Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten took the gold medal in the Women’s Time Trial at the UCI Road Cycling World Championships in Bergen, yesterday. Van Vleuten won the event by 12 seconds over compatriot Anna van der Breggen with Australian Katrin Garfoot in third.
“I still cannot believe it,” van Vleuten said after her victory. “This season I keep surprising myself with what I can do. To be world champion in the time trial I never thought I would be able (to do) this. This year I started to believe in it and to finish it off is incredible.
“It was really hard because it started almost pouring rain on the course. I did my practice in the dry conditions so I had to be really careful and for sure I lost some time there.
“I still focused on what I needed to do and Loes Gunnewijk, my coach, was coaching me really well. That was special, she was once before my teammate and now she was coaching me.
“I heard on the climb I was on almost the same time as Anna but in the last five kilometres I heard I was faster so I gave it everything to the finish.”
It’s been a miraculous turnaround for van Vleuten, who just over 12 months ago took a heavy fall whilst leading at the Olympic Games in Rio. The ORICA-SCOTT rider said the experience has made her stronger.
“To have up and downs, and sometimes some real downs, makes the ups even more beautiful,” she said. “This is beautiful without a crash in Rio, but that makes the story really, really special.”
UCI Road Cycling World Championship – Women’s TT Results:
1. Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands/ORICA-SCOTT) 28:50.35
2. Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands/Boels Dolmans) +12.16
3. Katrin Garfoot (Australia/ORICA-SCOTT) +37.95
