Already victorious in the Tour of Italy and Spain this year, the Dutch Annemieke van Vleuten, who won the first edition of the Tour de France Women in 2022, is again this year as the big favorite for the second edition.
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From our special correspondent in Mauriac,
” Tomorrow starts the Tour de France and I can’t wait to hang the number 1 bib on my jersey “wrote Annemiek Van Vleuten, 40, on her Instagram account, on the eve of taking part in the second Tour de France Women in Clermont-Ferrand on Sunday July 23. She won the general classification in the first edition.
A leader in her own right, especially in stage races
” To be on the Tour de France is to be part of a great showshe says. I have already participated and won in several races, but after last year I realized that the Tour de France is the most important of all. It is the one that attracts the most spectators. It’s the biggest race I’ve won in my career. Since the start of the event, caravans displaying Dutch flags have been popping up on the sides of France’s roads.
This cycling Stakhanovist started late, after giving up football due to recurring knee injuries. When she signed her first professional contract, she was already… 25 years old. In reality, the Dutchwoman had started cycling two years earlier. Very quickly, his extraordinary abilities become obvious. At the start of 2009, Annemiek Van Vleuten joined the DSB Bank team, the future Rabobank Women. She rubbed shoulders with the great champion Marianne Vos from 2009 to 2014.
It was with her victory in the Tour of Flanders in 2011 that Annemiek Van Vleuten realized that she could be a leader in her own right, especially in stage races.
” She is always in a good mood »
Fifteen years later, Annemiek Van Vleuten has won almost everything. She won the three Grand Tours in 2022 and would now like to add a second Tour de France to her list before leaving. Indeed, the leader of the Spanish team Movistar announced this winter that she would bow out at the end of the season.
“ He’s a great person, always in a good mood, who puts the atmosphere in the team. She is always positive, feels good with the rest of the team. It’s a chance to work with her “says the manager of his team.
The world champion won, at the beginning of May, the Tour of Spain, integrated for the first time in the World Tour, ahead of her compatriot and great rival Demi Vollering. She then went on to the Tour of Italy, dominating the competition with three stage victories. Even if Annemiek Van Vleuten still dominates her subject, she will have to face a new generation of runners, who should give her a hard time on the roads of France.
After the second stage, which arrived in Mauriac on Monday July 24, Annemieke van Vleuten is in 8th position in the general classification, 59 seconds behind the Belgian Lotte Kopecky.