“Unfortunately, this time it is very annoying.” Limburg Olympic rower Lisa Scheenaard was the fastest woman in the past three editions, but cannot participate this year. “So I had to withdraw anyway and cannot defend my title.”
She set her fastest time in 2018, when she took 20 minutes and 28 seconds to complete the 8.5 kilometer tour, in wind force 7. The two editions after that, the wind force was stronger and she therefore took it slower. In 2020 (with wind force 9, the NK Headwind Cycling was also stopped earlier due to the strong wind) she crossed the Oosterscheldekering in 23 minutes and 8 seconds. Last year she covered the distance in 23 minutes and 53 seconds.
She is secretly disappointed about it, because it is an experience. That starts the moment you board the coach to be taken to the start. “You will be picked up with a large coach at Neeltje Jans,” she says. “That bus is very high and catches a lot of wind, so the driver often has difficulty closing the door correctly.” The same thing repeats itself when getting out. “That has a somewhat intimidating effect before you even get to the dike.”
She explained this morning in the radio broadcast what it feels like to pound 8.5 kilometers against the wind. Zeeland wakes up. “Your heart and lungs are on fire, so you have to be in pretty good shape. And what is perhaps most important: that you are reasonably comfortable and do not fall off your bike.”
Lisa Scheenaard was the fastest woman in the past three editions
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