Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) has revealed that she will aim to compete in the Giro d'Italia Donne and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in 2023, her final season before retiring from a sparkling 16-year career.
“I am clear I want to race both the Giro and the Tour again. It is something that I have already been talking about with my coach and with my team. I still love racing in Italy, and I want to ride one more Giro," Van Vleuten said in an interview with El Peloton.
Van Vleuten is a favourite to win the first-ever women's version of the prestigious French Velo d'Or award this year for her remarkable season that saw her win the overall titles at Giro d'Italia Donne, Tour de France Femmes and Challenge by La Vuelta, and the elite women's road race at the World Championships.
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The growth of women's cycling over the past five seasons has been unprecedented, largely due to the sport's professionalisation, including live television coverage of the Women's WorldTour and the success of the rebirth of the women's Tour de France.
Van Vleuten has become an international household name, but she admitted that she is not used to the attention and popularity.
"Sometimes it makes me uncomfortable," said Van Vleuten. "I've noticed, for example, when people who don't know me before join my local training group, and they say something like, 'it's an honour to have you join us.' With something like this, I feel treated as a 'star' instead of Annemiek, the person — from their point of view, of course, because I don't see myself as such. That's why I prefer to go out with people who have known me since I started in this."
In her final year of her professional racing career Van Vleuten is focussing on two main blocks of races; the first includes the Spring Classics and the revamped seven-day La Vuelta Femenina from May 1-7. The second block is expected to take in the Giro from June 30 to July 9 and the Tour from July 23 to 30.
Handling setbacks and overcoming obstacles
Van Vleuten's season and career haven't been without their challenges, and she has successfully come back from both serious and minor injuries.
“I'm not the type of person who believes that someone is destined to have certain things happen to them more than other people. Of course, sometimes I'm the first to joke about it and call myself a 'drama queen' as a way to take the edge off, but more seriously, I'm aware that, most of the time, it's just bad luck," she told El Peloton.
Having recovered from injuries sustained in a crash during the inaugural Paris-Roubaix last October, Van Vleuten came into this season ready to tackle her specific goals.
Less than a week after taking a decisive win at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, she broke her wrist in a training crash in April. In May, she was unharmed in a 'controlled crash' while wearing the maglia rosa at the Giro and went on to win stage 8. She also crashed in the team time trial mixed relay and fractured her elbow and went on to win the elite women's road race at the Wollongong Worlds.
These aren't her first setbacks; recall the devastating crash at the 2016 Olympic Games that left her with a severe concussion and spinal fractures. She also broke her knee in a crash during the road race at the 2018 Worlds and finished seventh, and she fractured her wrist at the Giro just ahead of the 2020 Worlds and still finished second in the road race.
Asked how she handles these setbacks, Van Vleuten told El Peloton, “Sometimes it is difficult. Especially last year, after Paris-Roubaix, I remember telling my coach that I found less and less energy to get back up after an accident. But it was a feeling that only lasted 24 hours, and then I quickly started to feel more optimistic.
"Setting small, realistic goals, day after day, helps. You gain experience with previous similar situations that you can use for the next time - a victory tastes even better when it comes after having overcome an obstacle."
