Shirin van Anrooij Confused by Yara Kastelijn's Move: "World Title Chance Taken From Me

Shirin van Anrooij seemed on course for gold at the Gravel World Championships, but in the final kilometer, after a twelve-kilometer breakaway, she was caught by the chasers. She was disappointed afterwards not only because she didn’t become world champion, but also because her compatriot Yara Kastelijn was riding behind her.

"I feel like I have been a team player all these years," Van Anrooij said to NOS. "I just don’t understand why it had to be closed down now. It’s clear: if someone up front is definitely going to be world champion and they are from the same country, you let them ride. I get that everyone wants to go for the title, but Persico still finished third. Otherwise, we would have been one, two, three. So yes, I’m just really upset about it."

Yara Kastelijn
Julia Kopecky (competing for the Czech Republic at these Worlds, but the rest of the year teammate of winner Lorena Wiebes at SD Worx-Protime) led the chase on Van Anrooij for a long time. Afterwards, however, Yara Kastelijn took over. Van Anrooij doesn’t quite understand how Kastelijn closed the gap to her. "We were roommates at the Worlds. I just don’t get it. It’s understandable that Persico and Kopecky would chase behind."

"In the end, I think I was strong enough to stay ahead of them and become world champion here. I don’t want to say too much more about it, and I don’t want to say anything wrong. But I think this was my chance at the world title and it was taken away from me."

Van Anrooij is also upset because the atmosphere within the team had been very good in recent weeks. "I think we have never had such a great team feeling with Orange at a recent World or European Championship. I understand that there are a lot of people from the Netherlands here and that everyone ultimately wants to go for that title. I have nothing more to say about it."