Dutch people have a reputation for going straight to the point when delivering their verdict about situations and people, and when it comes to her current status as a racer, certainly nobody could ever accuse 2024 Tour de France Femmes podium finisher Pauliena Rooijakkers of being indirect.
Now 32, the Dutch all-rounder has already secured a huge array of top-10 and top-five placings across stage races and all three Grand Tours, helping Rooijakkers maintain a lengthy, high-flying career in teams as prestigious as CCC-Liv, Canyon-SRAM, Fenix-Deceunink and now UAE Team ADQ.
Her attitude towards new teammate Elisa Longo Borghini, the undisputed top name at UAE Team ADQ and with 56 wins in her palmarès, is particularly revealing in that aspect. She’ll be happy to play a team role for Longo Borghini, she says – a rider she hugely admires – and that’s partly why she was signed for UAE. But the chance of going for her own results in the team very much forms part of her personal equation as well.
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