The script fits in two lines. Neira breaks away with Matilde Rossignoli and Anja Grossmann, Maria Okrucińska and Mirthe Mons come back in the final kilometres, and Neira wins the sprint by passing Okrucińska. The rider from Santiago de Compostela calls it “the most beautiful day of my life”.
She told WielerFlits she had “lost a bit of confidence” when the duo caught back on, because “Maria has a really good sprint”, and that she decided to stay on her wheel. Sandrine, at the workshop, caught only one word.
The wheel. Everyone says “stay on the wheel” as if it were a tactic. I hear a part. A rear wheel, with a tyre, a pressure, spokes tensioned or not. You sit right behind her through the whole sprint, you’d better hope it’s running true, mind you. She says she lost confidence. Where I work, confidence is a tight headset: you don’t feel it, and the day there’s play in it, it’s all you think about. She got it back in time, so it was sorted. I’ll go and check the truing on the club’s wheels, then.
Neira succeeds Paula Ostiz, her friend, with whom she’ll ride at Movistar from next year. It’s Spain’s fourth title at these World Championships.
Two friends in the same team. They’ll talk about the project. Me, I’ll ask who pumps up whose tyres in the morning. That’s how friendships end in a club, hein.
It’s true, we checked: WielerFlits.
