"I kept fighting to the end" - Annemiek van Vleuten gives absolutely everything to secure famous La Vuelta Femenina victory

In a thrilling finale to La Vuelta Femenina, Annemiek van Vleuten was racing against the clock as much as she was against Demi Vollering.

“I am super happy and very tired,” she said afterwards in a post-race interview. "I kept fighting to the end. I didn't have my best day either, maybe I still felt the efforts of yesterday. But I have not given up. In the end it was very close."

Demi Vollering takes the stage but Annemiek van Vleuten does just enough to keep overall lead and win thrilling La Vuelta Femenina

Indeed as Vollering rode clear alongside Gaia Realini, van Vleuten must have feared the worst. The Movistar Team leader was able to regroup and riding her own pace managed to keep a hold of the overall race lead by just 9 seconds from the Team SD Worx rider.

“The team was great today, this is really a victory for the team," concludes van Vleuten who is now a three-time winner of La Vuelta Femenina and for the first time in her final year as a pro has added another win to her vast palmares.