one home.”

Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) 2nd

“It was really a game, but first of all, I want to thank my teammates from Trek-Segafredo, they were amazing today. We executed the plan as Ina Teutenberg told us yesterday evening. We had Amanda Spratt in the early breakaway on the Stockeu and she stayed away, and Lizzie Deignan and Lucinda Brand were always keeping me and Gaia Realini up the front and when we caught Amanda we were bombing down the descent with her and Shirin [van Anrooij].

“We managed to take Roche-aux-Faucons with a gap and I paced myself there because I knew that Vollering would have gone. As soon as she went, I tried to keep her pace. We ended up in a sprint, which I am a bit unsatisfied from, but in the end she was stronger, chapeau to her, and I hope to have another sprint with her next time. We’ll have to train a bit more on the sprints.

“I’m very happy. We had a good Ardennes campaign with Shirin van Anrooij in Amstel and Gaia Realini in Flèche and now me in Liège.”

Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM) 5th

“We had Kasia Niewiadoma in the breakaway and she had a puncture, unfortunately. Probably, she would have been able to stay at the front with Marlen Reusser and the other two girls. I was already cooked on the last climb, so it was hard to attack but I gave it my best.

“[On the Roche-aux-Faucons] Elisa went on the downhill and Demi Vollering left a gap, and I wasn’t able to close the gap. Elisa Longo Borghini went with Marlen Reusser. Maybe with my legs today I could have followed Longo Borghini but not Vollering.”

Marlen Reusser (SD Worx) 3rd

I didn’t expect to be strong, to be honest, I had a bit of a hard week. I was a little bit afraid that my legs would be very bad, so I don’t know how I found myself on this good breakaway. We gave it a go and in the car they said to ride. I understood that the legs are not that bad, I’m still pretty quick. I knew it was still super long until the finish. I was expecting that at a certain point that they would catch us back. I’m super happy with this first place [of Vollering], it was another perfect day.