CycloWorld collected on-the-spot reactions from a number of key players at the UCI World Gran Fondo in Trento, Italy.
Nicolien Luijsterburg (NL, winner F40-44). "I didn't even know I had won when I crossed the line! There were a few climbers riding away on the 1st climb and I didn't know exactly where they were. I just can believe I won, but it's so nice. It went perfectly today, I rode my own pace but I didn't know exactly what it was worth all day. I'm really so happy."
Stefan Kirchmair (AT, winner M19-34). "This was a very fast race, the pace was high and the competition was huge. At the finish I still had to navigate between a couple of competitors from the medio fondo, which was a bit weird. I'm very happy with this, I was one of the favorites and if you can win it in your first ever worlds that's very nice."
Frederic Glorieux (BE, 2nd in M40-44 after mechanical problems). "I have to recover from this. To come second again after a mechanical problem that's really frustrating. Maybe it's my spot? I find it hard to be satisfied with this, but I really think Patrick Hagenaars deserves this victory."
Patrick Hagenaars (BE, winner M40-44). "What a course, really totally my thing! I'm really incredibly happy. Of course, as an Austrian you prefer to win the ORM but this is still a very nice victory. I also think it was justified because I think I was the strongest uphill."
Johnny Hoogerland (NL, 6th in M35-39). "The Italians just played it really well, all due respect. Whether I'm frustrated? No, not at all. That time is behind me. I myself was somewhat just a bit tired. Obviously I would have preferred to win it myself but that was all there was to it."
Tim Alleman (BE, 3rd in M35-39). "At first I was disappointed because the group of favorites didn't work well together, giving a big lead to the Italians who got away early. But after looking at the times, I see that the strongest won and I'm very satisfied that I could then finally ride away from all the favorites to finish 3rd."
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Loïc Ruffaut (FR, 6th in M19-34). "I already felt on the 1st climb that I was not in my best shape and I started riding my own pace from then on. In the end I rode pretty well but the win just wasn't possible today. Whether I was tired after all those races? I don't think so, I was just a little off today."
Sieben Devalckeneer (BE, 3rd in M19-34)."Kirchmair was really catchable today, such a shame it didn't work out. I was so close. Still, I'm satisfied."
Martha Maltha (NL, winner in F35-39). "I had already given up. But at some point I started to believe in it again. I ignored all the numbers on my computer and went full gas. It's so great that it worked, I couldn't be happier".
Michiel Minnaert (BE, 18th in M19-34). "The pace on the 1st climb was already so high.... I was completely wasted that early in the race. Whether I thought about giving up? No, I really don't think that's respectful to the support who are on the mountain all day. In the end I went for it and 18th place is not a bad result. This was even stronger than estimated".
Olivier Godfroid (BE, 10th in M19-34). "I knew before that there was strong field of riders. This was even a little stronger than estimated. But am definitely satisfied from my first full GF season! 3 wins out of 6 races. Another 3rd, 4th and 10th. I'm going to take that into '23 and try to take another step(s)."
Rick Groeneweg (NL, 4th in M40-44). "I was aiming for top 10 so I'm super satisfied. Everything went smoothly and I pushed power numbers I didn't think I could do. I really can't go any faster than this so I'm super satisfied".
Full results can be found here.