"The other teams, which also have increasing budgets, are not giving a damn," he critiques. "For example, years ago Canyon//SRAM was one of the leading teams in women's cycling, today they are not really competing except for a desperate attempt by Soraya Paladin. Movistar especially missed Van Vleuten, because Lianne Lippert was quite good. She was actually the only one who rode dominantly up the Cauberg.
Absent from the start line on Sunday was last year's Amstel Gold Race winner,
Marta Cavalli, someone who Bakelants believes could challenge the all-conquering
Demi Vollering and
Lotte Kopecky. The Italian is still recovering mentally from her horrific crash at the Tour de France Femmes. "At a certain point you have to get over that if you want to be a rider, or you have to stop: it's that simple," says Bakelants. “Either you turn the knob and get back on the bike, or you dwell on it, but then you can no longer be a professional cyclist. So it's about time she worked on that."