Annemiek van Vleuten has recently been injured and will not compete at the upcoming UCI Gravel World Championships, held on Saturday in Veneto, Italy. The Dutch rider confirmed that she has a foot injury that will prevent her from joining the national team for the elite women's 140km race.
“I cannot participate due to a foot injury. I think that's a shame because it seemed like a nice region to do a gravel race," Van Vleuten said in a report on Wielerflits.
Van Vleuten received a wildcard invitation to compete at the Gravel World Championships and was set to join a wildcard roster that included Demi Vollering, Lorena Wiebes, Riejanne Markus, Femke Markus, Yara Kastelijn, Tessa Neefjes, and Noä Jansen. The Dutch roster released by the UCI had nine other riders, including Pauliena Rooijakkers a WorldTour rider with Gravel World Series victories at Gravel One Fifty and Houffa Gravel.
Van Vleuten stated previously that she intended to compete in the Gravel World Championships for fun and that she had not trained specifically for the event.
"I have no ambitions in a gravel career, so I think I will end it here,” Van Vleuten told AD last week. “I'm going to ride this in my retirement. I'm not prepared for it and I'm not going to train for it. I'm going to participate and have a nice photo with Alejandro Valverde.”
Van Vleuten has recently retired from a sparking 16-year road racing career and competed in her last race at the Simac Ladies Tour in September. She is a multiple-time world champion - twice in the road race and twice in the time trial - and has been a staple across the Spring Classics and Grand Tours.
She came into her final season this year with an ambitious goal of winning all three Grand Tours, and while she succeeded at La Vuelta Femenina and the Giro d'Italia Donne, she was disappointed to have finished just off the podium in fourth place at the Tour de France Femmes.
The elite women’s race at the Gravel World Championships takes place on a 140km route on Saturday, October 7, the day before Van Vleuten’s 41st birthday. The elite men’s race follows on Sunday across 169km.
