The humanization of Annemiek van Vleuten

“don’t want”summed up clearly and concisely this Sunday after attending the Eurosport cameras. Annemiek van Vleuten He just finished his performance at the Wollongong World Cup time trial in Australia. Is seventh best in the worlddespite her face of events after a trial where that would probably have been a good outcome for any other woman. But not for him.

He did not achieve his goal of success. stay away, at 1:43, from her compatriot Ellen van Dijknew world champion. He didn’t come close to the medals either, with silver for the Australian Grace Brownwho finished twelve seconds off gold, and bronze for the Swiss Marlene Reusser, forty-one seconds behind the champion. Disappointment was visible on the Dutch woman’s face Movistar it is palpable.

All, even if you have already signed, at 39 years old, a dizzying 2022. At a time when many brands are betting more and more strongly on women’s cycling, the great historic races on the international scene are also making a move. With the Italy is spinning as an undisputed calendar reference for decades, the Tour de France finally supposing the many attempts the Gallic nation had to unite itself with a feminine key with a great career. With them, the Back to Spain has given continuity to the promise made in 2015, first in the classic format and, in recent years, in a racing phase closer to the weekly format.

Because of this, the official birth of the women’s Tour de France, this 2022 has become first year in history in which the Giro (ten stages), Tour (eight) and Vuelta (five) succeeded in the women’s calendar. Thus, the tendency towards an increasingly approximate distribution of events on the men’s road map is emphasized (as another example, in terms of ‘monuments’, the Tour of Flanders is a pioneer, but the Liège -Bastogne-Liège is fixed on the calendar and Paris-Roubaix is ​​the last to make the move), which means that the physical and psychological demands for the cyclists are also increasing.

So, this year offered the first opportunity to complete the challenge that any cyclist dreams of: win three big laps on the international scene. It is almost a utopia to get them in the same year in the men’s key due to the duration of three weeks of each race, but the list they made for achieving the triplet milestone in their career Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil , Felice Gimondi, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Chris Froome are among the most recognized in world sport.

A trailblazing superstar

The female list also has a member. In addition, in the first change, with the added difficulty that the Giro, Tour and Vuelta gained in the same year. The show of power Annemiek van Vleuten In 2022 it was dizzying, from start to finish and not just because of winning three races but because of the height it achieved. All, at a time when, beyond those three generals, he was accumulating a total twelve victories (two stages in the Giro, two in the Tour and one in the Vuelta between them) and also added, inadvertently, a Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The Dutchwoman won the Giro, went two weeks later to win the Tour and after stopping in August returned in September to be crowned in Madrid. One great lap after another.

For this reason, the number of kilometers he has covered in this World Cup is also very wide. “I don’t like the excuse of the calendar. I slept well and I didn’t have heat lag. In the Vuelta I was very good, I was confident on Saturday, but today is not my day”, Van Vleuten told the cameras after the time trial of the World Cup. The three Giros, two Vueltas and one Tour of his record were no consolation. Not even the three previous world titles he accumulated (two in time trial and one on the road), especially his Olympic gold against the clock and his silver on the road in Tokyo. Every day alone was worth it, with that hunger that brought him a hundred professional successes.

“I was very serious about the preparation, the altitude, the time trial bike. I used the Tokyo bike”, lamented Van Vleuten for the media present after the test. Although, with maximum competitive hunger, he is aware that he has two chances left in this world championship to make up for it: the mixed team time trial from early Tuesday to Wednesday and the online trial next Saturday . “I will recover and make the mixed team”he warned, with his sights set primarily on the weekend’s big test.

Because Van Vleuten is indefatigable and knows that the huge dimension she has had in women’s cycling, for many years now, is surely down to her voracious hunger, her desire to keep winning no matter the circumstances. That is why he will try again in this World Cup. Because maybe, beyond the achievements and records, in frustration and self-criticism, in one of his few episodes of humanization after a year to frame, indeed lies his most extraordinary ability.