Annemiek van Vleuten put in a stunning ride to take her debut Elite Women’s Road Race title at the UCI Road Race World Championship following a staggering solo attack with more than 100-kilometres to go in Yorkshire.
The weather gods had looked down kindly on Saturday’s racing as all of the 149.4km trek from Bradford to Harrogate was bathed in early autumn sunshine.
Van Vleuten launched her race-winning attack on the lower slopes of the Lofthouse climb with 105-kilometres remaining and never looked back as she evaded her pursuers for over three hours of action.
Lizzie Deignan (Great Britain), Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy), Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands), Chloe Dygert Owen (USA), Amanda Spratt (Australia), Clara Koppenberg (Germany), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark) and Soraya Paladin (Italy) formed a chase group behind and at times, the 36 year old’s lead had looked bridgeable.
With 30 kilometres left, Dygert attacked and made some inroads into Van Vleuten’s lead but faded as the Dutch woman pressed on bravely and achieved an incredible victory that will live long in the history books.
Once van Vleuten had crossed the finish line, her team-mate Anna van der Breggen arrived 2 minutes 15 seconds later to wrap up a Dutch one-two, with Australia’s Amanda Spratt rounding off the podium a further 13 seconds behind. The medal tally at the Championships for the Netherlands now stands at eight with only the Elite Men’s Road Race remaining on Sunday.
Annemiek van Vleuten said: “That was crazy. I knew the climb was really far from the finish but once I’d attacked my coach told me to keep riding hard and I was lucky I had really good legs. It was definitely not planned but I’d trained so hard for this – put in so many hours on the bike – and I thought ‘if anyone can do this, it’s you’. As I was riding I was thinking ‘maybe I could make history today’, and if it didn’t work out I knew Anna [van der Breggen] was in a great position behind.
“It was only towards the end that I dared to believe, and I was being cheered on by so many fans. The crowds in Bradford were huge at the start and I had so much encouragement out on the course as well. British fans are amazing and I want to thank them all for helping make this win so amazing.”
Results
1 Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) 4:06:05
2 Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) 0:02:15
3 Amanda Spratt (Australia) 0:02:28
4 Chloe Dygert (United States Of America) 0:03:24
5 Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) 0:04:45
6 Marianne Vos (Netherlands) 0:05:20
7 Marta Bastianelli (Italy)
8 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (South Africa)
9 Lisa Brennauer (Germany)
10 Coryn Rivera (United States Of America)
11 Christine Majerus (Luxembourg)
12 Arlenis Sierra (Cuba)
13 Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark)
14 Sofie de Vuyst (Belgium)
15 Emilia Fahlin (Sweden)
16 Alison Jackson (Canada)
17 Audrey Cordon Ragot (France)
18 Alena Amialiusik (Belarus)
19 Amy Pieters (Netherlands)
20 Paula Andrea Patino Bedoya (Colombia)
21 Elise Chabbey (Switzerland)
22 Anna Henderson (Great Britain)
23 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland)
24 Elena Cecchini (Italy)
25 Margarita Victo Garcia Canellas (Spain)
26 Ane Santesteban Gonzalez (Spain)
27 Chloe Hosking (Australia)
28 Lucinda Brand (Netherlands)
29 Susanne Andersen (Norway)
30 Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark)
31 Elizabeth Deignan (Great Britain)
32 Tatiana Guderzo (Italy)
33 Floortje Mackaij (Netherlands)
34 Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) 0:05:31
35 Eider Merino Cortazar (Spain)
36 Aude Biannic (France)
37 Nikola Noskova (Czech Republic)
38 Leah Thomas (United States Of America)
39 Brodie Chapman (Australia)
40 Katrine Aalerud (Norway) 0:05:36
41 Lucy Kennedy (Australia) 0:05:38
42 Sara Poidevin (Canada)
43 Chantal Blaak (Netherlands)
44 Tayler Wiles (United States Of America)
45 Eugenia Bujak (Slovenia) 0:05:46
46 Karol-ann Canuel (Canada) 0:05:51
47 Elisa Balsamo (Italy) 0:05:56
48 Clara Koppenburg (Germany) 0:06:25
49 Lisa Klein (Germany) 0:06:43
50 Soraya Paladin (Italy) 0:07:02
51 Vita Heine (Norway) 0:08:49
52 Anastasiia Chursina (Russian Federation) 0:08:55
53 Maria Novolodskaya (Russian Federation) 0:09:02
54 Tatsiana Sharakova (Belarus) 0:09:51
55 Olha Shekel (Ukraine)
56 Demi Vollering (Netherlands)
57 Lisa Norden (Sweden) 0:09:53
58 Joanna van de Winkel (South Africa)
59 Ella Harris (New Zealand) 0:09:54
60 Omer Shapira (Israel) 0:09:53
61 Julie Leth (Denmark)
62 Hannah Barnes (Great Britain)
63 Alice Barnes (Great Britain)
64 Malgorzata Jasinska (Poland)
65 Juliette Labous (France)
66 Liane Lippert (Germany)
67 Ruth Winder (United States Of America)
68 Pernille Mathiesen (Denmark)
69 Teniel Campbell (Trinidad & Tabago) 0:12:55
70 Franziska Koch (Germany)
71 Katharine Hall (United States Of America)
72 Anastasiya Kolesava (Belarus)
73 Kelly van den Steen (Belgium)
74 Lourdes Oyarbide Jimenez (Spain) 0:13:50
75 Angelika Tazreiter (Austria)
76 Letizia Paternoster (Italy)
77 Jesse Vandenbulcke (Belgium) 0:18:08
78 Jarmila Machacova (Czech Republic) 0:19:13
79 Marta Lach (Poland) 0:19:55
80 Nicola Juniper (Great Britain) 0:23:47
81 Blanca Liliana Moreno Canchon (Colombia)
82 Monika Brzezna (Poland)
83 Rasa Leleivyte (Lithuania)
84 Ariadna Gutierrez Arzaluz (Mexico)
85 Severine Eraud (France)
86 Eugenie Duval (France)
87 Brenda Andrea Santoyo Perez (Mexico)
88 Evita Muzic (France)
DNF Tiffany Cromwell (Australia)
DNF Diana Carolina Penuela Martinez (Colombia)
DNF Louise Norman Hansen (Denmark)
DNF Kathrin Hammes (Germany)
DNF Jessica Allen (Australia)
DNF Lauren Kitchen (Australia)
DNF Leigh ann Ganzar (United States Of America)
DNF Valerie Demey (Belgium)
DNF Julie van de Velde (Belgium)
DNF Marie Soleil Blais (Canada)
DNF Gillian Ellsay (Canada)
DNF Gabrielle Pilote-fortin (Canada)
DNF Aurela Nerlo (Poland)
DNF Anna Plichta (Poland)
DNF Katarzyna Wilkos (Poland)
DNF Elizabeth Banks (Great Britain)
DNF Alicia Gonzalez Blanco (Spain)
DNF Sheyla Gutierrez Ruiz (Spain)
DNF Tiffany Keep (South Africa)
DNF Maroesjka Matthee (South Africa)
DNF Stine Borgli (Norway)
DNF Ingvild Gaskjenn (Norway)
DNF Jeydy Pradera Bernal (Cuba)
DNF Elise Maes (Luxembourg)
DNF Anet Barrera Esparza (Mexico)
DNF Andrea Ramirez Fregoso (Mexico)
DNF Clara Lundmark (Sweden)
DNF Hanna Nilsson (Sweden)
DNF Sara Penton (Sweden)
DNF Urska Pintar (Slovenia)
DNF Urska Zigart (Slovenia)
DNF Hiromi Kaneko (Japan)
DNF Eri Yonamine (Japan)
DNF Valeriya Kononenko (Ukraine)
DNF Elizaveta Oshurkova (Russian Federation)
DNF Desiet Kidane (Eritrea)
DNF Mikayla Harvey (New Zealand)
DNF Rotem Gafinovitz (Israel)
DNF Maria Jose Vargas Barrientos (Costa Rica)
DNF Alexi Costa (Trinidad & Tabago)
DNF Kathrin Schweinberger (Austria)
DNF Denisse Ahumada Riquelme (Chile)
DNF Flavia Maria de Oliveira Paparella (Brazil)
DNF Ana Paula Polegatch (Brazil)
DNF Tereza Neumanova (Czech Republic)
DNF Maja Perinovic (Croatia)
DNF Mia Radotic (Croatia)
DNF Varvara Fasoi (Greece)
DNF Alice Sharpe (Ireland)
DNF Alzbeta Bacikova (Slovakia)
DNF Tereza Medvedova (Slovakia)
DNF Natalya Saifutdinova (Kazakhstan)
DNF Makhabbat Umutzhanova (Kazakhstan)
DNF Maria Martins (Portugal)
DNF Agusta Edda Bjornsdottir (Iceland)
DNF Skye Davidson (Zimbabwe)
DNF Mae Lang (Estonia)
DNF Fabiana Granizal (Uruguay)
DNF Fernanda Yapura (Argentina)
DNF Agua Marina Espinola (Paraguay)
DNF Noura Alomairi (Kuwait)
DNF Latefa Alyaseen (Kuwait)
DNF Hoi ian Au (Macao, China)
DNS Anne-Sophie Harsch (Luxembourg)
