Van Vleuten shines in pink and can dream of yellow

Winner of the Giro d’Italia Donne for the third time in her career, Annemiek van Vleuten is ready to take on the first Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift at the end of July. After that, she’ll prepare for her retirement, but first, she has more conquests in sight.

To win, again and again. And again. Ever hungry for victory, Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team Women) has claimed another dominant triumph on the roads of the Giro d’Italia Donne, the longest stage race of the 2022 UCI Women’s WorldTour (10 days of racing from June 30 until July 10).

Returning to competition six weeks after she tamed the hills of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, the Dutch star offered new displays of strength on the longer Italian climbs to seal her overall victory in the pink jersey chase for the third time, following previous successes in 2018 and 2019.

As soon as the road rose, on stage 4, she took the stage and the leader’s jersey in Cesena. She then led the way until the finish in Padova, with another victory in Aldeno and spectacular long range battles against the likes of Mavi Garcia (UAE Team ADQ) and Marta Cavalli (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope), who rounded out the overall podium. Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo), Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma), Juliette Labous (Team DSM), Kristen Faulkner (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) and Chiara Consonni (Valcar-Travel & Service) also took prestigious stage wins.

“I'd like to contribute a bit more”

After a week in pink, the Dutch icon, also winner of the points classification (Ciclamino jersey), celebrated success with her Movistar companions, gifting them some of the distinctive jerseys that make her a unique rider.

"I'm super proud to have targeted this Giro with the Movistar Team, in a new experience for this organisation,” she said as the team captain. “It's nice to win, but it's even better to win together with such a great group. You can't do it alone at a stage race, and when teamwork comes together, it really gives more sense to a victory.”

A regular winner since way back at the former UCI Women Road World Cup in 2011, Van Vleuten has since amassed an extraordinary record of prizes. Having joined Movistar Team Women last year to propel the Spanish squad to the highest level of cycling she went on to dominate the 2021 UCI Women’s WorldTour standings, and is having a stellar 2022 as well.

“I’d like to contribute a bit more to the team’s improvement, just like I’ve done with the Movistar Team for the past two years, in 2023,” she announced just ahead of the Giro Donne, as she signed a new contract for the next year… her last one in the pro pelotons.

The conquest and the transmission

“The main reason, as I explained, to retire in 2023 is to do so while on top of my game, to round out that improvement process we and the team took up in 2021, and look for new challenges in life,” Van Vleuten explained.

With her Giro conquest, the Dutch leader has taken 19 victories since she joined the Movistar squad, including an Olympic Games gold medal in the individual time trial and 11 UCI Women’s WorldTour races. She leads the UCI Individual World Ranking and her teammates have also found their way to the forefront in her wake, with the likes of Arlenis Sierra, Emma Norsgaard Bjerg, Paula Patiño and Barbara Guarischi within the top 100.

“At first, we were all a bit stressed when she came, because she's number 1 in the world ranking, and we had to be up to helping her,” Patiño says. “I think she's happy, and we're happy as well. She's a great leader. We've learned a lot from her.”

Van Vleuten and her rising teammates will now head to a major challenge, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (July 24-31), where Van Vleuten will be among the hottest favourites to bring home the yellow jersey.

“Things went 99% great when it comes to (preparation for) the Tour de France - there's always something to improve, but we go with great confidence into that race,” said Van Vleuten after the Giro. “Now it's all about taking some offline time and recharging, mostly on the mental side - I had Giros when I was smashed, and it's not the case now. I'm going to chill, have fun, ride some days, and come back for the Tour."