Ellen van Dijk was all smiles on the podium after the Vuelta Femenina stage 1 team time trial, receiving a winner’s trophy and the red jersey for the GC leader after Lidl-Trek powered to the fastest time.
A year after crashing in the final corner when her team won the opening TTT in Valencia, Van Dijk could lead her team across the line in Barcelona and celebrate on Sunday afternoon.
"Last year we also won the TTT, but I had a bad crash in the last corner and had to leave the Vuelta two days later, so I didn’t have the best memories," she said.
"But I love to do TTTs, especially with this team, so I was really happy we could do it again this year and do it better."
As she was first over the line, Van Dijk received the red leader’s jersey on the podium and will wear it on stage 2, something she considers a special honour and was decided on the morning of the race.
"Jeroen [Blijlevens], the team director, came to me before the start and said, it would be nice if you cross the line first. It worked out that way, and it’s an honour from the team that I’m the one who can wear the jersey," she said.
"I don’t feel that it’s my jersey, it’s the team’s jersey, but for me it’s special that the team wants me to wear it."
Putting the 38-year-old veteran in the leader’s jersey was a logical way for Lidl-Trek to highlight her importance for the team, especially against the clock. This was the sixth TTT Van Dijk had helped the team win after the Vårgårda TTTs in 2019 and 2022, the opening TTTs in the 2020 and 2021 Giro d'Italia Women, and last year’s Vuelta.
Though joined by the likes of Riejanne Markus, Emma Norsgaard and Anna Henderson in the Lidl-Trek Vuelta team – all impressive time trialists – Van Dijk remains the powerhouse of the squad and of the whole peloton.
Having targeted stage 1 in particular, Van Dijk will now step back into a support role, working for her team leaders Niamh Fisher-Black and Markus, who are sitting top of GC thanks to the team's opening day victory. Both are new at Lidl-Trek for 2025 but have history at the Vuelta, having finished seventh and second last year.
"My focus was mainly on this TTT. But of course we have way more goals with the team," Van Dijk said, looking ahead to the stages to come.
"There are lots of stages where a lot off different things can happen, hopefully some echelons, hopefully a lot of action, but it can also be sprints. For sure stage 5 and the last stage are really, really hard for the climbers."
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