# 2007 Vrienden van het Platteland season

The 2007 women's road cycling season was the eighth season for the Vrienden van het Platteland (UCI code: VVP) cycling team, which began as Ondernemers van Nature in 2000.
The main victories on the road for the team were the time trial at the Tour of Chongming Island by Ellen van Dijk and the Norwegian and Dutch Time Trial Championships by Anita Valen and Ellen van Dijk. On the track Van Dijk also won the individual pursuit at the Dutch National Track Cycling Championships. At the end of the year the team ended 23rd in the UCI Team's Ranking with Ellen van Dijk as the best individual at the 37th place in the UCI Individual Women's Road Ranking.

## Roster

Ages as of 1 January 2007.
| | Rider | Date of birth |
| Liesbeth Bakker (NED) | Liesbeth Bakker (NED) | (1986-07-01)1 July 1986 (aged 20) |
| Janne Brok (NED) | Janne Brok (NED) | (1987-06-07)7 June 1987 (aged 19) |
| Katie Brown (AUS) | Katie Brown (AUS) | (1983-02-02)2 February 1983 (aged 23) |
| Ellen van Dijk (NED) | Ellen van Dijk (NED) | (1987-02-11)11 February 1987 (aged 19) |
| Yvonne Leezer (NED) | Yvonne Leezer (NED) | (1987-02-09)9 February 1987 (aged 19) |
| Emma Mackie (AUS) | Emma Mackie (AUS) | (1984-09-09)9 September 1984 (aged 22) |
| | Rider | Date of birth |
| Anita Valen (NOR) | Anita Valen (NOR) | (1968-12-12)12 December 1968 (aged 38) |
| Monique van de Ree (NED) | Monique van de Ree (NED) | (1988-03-02)2 March 1988 (aged 18) |
| Moniek Rotmensen (NED) | Moniek Rotmensen (NED) | (1986-04-25)25 April 1986 (aged 20) |
| Monique Verstraten (NED) | Monique Verstraten (NED) | (1983-04-24)24 April 1983 (aged 23) |
| Jaccolien Wallaard (NED) | Jaccolien Wallaard (NED) | (1982-09-30)30 September 1982 (aged 24) |
Sources
* Rider
* Liesbeth Bakker (NED)
* Katie Brown (AUS)
* Emma Mackie (AUS)
* Anita Valen (NOR)
* Monique van de Ree (NED)
* Jaccolien Wallaard (NED)
* Rider
* Chantal Beltman (NED)
* Heidi de Voogd (NED)
* Corrien van Haastert (NED)
* Esther van der Helm (NED)
* Iris Slappendel (NED)
* Sharon van Essen (NED)

## Season

The first podium place for the team was a third place for Jaccolien Wallaard at Omloop Het Volk in March. In May Ellen van Dijk finished third at Omloop van Borsele and in the time trial stage at the Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin. Van Dijk finished third again in an international time trial at the Tour of Chongming Island Time trial in June. The day afterwards Van Dijk won the first stage of the Tour of Chongming Island with Wallaard in third place. After finishing second in the stage 2 and stage 3 Van Dijk ended also second in the general classification. In July Ellen van Dijk represented the Netherlands at the European Championships (under-23) and finished fifth in the time trial. At the national championships Anita Valen won the time trial in Norway and finished second in the road race. In the Netherlands Ellen van Dijk won the Dutch time trial championships. Due to Van Dijks' good results in the time trials she was chosen to represent the Netherlands in the time trial at the World Championships in Stuttgart where she finished 17th. Due to her good results Ellen van Dijk became sportswomen of the year of Woerden. Van Dijk was invited to join the Dutch national track cycling team. At the national track championships she became Dutch champion in the individual pursuit, ahead of Marianne Vos and Kirsten Wild, and finished fourth in the scratch race and points race.

## Results
### Season victories

Single day and stage races 2007 :
| Date | Nation | Race | Cat. | Winner |
| 3 June | China | Stage 1 Tour of Chongming Island | 2.2 | Ellen van Dijk |
National, Continental and World champions 2007 :
| Date | Discipline | Winner |
| 29 June | Norwegian National Time Trial Champion | Anita Valen |
| 15 August | Dutch national time trial champion | Ellen van Dijk |
| 30 December | Dutch National Track Cycling Champion – Individual pursuit | Ellen van Dijk |

## Results in major races

Results at the 2007 UCI Women's Road World Cup races :
| # | Date | Race | Country | Best rider | Place |
| 1 | 3 March | Geelong World Cup | Australia | - | - |
| 2 | 8 April | Tour of Flanders for Women | Belgium | Ellen van Dijk | 40th |
| 3 | 12 April | Ronde van Drenthe | Netherlands | Ellen van Dijk | 15th |
| 4 | 25 April | La Flèche Wallonne Féminine | Belgium | - | - |
| 5 | 13 May | Tour de Berne | Switzerland | - | - |
| 6 | 2 June | Coupe du Monde Cycliste Féminine de Montréal | Canada | - | - |
| 7 | 5 August | Open de Suède Vårgårda | Sweden | Anita Valen | 13th |
| 8 | 1 September | GP de Plouay | France | - | - |
| 9 | 16 September | Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt | Germany | Anita Valen | 15th |
* ↑ As part of the Dutch national team
Results in other major single day races :
| Date | Race | Rider | Place |
| 3 July | European Road Championships – Women's under-23 time trial | Ellen van Dijk | 5th |
| 5 July | European Road Championships – Women's under-23 road race | Ellen van Dijk | 11th |
| 23 September | Road World Championships – Women's time trial | Ellen van Dijk | 17th |
* ↑ Riders are in these championships part of the national team

## UCI World Ranking

The team finished 23rd in the UCI ranking for teams.
Individual UCI World Ranking :
| Rank | Rider | Points |
| 37 | Ellen van Dijk | 145 |
| 120 | Anita Valen | 34 |
| 145 | Jaccolien Wallaard | 22 |
| 356 | Monique van de Ree | 3 |