Everything about Annemiek van Vleuten

Who is Annemiek van Vleuten?

Annemiek van Vleuten, born October 8, 1982, is a former Dutch professional cyclist and one of the greatest female cyclists of all time. She is known for her climbing and time trial abilities. Van Vleuten has several major victories to her name, including the Giro d'Italia Donne, Tour de France Femmes, and the Vuelta. She was also a multiple-time world road and time trial champion.

Name: Annemiek van Vleuten
Birthday: October 8, 1982
Birthplace: Vleuten, Netherlands
Turned pro: 2008
Height: 1.68m

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Annemiek van Vleuten podium ceremony after winning the 2022 UCI Road World Championships, Wollongong

Annemiek van Vleuten was born in Vleuten, the Netherlands, on Oct. 8, 1982. During her long career in professional cycling, she has become best known as the sport's top climber, with 2022 one of the most successful seasons ever by a rider - male or female - giving her an incomparable amount of success.

In an estimate from the 2022 Tour de France Femmes, she rode 5.27 W/Kg on the Col du Platzerwasel, which could indicate an FTP of around 5-5.1 W/Kg.

It all started in 2007 when she joined the amateur team Therme Skin Care. Before participating in professional cycling, she earned a master's degree in epidemiology and started cycling at 23 to recover from a soccer injury. Little did she know that small step would lead to big things. In 2008 , she signed her first pro contract with the Friends of the Countryside and rode an international calendar, though with no wins to show for it, but several results that secured her place in the peloton.

From 2009 to 2014 she rode for the bigger ranks, for the team that was initially called DSB Bank - Netherlands thriving but would eventually morph into the Rabobank-Liv team - still called the Liv Racing Xstra team today, and in her first season she rode consistent results. She took her first pro win in April 2010 in the Eurocup Ronde van Drenthe (the day after finishing second in the World Cup race). She completed that with victories in the Gracia - Orlová race, Iurreta-Emakumeem Bira and in La Route de France where she also won her first overall classification.

However,2011 was her breakthrough season. She opened the year with strong results in the classics and won the Tour des Flandres in great form. Van Vleuten would become one of the top riders of the season and achieve further success in World Cup races, as she also won the Open de Suède Vargarda and the GP de Plouay. In 2012 she became Dutch champion for the first time, with 7 more wins during the season, but she could not match the success of the previous season.

In 2013 , the Dutch finished in the Top5 of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Tour des Flandres and picked up 2 wins during the year, but it was another modest campaign compared to what she would achieve in the future. In 2014 she won the Dutch time trial championship and the Lotto Belisol Belgium Tour in addition to three stage wins, in addition to a victory in the women's Giro d'Italia.

2015 saw her opportunity when she signed a one-year contract with the Bigla Pro Cycling Team. The partnership was not a great success, however, with two prologue wins during the season on her record. She finished 2nd in the Flèche Wallonne, 4th in the Tour of Flanders and 3rd at the European Time Trial Championships. It was a short-lived switch, however, as van Vleuten moved to Orica - AIS (the team that would later become Mitchelton-Scott, working directly with the Autralian men's team) in 2016 .

Van Vleuten won the national time trial championships this year, as well as three other time trials during the season, accounting for 5 of her wins. The other 2 came as the Lotto Belgium Tour she had previously won. This season could have been another breakthrough, as she was determined to win the road race at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, but she crashed in the final downhill while riding in the lead, suffering three lumbar vertebral fractures and a severe concussion. However, that did not stop her from improving her game.

In 2017 , van Vleuten won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, followed by top five finishes in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche, Ronde van Drenthe, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. However, her consistency paid off with further victories in Emakumeen Bira, national time trial championships and twice in the Giro d'Italia, where she also finished third. Van Vleuten also won the Boels Rental Ladies Tour later in the year in addition to both time trials, and her skill against the clock made her the world champion in Bergen for the first time. In addition, she took advantage of a mountainous La Course through Le Tour de France to take another very meaningful victory.

The bar was set high and in 2018 she had another incredibly consistent spring, though with only wins in stage races - Women's Herald Tour and Emakumeen Bira. It would be in the summer, however, that she would turn that around, winning the Giro d'Italia in addition to three stages, taking a second win in La Course by Le Tour de France, the Veenendaal Veenendaal Classic, the Boels Ladies Tour in addition to three wins and finally a second consecutive rainbow jersey at the World Time Trial Championships.

In 2019 , van Vleuten took advantage of her form to turn it into victories in the spring, winning Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège - in addition to 2nd places in the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallone. In 2019, she won the national time trial championships and the Giro d'Italia, where she won all classifications and two stages. She won a stage in the Boels Ladies Tour before the World Championships in Yorkshire, where she scored an impressive victory with a long-distance 100-kilometer attack in the 150-kilometer race.

In the rainbow jersey, 2020 began with a huge string of victories, she won her first five races of the year including Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Strade Bianche. After the Covid-19 lockdown, she became European champion and finished second at the World Championships behind Anna van der Breggen. 2021 was another big year, this time with Movistar Team, with early victories in Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour des Flandres, in addition to the Vuelta Comunitat Valenciana to name a few. Van Vleuten became Olympic Champion in the hilly Tokyo time trial and finished second in the road race, celebrating as she crossed the line unaware of a shocking front-runner winner in Anna Kiesenhofer - who was unknown to the peloton due to the lack of radios.

In the following months, however, she won the Clasica San Sebastian, Ladies Tour of Norway and Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta. 2022, however, would be her ultimate season. Van Vleuten was heavily tested in the spring, but managed to win in the Volta Comunitat Valenciana, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. It would be her performances in the rest of the year that would set her apart from the field.

Van Vleuten won two stages at the Giro d'Italia and the overall classification. With the return of the Tour de France Femmes, she went on to obliterate the two mountain stages and win the overall. And then in the Ceratizit Challenge of La Vuelta, she succeeded in the same way, winning a stage and the overall classification - effectively winning all three Grand Tours. Her season was accomplished, but her most impressive performance was yet to come.

At the 2022 Wollongong World Championships, she crashed at the start of the Mixed Relay TTT. She sustained a fracture in her elbow, but still started the road race 3 days later. Van Vleuten was not a major contender and was injured, but took advantage of a sneaky attack in the last kilometer of the race from a depleted group and soleed to another world title.

Van Vleuten thus had the rainbow through 2023, her final season as a pro. While Team SD Worx took over the lead in women's racing, her final year in the field was one of modest results. Still, it was a year of tremendous success compared to the average rider. Van Vleuten won two of the three Grand Tours, outsmarted Demi Vollering to win La Vuelta Feminina, but in the Giro Donne she was by far the strongest climber in the field and captured the pink jersey in addition to three stage wins. She also won the Tour of Scandinavia as her last win as a pro on Aug. 27. Van Vleuten finished fourth in the Tour de France Femmes and was eighth at the World Championships. Her last race in the peloton was the Simac Ladies Tour where she received a fitting tribute.