15 October 2016 – Doha, Qatar : Highlights of the press conference with gold medal winner Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark), silver medal winner Kirsten Wild (Netherlands) and bronze medal winner Lotta Lepisto (Finland).

Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark) - gold
On being in the ranks of Marianne Vos and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, who also won both the junior and the Elite title :
“It’s unbelievable. I hoped for top-ten when I came to race. I’m only twenty years old and it was a goal for future. To be able to take it now is unbelievable.”

On the heat :
“I felt pretty great for the entire race. I had amazing teammates, we had only a team of three girls that was not so many, but they kept bringing me bottles so that I did not have to go into feeding zone. When I crashed, they brought me back. I have to say a big thank you to the girls.”

On the strong Dutch girls :
“It’s a World Championships, it’s a really hard race. I just try to stay calm, be in front of the peloton and not to waste to much energy. To outsprint Kirsten Wild in the end I couldn’t believe it, something I never dreamed of. She’s a world class sprinter.”
On her expectations beforehand :

“Of course I always go to a race wanting to have the best result. I did not know how I could handle the heat, I managed to keep eating and drinking and in the end I won this medal, and to be able to take the gold is a dream come true.”

On what was more difficult, winning the sprint or getting in Kirsten Wild’s wheel :
“That’s a hard question. Everybody wanted the wheel. Everybody knew that Kirsten was the sprinter to beat, so it was both pretty hard.”

On her future :
“I still have lots of dreams. My goal was to win these stripes. I want to be more consistent in my rides. I want to be a top-class sprinter. My aim is to take an Olympic medal as well.“

Kirsten Wild (Netherlands) - silver
On her feelings about the silver :
“Of course I hope to win the gold medal. That’s the same for everybody I guess. I have to say that I’m a bit disappointed. We did a very good, strong race with the team. I can’t blame anything but myself.
“Now it feels like losing gold.”

On what she could have done differently to win :
“I looked behind when we started the last corner, and I saw Amalie in my wheel and I thought it’s going to be a hard one, because she’s really strong. We had only two girls in front so I knew it would be hard. I was a little bit early, but she was really strong and got me in the last metres.”

On why the Dutch girls are so strong :
“For us this course is like Holland, only the fields in Holland are green instead of yellow, and the cows are camels here. That’s not really a secret.”

On her crash :
“I crashed early in the race, but there was not much panic, I think we said it’s all fine and let’s go again.”

On Dutch tactics :
“We were a strong team, it would have been a bit stupid to wait for the sprint, because these girls are so strong. If we attack we could probably isolate the other strong teams like, the Australians, the Belgians, so it was the plan to isolate the other girls while we still would have a big squad to do the lead-out in the end.”

On development in women’s cycling :
“The level of women’s cycling is improving a lot by this World Tour. It’s always like a circle : with more media attention, teams gets more money, more sponsors. It’s good we are here, we had a nice, attractive race and people can see that we race at really high level.”

Lotta Lepisto (Finland) - bronze

On winning the first senior individual Finnish medal at the World Championships :
“Of course I’m proud of that. We got medal already in the Team Time Trial. And I was capable to have my own individual medal and I’m really happy about that.”

On the good Scandinavian results in Qatar :
“I would say that we are really tough. We have cold winters, When we were kids we were used to this type of conditions and we were practicing a lot and training a lot. We have a really tough mentality.”

On gold medallist Amalie Dideriksen :
“She’s really a young track rider as well, a really fast girl and really tough. We had a big fight for the wheel of Wild in the last kilometre. Amalie was there also, but she was a little bit smarter than me in the end she started earlier.”

On the final kilometres :
“Last few kilometres I just thought : hold the wheel, hold the wheel, don’t give up. And I was exploding with only 200 metres to go. I knew I have to go sprint as fast as I could.”

On what she did to stay fresh in the final :
”We had a four-rider team today, my team is one of the strongest in the field. They showed me today that they have this national spirit. They did everything for me today. I needed to be careful if there was a breakaway. There was one moment where it was dangerous, so I had to use my power there. But I think I managed well to save myself.”

On the 2016 World Championships :
“The organisation has been really well-organised. It’s been really good. It’s different to what it’s been in the past years. I think it was very nice for me here, because the Rio race was really hard and I was not one of the favourites there.”

On what’s in store for the future :
“Well The Word Championships are in Norway next year. I heard that it’s a hard course and I want to do everything to win there, and of course it would be fun to win Flanders.”

Leah Kirchmann (Canada) - 14th place
It was a hard and fast race. We tried as hard as we could, but we just couldn’t catch the leaders. I’m a bit disappointed.

Lotta Lepisto (Finland) - Bronze
The course was very technical and the corners very sharp. I knew I had to always stay in the front. It wasn’t easy. My teammates, although they’re not the strongest riders around, stuck together. The national spirit was there for all to see.

Nikola Noskova (Czech Republic) - DNF
It was a tough race for me, especially as I’m a climber. Flat races aren’t my strength. But this was my first competition at the senior level, so I’m really happy.

Sofie De Vust (Belgium) - 94th place
It was a hard and fast race. With some of the next sprinters in the world here, it was a tough race to control. We were very strong as a team.

Tiffany Cromwell (Australia) - 48th place
I had hoped to control the race and sprint to the finish. But I had a crash midway and it was tough to get back. The Dutch train was almost impossible to catch.

Chantal Hoffmann (Luxembourg) - 67th place
In the beginning, the race was slow. Everyone was cautious. But it got crazy in the feeding zone. Everyone were coming so close together. Had to try hard not to crash.

Annasley Park (UK) - 82nd place
It was a tough race, very fast. I charged as fast as I could. I was involved in a few attacks. But ultimately, I couldn’t pull through.

Jelena Eric (Serbia) - 24th place
It was a fast race. The speed went up considerably in the last two laps. It became really hectic towards the end. But I enjoyed it immensely.

Amber Neben (USA) - 98th place
My role today was to attack late. It worked out to an extent. I was alone for some time and I dug hard into my reserves towards the end. But my legs weren’t there in the end. I felt it was a lot cooler than the ITT.

Lisa Klein (Germany) - 80th place
I didn’t think the race was too fast. I didn’t have a good last lap and that affected my final standings. I’m not happy with myself.

Trixi Worrack (Germany) - 73rd place
My break went bad and that caused me several issues. Coming to Doha, I was in hospital for some time. I prepared as best as I could. I had been training with friends and teammates.

Danielle King (UK) - 56th place
It was a good race and the team rode well. We should be proud how we performed as a team.

Kirsten Wild (The Netherlands) - Silver
It would’ve been good if there were more breakaways. But I’m not really disappointed. It’s my birthday today and I’m going to have a party tonight.

Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark) - Gold
It was an unbelievable win for me. I had expected to finish in the top-ten, but winning the rainbow jersey is unbelievable. Full credits to my teammates for bringing me back after the crash. They kept passing water bottles to me and ensuring that I was always with the lead pack.

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