“The short climbs of the local circuit are not for me" - Annemiek van Vleuten seemingly rules herself out of World Championship running

For the final time in her long and storied career, Annemiek van Vleuten will be competing in the women's World Championships road race. Keen to ease the pressure though, the Dutchwoman doesn't think the chances of one last Rainbow Jersey are very high.

“The short climbs of the local circuit are not for me," she writes on her website. "Normally I can do some more climbs that last about five minutes, like La Redoute. But the harder and more gruelling the race, the more I come to the surface. Then the explosiveness of riders like Lotte Kopecky also goes down a bit. If I manage to stay with it then I hope to be able to play a role in the final. But it won't be easy."

Having not been assigned the role of leader in the Dutch team, that honour being bestowed on her great rival, Demi Vollering, van Vleuten also feels less pressure on her shoulders for once. "It's nice to ride towards a World Championship that you know isn't completely made for you, because you go to sleep a little better and get up with a healthy tension, instead of the mega tension I had in Yorkshire, for example, Imola or Innsbruck.”

“But Demi deserves the lead after last year. It will not be easy to win this World Championship and I do think that with TeamNL we have to rely on our strength in depth," she concludes. "For example, we are stronger than Kopecky, who has a slightly less strong team with Belgium, and that also applies to the American team.”