HOW TO WIN THE TOUR OF FLANDERS
MIRJAM MELCHERS
WINNER IN 2005 AND 2006
After finishing fourth in the inaugural Tour of Flanders Dutch rider Mirjam Melchers went on to win the next two editions
“In those years we were really struggling to get a bit more professionalism and that we could compete in those races really helped: we made a big step forward.
When you start cycling it’s always a bit of a search for your strong points and after my fourth place, I had the feeling I could do some good results in Flanders.
The second time was my toughest race ever. It was an early escape, 40km from the finish, I was one minute ahead of Christiane Soeder and then she came back to me in the last 3k. My legs were really bad, it was really bad weather and I had cramps everywhere, so I had to adjust the pace and my power.
I knew she would come back, so what could I do? I knew she was not the fastest but I wasn’t sure with the legs I had. However, I still managed to be able to think about the final and how I would play it. It had to be a very short sprint because if it was too long I would have a big problem. I tricked her, made a move and
