tour reporter
Even before the Tour de France Femmes, Annemiek van Vleuten was a big favorite. On the king’s stage, she dismantles the peloton. The overall victory can hardly be taken away from her.
The differences were in at the end too Le landmark again clearly visible. came grinning Annemiek van Vleuten up there at an altitude of 1,183 meters at the finish of the 7th stage of the Tour de France Femmes, high-fived the supervisors, received a shake and then let out a cry of joy.
Almost three and a half minutes later came Demi Vollering to the finish, who at least drove along with her compatriot for a while, but then couldn’t keep up either. Steered just past the finish line full ring hit the barrier, hung over her handlebars, exhausted, and stayed that way for a while. “It was terrible”she later stated in frustration. “I gave everything I had, but it wasn’t enough.”
1:28 minutes behind becomes 3:24 minutes ahead
Lightness and heaviness, the contrast could not have been greater that day van Vleuten unhinged the race with a remarkable solo. She was in in the morning, 1:28 minutes behind the yellow jersey Selestat started. With a lead of 3:14 minutes over Vollering, she now leads the rankings.
After that she got the yellow jersey on the final stage on Sunday La Super Planche des Belles Filles can be taken off again, no one believes anymore. You probably don’t either. “I don’t have it in my pocket yet”said van Vleuten. “But I will certainly sleep well with this solid lead.”
In fact, she doesn’t have to be robbed of her sleep. Their superiority on the three difficult climbs of the king’s stage in the Vosges was simply too clear. already on Petit balloonthe first hurdle of the day van Vleuten their attack. “It was a risk, but I had to try”she said. “Besides, that’s the way I race, not waiting until the finale.”
Van Vleuten runs exactly according to plan
Only full ring was initially able to follow her. But a kilometer before the summit of the second mountain, the Col du Platzerwaselshook van Vleuten then she took off her last companion like an annoying fly and drove the last 62 kilometers to the finish line alone. “I didn’t want to take her to the valley”explained van Vleuten. “She would not have participated in the leadership work and then it would have been difficult to get rid of her on the last climb.”
It all followed a plan that the team set itself Movistar had prepared in the morning and the van Vleuten then implemented as specified on the drawing board. “She managed to end the day in a spectacular way”said the sporting liter of Spanish team, Jorge Unzue, full of pride. What remained were astonished and frustrated rivals who tried to somehow put what they had experienced into words.
“So far I haven’t seen them ride that well on this tour”said the Pole Katarzyna Niewiadomawho is third in the overall standings and is already 4:33 minutes behind. “Of course I know that she’s smart and saves her energy when she’s not feeling well. But that she attacked so hard so early on, that surprised me.”
Three days sick and then “destroyed the race”
Van Vleuten was before Tour de France women the top favorite for overall victory. Her climbing skills are unmatched in the women’s peloton. In mid-July she already had it Giro d’Italia Donne superior won. But in the early days of the tour, she had been plagued with stomach problems. Three days ago she was unable to close her suitcase on her own, she reported van Vleuten. She was on the verge of giving up. “It was a roller coaster ride”she said.
On the 2nd and 3rd stage, she had lost time to her competitors, who had already hoped that they would be able to make things a little more difficult for the Dutchwoman this time. “And five days later she destroys the race, turns it on its head and takes over the Tour de France in spectacular fashion.”amazed himself ugly.
Helpless search for explanations
Such dominance naturally calls for explanations. The young French woman Juliette Labous (23), who moved up to fifth place overall, explained somewhat helplessly, van Vleuten have “probably something in her body that allows her to be stronger and train harder”. One may Labor Don’t assume that she had anything bad in mind. But she sees the training data that van Vleuten published in an app used by both professionals and amateurs. “I can’t train as much as her. She’s just strong”asked Labor Celebration.
Also van Vleuten himself became in Le landmark asked to give reasons for their superiority. “It has something to do with my fitness level”, she said. She has many years of training behind her. It would therefore not be possible for the younger colleagues to train so hard: “I’m 39 years old, it didn’t all come suddenly, it was a process over the years.”
Whether that’s the only explanation remains to be seen Annemiek van Vleuten know yourself. The first Tour de France women but she will now probably finish as a winner. Another prestigious success in her not lacking in victories career. A second tour victory in the coming year is still possible. After the 2023 season but wants van Vleuten Call it quits. And train harder than everyone else for so long.