Van Vleuten on development of the sport: "The first step is a minimum salary"

Movistar Team's veteran and one of women's cycling most vocal spokespeople Annemiek van Vleuten has came out to address once again the topic of how to improve the sport as a whole and provide more opportunities for fellow riders to ride at the top level.

In a recent interview with Het Nieuwsblad, van Vleuten has said that "I don't think prize money will help develop women's cycling in the first place. The first step is a minimum salary. That way everyone can be a full time pro. It's necessary if you want to improve the level."

With women's cycling on the uprising in recent years, a lot of debate has been fueling the most efficient forms of developing it. Between the creation of new races, increased broadcast time, increased prize money, several solutions come to mind and are being implement in part of the calendar. Although broadcasting time is widely seen as the most efficient, van Vleuten stresses that problems exist at the very base which don't allow athletes to train to their full potential, and that this needs to be worked on as a priority.

Despite a strong spring, she has not been able to gather a win since Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as she has been struggling to beat Team SD Worx which have been using their strength in depth to challenge - many times, successfully - van Vleuten.

"One of the reasons I'm a cyclist, is to discover new cultures. That's also why I chose for Movistar. I wasn't looking to be part of the same Dutch team my whole career. It's why I train a lot in Colombia as well," she added.