“I’m an example that you need to keep fighting” - Anna van der Breggen sends emotional message after stunning Giro time trial secures Maglia Rosa for comeback queen

Anna van der Breggen turned the first major GC test of the Giro d’Italia Women into a personal statement, then used the moment to deliver a message shaped by the long road back to the top.

The Dutch great, who returned to racing after retirement, crushed the Stage 4 uphill time trial to Nevegal Tudor on Tuesday afternoon, taking victory by 1:04 over world time trial champion Marlen Reusser and 1:10 over Demi Vollering. The performance also moved her into the Maglia Rosa, ending Elisa Balsamo’s opening spell in pink after three straight stage wins.

For Van der Breggen, the result was about more than a dominant ride over 12.7km. After years away from the peloton, then the work required to return to this level, the win carried the feel of a breakthrough moment in a second chapter that was never guaranteed to deliver days like this.

“I think I’m an example that you need to keep fighting and, in the end, it will come again,” Van der Breggen said in her post-stage flash interview. “I think you see it with many riders: you have a good period and then things are working and, for me, it feels like I worked really hard over the last few years to get to this point and winning in this way again means a lot to me.”

Stage 4 had been billed as the point where the Giro would finally leave the sprinters behind. Balsamo had owned the opening three days, first inheriting Stage 1 after Lorena Wiebes’ expulsion before winning Stages 2 and 3 on the road, but the climb to Nevegal was always set to expose the true GC hierarchy.

Reusser laid down the first serious elite benchmark, stopping the clock in 32:42 after choosing a road bike for the steep uphill test. Vollering then looked on course to challenge that time after starting quickly on a time trial bike, only to fade later and finish six seconds behind the Swiss rider.

Van der Breggen was operating on a different level. She stormed through the first intermediate point 36 seconds faster than Vollering and carried that advantage all the way to the finish. Her final time of 31:38 left the rest of the race fighting for second place. “I really did not expect and I’m incredibly happy with it,” she said after pulling on pink.

The gaps were brutal for such a short stage. Reusser lost more than a minute, Vollering even more, while Antonia Niedermaier finished fourth at 1:26. Defending champion Elisa Longo Borghini was eighth on the stage, 1:51 down, leaving Van der Breggen with a major early advantage before the Giro’s hardest mountain days.

The celebration comes with a new responsibility. Van der Breggen now has the jersey everyone else wants, and the Giro immediately heads into more dangerous terrain with Stage 5 from Longarone to Santo Stefano di Cadore.

She was clear that taking pink is only the first task. Keeping it will be another matter, especially with difficult weather and technical roads expected. “Getting the maglia rosa and wearing it is another difficult task, especially as a lot of stages are still coming up,” she said. “It’s started raining now, and it will rain in the upcoming stages as well, so I know a lot can happen, and it will be really hard to defend this jersey, but goal one is finished and that deserves a great celebration.”

Van der Breggen has spent enough of her career in the biggest races to know that one dominant time trial does not settle a Grand Tour. Still, this was the clearest sign yet that her comeback has moved beyond promise and into genuine race-winning force. “To keep it is the next one, but the first one is most important so I’m really proud of that,” she added.

The next stage will ask different questions. Van der Breggen pointed to the technical descents and possible rain as immediate dangers, but also sounded confident in the SD Worx - Protime riders around her.

“The legs are feeling pretty okay, but I know tomorrow will be difficult, technical downhills and when it’s raining, even more,” she said. “But I am really looking forward to it and with the team of girls I have around me, I’m really confident they can help me a lot. You can never do more than your best and I will do my best to defend this jersey.”

There was also a nod to the absent Wiebes, whose controversial expulsion after Stage 1 had threatened to define SD Worx - Protime’s Giro for all the wrong reasons. Two stages later, Van der Breggen has given the team a new centre of gravity.

“I think for me, it was nice not to be the big favourite and to not expect this and from now, it will be a little bit more difficult, but it’ll be super nice wearing the pink jersey in the Giro,” she said. “It’s a dream and I will enjoy it a lot with Lorena, who is not here, and I think she will be really proud, and I am of her and the other girls in the team.”

Van der Breggen now carries both the jersey and the pressure into the mountains. The first goal is complete. The fight she spoke about continues from here.