Annemiek van Vleuten has said she was "not strong enough uphill" to drop her competition on the third stage of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana on Saturday, settling for third in a three-up sprint in Altea.
After going clear with Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step) and Amanda Spratt (Trek-Segafredo) on the 15km Tudons climb, Van Vleuten failed to shake off either rider on the following climb and descent, meaning the three contested the flat finish as a sprint, which Moolman Pasio won.
"Was not strong enough today to drop Ashleigh and Amanda Spratt uphill," Van Vleuten wrote in a tweet after the stage on which many may have been anticipating one of the world champion's signature solo moves.
On paper, the queen stage's profile looked perfect for the long-range attack we have become accustomed to seeing from Annemiek van Vleuten. After a hilly start to the stage, the final 50km featured two back-to-back big climbs.
Going into the Alto Tudons, it looked as though Movistar were setting up the Dutchwoman for an attack, their train the most organised in the early ramps. However, an attack did not immediately materialise, with Movistar replaced by the efforts of Gaia Realini for Trek-Segafredo and Amanda Spratt.
When Van Vleuten did finally make her inevitable move just a few kilometres from the top, she took with her Moolman Pasio and Spratt, as well as Jumbo Visma's Kim Cadzow briefly, and the group caught the breakaway over the top of the climb.
Going into the descent and the following climb, though, it seemed that Van Vleuten, Moolman Pasio and Spratt were not racing at full pelt, exemplified by the fact that dropped breakaway riders Elise Uijen (Team DSM) and Mireia Benito (AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep) were able to rejoin the leaders on more than one occasion.
Eventually, the breakaway riders were definitively dropped, but with no more climbing, Van Vleuten had no more opportunities to launch and it came down to a sprint on the flat run-in to the line.
"Got a bit surprised by the final roundabout," Van Vleuten said of the sprint, which saw her and winner Moolman Pasio take opposite sides of a roundabout in the final kilometre, possibly influencing the eventual outcome of the sprint.
Sunday's final stage has significantly less climbing than stage 3, and shouldn't be a day for the pure climbers, but that's not to say a Van Vleuten win is impossible. With a 6.7km climb at 4.3% in the last 20km, she may have one more chance to shake off the faster riders and take a win in the first race of her final season.
"Tomorrow another battle coming up!" Van Vleuten signed off her tweet, clearly not writing herself off for stage 4 either.