"Their strength is also their weakness": competitor explains where things sometimes go wrong for Dutch team

Chloé Dygert seemed like she had been defeated but still managed to secure second place at the women's elite World Championships on Saturday. The American was outpaced by Lotte Kopecky in the final sprint toward Sechseläutenplatz but was still pleased with the silver medal in Zürich. She addressed the global media during the post-race press conference.

"Honestly, I didn’t even want to race this morning," she began. "So, walking away with silver is, in a way, like gold for me. I got boxed in during the sprint, and you can analyze it a thousand times, but in a sprint against Kopecky, second place was probably the best I could hope for."

After the race, Dygert was seen sitting on the asphalt, holding her leg. It turned out to be the same leg that she seriously injured in a crash during the 2020 Time Trial World Championships in Imola. "Especially when it's cold, that leg doesn’t feel well. But I’ve learned to deal with that pain," the 27-year-old American explained.

The cold really took a toll on the riders' bodies. "I was shaking all over, and I didn’t even realize how cold I was. I started with a rain jacket, but I got too hot in it, so I took it off. Eventually, I got really cold again. Luckily, I had to chase really hard in the final lap, so that kept me from getting cold," she laughed.

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Dygert on Dutch tactics: "Their strength is also their weakness"

The third-place finisher in the Time Trial World Championships stood on the World Championship podium for the second time in a week, something that didn’t seem likely in the final kilometers. After being dropped earlier, she and Australian Ruby Roseman-Gannon only managed to rejoin the leaders in the last kilometer. This was partly due to the Dutch tactics, which involved several bursts of action followed by slowdowns.

"I think the Dutch team works really well together, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out," Dygert said. "Their strength is also their weakness, because multiple riders want to go for the win. But they are strong and give everything for the victory. There’s really not much more to say about that."

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