Shirin van Anrooij - "I have mixed feelings. I just didn't have the legs for it today"

Shirin van Anrooij was unable to defend her title at the European Championships in Namur. She had a difficult start and had to settle for a bronze medal after her crash in the final lap.

"I have mixed feelings," she told WielerFlits. She continues, "At a championship, you always come to win, of course. That didn't work out today. I also just really didn't have the legs for it today. I already had a very bad start and a very bad first lap. Pretty soon, I noticed that coming second was also going to be quite difficult, so I was just hoping to finish on the podium."

She was well positioned for the silver, but fate had other plans for her. "In the last lap I also fell, almost losing my third place as well. In the end, glad I still finished third. Today there just wasn't more in it. Very disappointing, you hope to be good at a championship like this anyway."

She also missed the start and fell behind the peloton but soon recovered. “In the first lap, I was making mistakes all over the place, which was maybe the stress that comes with a championship like this. I didn't enjoy the race for a moment. I tried to make the best of it. That was third place today."

But one loss is not going to disappoint Van Anrooij. She now looks forward to the World Championship. “Actually, I went into the season to be good at the beginning of February at the World Championships. I also wanted to be good here but not to work towards that specifically. In between, I will go to Spain a few times for training stages. Then I do hope to ride a good Christmas and take a step towards the World Cup," concluded Van Anrooij.