Anna van der Breggen has confirmed that she'll make a stunning return to road racing next season, three years after retiring.
The 34-year-old, a former Olympic and triple world champion, hung up her wheels at the end of the 2021 season to take on a directeur sportif role at SD Worx-Protime. But she'll be back in 2025, racing in SD Worx colours, after the team confirmed an earlier report from Dutch broadcaster NOS in a press conference on Thursday.
Van der Breggen, who last raced at the Leuven Worlds in 2021, said that she's motivated and excited to return, noting that the break from racing gave her a chance to look at the sport "from a different angle."
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"The motivation is great to get back on the bike after three years," Van der Breggen said. "It's an exciting decision. If I didn't feel the motivation, I would never be able to do this. That was also the reason why I decided to stop in 2021 after the Tokyo Olympics. I had been doing the same thing for years and felt I was tired.
"I was able to win a lot of competitions, but physically and mentally it also takes a lot out of you. After a three-year period where I looked at cycling from a different angle, I feel that the motivation and the will to cycle is completely back.
"I am excited to come back. To suffer on the bike again and to race with the team again. I realise now how much I love the game, the sport and the competition."
Van der Breggen said that her mindset about racing will be "different" upon her return to racing. Having already won so many of the biggest races on the calendar, her focus will now be more on "enjoying the sport" rather than taking aim at a particular major goal.
"My mindset will be different," she said. "I will be less focused on wins in certain races or on having clear goals. After this long break, I feel it is a privilege to be able to ride races and be a cyclist again.
"For me, it is no longer so much about ticking off races or victories, but more about enjoying the sport and the competition. In the next six months, I will train a lot and work on my fitness. I am curious to see what level I can get back to. Of course, I aim to become a better cyclist than in my previous period. Whether that succeeds always remains the question."
But despite talk of not seeking to "tick off" wins on her palmarès, Van der Breggen said that she still hopes to add more to her 62 career wins.
"Do I still want to be a winner? Of course, I feel competition in me," she said. "I always want to win. However, that doesn't mean you always can win. That's fine too, because that only makes the victories you have more beautiful.
"When you have to struggle to get somewhere, it just makes the rewards later more beautiful. In any case, for me it is a privilege to be a cyclist again soon in 2025."
Van der Breggen enjoyed a storied career on the road, enjoying a 10-year career with Sengers Ladies, Rabobank-Liv and Boels-Dolmans/SD Worx.
Along the way she racked up a record seven La Flèche Wallonne titles in addition to four Giro Donne wins and triumphs at Liège-Bastogne-Liège (twice), the Tour of Flanders, and Strade Bianche.
In addition to working as a DS for the massively successful SD Worx-Protime squad, guiding the likes of Demi Vollering, Lotte Kopecky, and Lorena Wiebes to countless wins, Van der Breggen has also tried her hand at gravel racing.
Back in May, she took on her first race since retiring, The Traka 100km gravel race in Spain, taking second in an SD Worx-Protime podium sweep with Marie Schreiber and Femke Markus. Team sports manager Danny Stam welcomed Van der Breggen's return to racing
"We had already noticed for some time that during stage races Anna increasingly started cycling a bit herself," he said. "We are happy to have another world-class cyclist in the team with her.
"We hope she can grow to that high level again. We are confident about that. If Anna has doubts about something, she won't do it. That certainly applies to this big step."
The news that she is set to come out of retirement and rejoin the racing corps at SD Worx-Protime continues the renewal of the team for 2025, with star rider Demi Vollering set to leave – likely for FDJ-Suez.
