Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) was always the clear cut favourite to win the Tour de France Femmes – fresh from a Giro d’Italia Donne victory and with a well-earned reputation for being virtually unbeatable on the long tough climbs – but earlier in the race it looked like that anticipated ending was about to be re-written.
Ill and being pushed along by teammates as she visibly struggled even on gradients where she normally wouldn’t appear to be drawing breath, the Dutch rider even contemplated abandoning the race she had made the big goal of the year. Recovery, however, came just in time.
“In day two and three it was very hard and I can’t believe, with how sick I was, now I am here in the yellow jersey,” Van Vleuten told reporters in the post stage media conference. “Until yesterday I still felt sick, at some point you can start to eat and drink again.
“I dug so deep in stage 2 and 3, being sick and racing, which is awful for your body. I could feel in stage 5 and 6 that my legs still had muscle pain. I was not sure, even on stage 7, that I was recovered from being ill.”
Though it turns out she was not only recovered but also back to her normal formidable climbing form, breaking away early on stage 7 and taking yellow ahead of the final stage to the top of La Super Planche des Belles Filles. She also took a dominant lead of 3:14 in the process, which meant all she needed to do to take victory at the long-awaited return of the Tour de France Femmes was keep a couple of key rivals broadly in check, as only Demi Vollering (SD Worx) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) were within five minutes.
However, riding defensively doesn’t come naturally to Van Vleuten, who instead wanted to add to her overall triumph by delivering that goosebump moment of a yellow-clad stage victory on top of the final summit finish.
“When I did the recon of the stage, it was something I told my team that if it were possible I would like to go for the win, with the victory in yellow on the Planche the best way to finish this off,” said Van Vleuten. “It was special – all the spectators cheering my name.”
Van Vleuten came over the line solo, 30 seconds ahead of second-placed Vollering, giving her plenty of time to savour the landmark moment of winning the first official women’s Tour de France in 33 years with a margin at the end of a clear-cut 3:48. There was no mistaking how much this victory meant, with a wide grin comfortably overwhelming the grimace…
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