'Once she starts winning, she will never stop,' Annemiek van Vleuten said in praise of her Movistar teammate Liane Lippert after she took victory in the uphill sprint on stage 2 at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift into Mauriac. The world champion believes success breeds success and hopes that Lippert's achievement will help build her confidence for future victories.
"It's Liane's biggest victory so far; she won the Cadel Evans Road Race, and now this is, I think, a breakthrough win for her, and she will believe more in herself in the finishes she can do, finishes like this, also after a hard race," Van Vleuten said at the end of the rain-soaked race into Mauriac on Monday.
"I knew that she was super strong, and sometimes you have to wait for the moment, just one time, but once you start winning, she will never stop. This is for sure good for confidence, for more."
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Van Vleuten is competing at the Tour de France Femmes as the defending champion and one of the overwhelming favourites. She will be looking ahead to the GC-decisive stage 7 that will finish on the summit of the Col du Tourmalet but was pleased to see Lippert take the opportunity to go for a stage win during the eight-day race.
"It's even nicer when you win [stages] with other riders, while you have the number one GC goal. If you can still take a stage win like this, I'm super happy for her, for the confidence."
Lippert is one of the strongest riders in the peloton, transferring from her former Team DSM to Movistar at the start of this season. Her career highlights include winning the overall classification at the Lotto Belgium Tour, the Cadel Evans Road Race, and she is a three-time German road race champion. Even more telling are her podium finishes; second at Flèche Wallonne, third at Amstel Gold Race, and fourth at the World Championships.
"It's amazing, and I have been waiting really long to win a race like this. I've won the national championships, but to win a race like this means so much to me, and I hope that it's true and that it [continues] and now I can actually keep on winning," Lippert said.
Given her ability in the sprints and across hilly terrain, Lippert is also one of Van Vleuten's super domestiques. She expressed gratitude that the team gave her a free role to go for the stage win in Mauriac and said she's looking forward to resuming a support role for Van Vleuten in the overall classification for the remaining five stages.
"Our big goal is the GC with Annemiek, so for sure, we sometimes have to sacrifice our own cards, but that's OK with everyone. In the end, if you win the GC, you are together on the podium, like at the Giro, which is an awesome moment," Lippert said.
"This is why we work for it, we like to work for it, and if it's like today, I still get my chance. I'm happy that the team also gives me this chance. I also look forward to going back into working mode."
Van Vleuten will retire at the end of this season but said she hopes her time on the Movistar team has given the riders space to grow and develop while she shouldered the pressures of being a team leader. She said she would like to see her teammates, including Lippert, grow into leaders after she has retired from cycling. Lippert said she appreciated having the opportunity to spend one season on the same team as Van Vleuten.
"It's been great to race this season with Annemiek, it took the pressure away from me for this year, and I hope that I can come back and race well [next season]," Lippert said.
"I am a different rider than her, I'm more punchy, which is what I showed today, and she is more long climbs. At the moment, I am not a GC rider, but I can climb well, and I want to focus on the Classics. To win the Classics, that's my next goal."
