Annemiek van Vleuten (born 8 October 1982) is a Dutch professional

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Van Vleuten is a two-time winner of both the road race (

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and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

) and the

time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

(

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and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

) at the

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

. In the Olympic Games, she crashed out of the lead of the road race in

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, before winning the gold medal at the

event and a silver in the road race at the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

-delayed

2020 Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. She won the

Dutch National Road Race Championships The Dutch National Road Race Championships take place annually, on the weekend prior to the start of the Tour de France. First held in 1888, today it is organized by the Top Sports Group, commissioned by the KNWU. Men Until 1927, the race wa ...

in 2012, and won the

Dutch National Time Trial Championships The Dutch National Time Trial Championship is a time trial race that takes place inside the Dutch National Cycling Championship, and decides the best cyclist in this type of race. The first edition took place in 1991. The first race winner of the ...

four times between 2014 and 2019. Van Vleuten has won both of women's cycling

Grand Tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in ...

– winning the

Giro d'Italia Donne The is an annual elite women's road bicycle racing stage race. It was rebranded from 2013-2020 as the Giro Rosa, having been branded the Giro Donne until 2012 and again in 2021. It has been considered the most prestigious stage race in women's r ...

three times in

and

, and winning the inaugural

Tour de France Femmes The Tour de France Femmes () is an annual women's cycle stage race around France. It is organised by Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), which also runs the Tour de France. It is part of the UCI Women's World Tour. Some teams and media have referr ...

. She became the first woman to complete a Giro–Tour double in the same year. In winning the

UCI Women's Road World Cup The UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup was a season-long road bicycle competition for women organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale between 1998–2015. This competition consisted of a series (which has varied from 6 to 12 events) of rac ...

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, and the

UCI Women's World Tour The UCI Women's World Tour is the premier annual female elite road cycling tour. History In order to increase the coverage of Women's cycling the UCI held a summit in December 2014 between the UCI Women’s Working Group and the UCI Women's ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

and

, Van Vleuten won multiple stage races and one day events. She has won

cycling monument The Monuments are five classic cycle races generally considered to be the oldest, hardest and most prestigious one-day events in men's road cycling. They each have a long history and specific individual characteristics. They are currently the one-d ...

s including

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes is the women's event of Liège–Bastogne–Liège, an annual road bicycle racing event in Wallonia, Belgium, held in late April. The inaugural race, won by Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen, was run on 23 Ap ...

Strade Bianche Donne The Strade Bianche Donne ''(Strade Bianche Women)'', also named Strade Bianche Rosa by Italian media, is an annual professional list of women's road bicycle races, women's road bicycle racing event in Tuscany, Italy. Roughly a quarter of the rou ...

and

Tour of Flanders for Women The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), formerly the Tour of Flanders for Women ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen voor Vrouwen), is an annual road bicycle racing event in Flanders, Belgium, held in early April. It is held on the same day as t ...

on multiple occasions. She has been awarded Dutch women's cyclist of the year three times. Van Vleuten will retire at the end of the 2023 season.

Career

As a child, Van Vleuten played football, gymnastics and horse riding – and rode her bike to school. Van Vleuten studied

animal science Animal science is described as "studying the biology of animals that are under the control of humankind". It can also be described as the production and management of farm animals. Historically, the degree was called animal husbandry and the ...

s and specialised in

zoonoses A zoonosis (; plural zoonoses) or zoonotic disease is an infectious disease of humans caused by a pathogen (an infectious agent, such as a bacterium, virus, parasite or prion) that has jumped from a non-human (usually a vertebrate) to a human. ...

and

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

at the University of Wageningen, graduating with a master's degree in epidemiology in 2007. In 2005, she was advised by her doctor to take up cycling following a knee injury playing football.

Early career

Starting her cycling career at amateur teams in 2007 aged 25, Van Vleuten joined the Dutch team in 2009. Quitting her office job in 2010 to become a full time professional cyclist, her first major win was at the 2010 Novilon Eurocup Ronde van Drenthe. She then won

La Route de France The Route de France Féminine is a women's cycle race. First held in 2006, it was rated 2.2 by the UCI for the 2006 and 2007 edition, and 2.1 since. The race was cancelled in 2011, but returned the next year. With the ending of the Grande Boucle ...

later that year. In 2011, she won the

, winning key races like

GP de Plouay – Bretagne The Grand Prix de Plouay – Lorient Agglomération is an elite professional women's road bicycle race held in Plouay, France. It is organized annually since 2002, on the day of the men's race and on the same circuit. The race consists of fou ...

and

Open de Suède Vårgårda Open de Suède Vårgårda is an elite professional women's road bicycle event held annually in the Vårgårda Municipality of Sweden. Created in 2006, the Open de Suède Vårgårda was part of the UCI Women's Road World Cup until 2015 and sanc ...

. In 2012, Van Vleuten represented the Netherlands in the Women's road race at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, along with

Ellen van Dijk Eleonora Maria "Ellen" van Dijk (; born 11 February 1987) is a Dutch professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Besides road cycling she was also a track cyclist until 2012. Van Dijk is known as a time ...

Marianne Vos Marianne Vos (; born 13 May 1987) is a Dutch multi-discipline cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . After winning a junior European and World Championship in road racing, she continued her success in senior cycling by becomin ...

and

Loes Gunnewijk Loes Gunnewijk (born 27 November 1980 in Groenlo) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2015. Gunnewijk was a member of the Dutch national team together with Ellen van Dijk, Marianne Vos and Anne ...

. The race was won by Vos. She also won the

. After a less than successful 2013, she won the

for the first time in 2014. In 2015 she joined the . She took part in the

2015 European Games The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games ( az, Bakı 2015 Avropa Oyunları), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic ...

for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, in

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

; Van Vleuten won a bronze medal in the

, and finished seventh in the road race.

Orica–AIS (2016–20)

In 2016, Van Vleuten joined the team. On 7 August 2016, while leading the road race at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, Van Vleuten crashed head first on the steep descent from

Vista Chinesa The Vista Chinesa (''Chinese Belvedere'') is one of the belvederes of Rio de Janeiro, at the topmost of one of the roads that connect the Jardim Botânico area to the Parque Nacional & Floresta da Tijuca, known as the ''Estrada da Vista Chinesa'' ...

after missing her braking point before a sharp bend, before the finish. The crash knocked her unconscious, and she was hospitalised with three

lumbar In tetrapod anatomy, lumbar is an adjective that means ''of or pertaining to the abdominal segment of the torso, between the diaphragm and the sacrum.'' The lumbar region is sometimes referred to as the lower spine, or as an area of the back i ...

spinal fracture A spinal fracture, also called a vertebral fracture or a broken back, is a fracture affecting the vertebrae of the spinal column. Most types of spinal fracture confer a significant risk of spinal cord injury. After the immediate trauma, there is ...

s and a severe

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

. Despite her injuries, Van Vleuten was riding a bicycle within ten days of her accident and made a winning return to competition one month later, taking the overall victory and two stage wins at the

Belgium Tour The Lotto Belgium Tour is an elite women's professional road bicycle stage race, held in Belgium since 2012. In the first year the tour consisted of three stages and grew with a team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race ...

. Earlier in the season, she had also won her second

2017–19: World Championships, Giro Rosa victories

In 2017, she became world champion for the first time, winning the time trial event in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

, Norway. She also won the

Holland Ladies Tour The Holland Ladies Tourhttp://www.hollandladiestour.nl/ Official site is a women's elite professional road bicycle racing stage race held annually in September since 1998 in the Netherlands. It's a tour with 6 or 7 stages. For sponsorship reasons ...

La Course by Le Tour de France La Course by Le Tour de France was an elite women's professional road bicycle race held in France. First held in 2014 as a one-day race on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, it has been part of the UCI Women's WorldTour since 2016 as a one or two ...

, and retained her national Time Trial Championship. 20180925 UCI Road World Championships Innsbruck Women Elite ITT Annemiek van Vleuten 850 9507

20180925 UCI Road World Championships Innsbruck Women Elite ITT Annemiek van Vleuten 850 9507

2018 was Van Vleuten's most successful year of her career – she won the Giro Rosa (winning 3 stages), she defended her world title in the

at the

2018 UCI Road World Championships The 2018 UCI Road World Championships were held in Innsbruck, Austria. It was the 91st UCI Road World Championships and the third to be held in Austria. The World Championships consisted of a total of twelve competitions, one road race, one te ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

, Austria, and she won the

after multiple victories at events such as

and the

. She ended the 2018 season with a total of 13 victories. In 2019, Van Vleuten defended her Giro Rosa title, winning by over 3 minutes and taking all the major classifications (general, points and mountain). At the

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

, she won the road race after riding solo for of the race, holding back the chasing groups. She also won the Dutch national time trial championship for the fourth time. Despite winning the Giro Rosa and major races such as

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège, also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Monuments'' of the European professional r ...

and

Strade Bianche The Strade Bianche is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. First held in 2007, it is raced annually on the first or second Saturday of March. The name ''Strade Bianche'' (Italian for ''White Roads'') st ...

, Van Vleuten finished second in the

standings behind fellow Dutch rider

. In the

-disrupted 2020 season, she won the road race at the

European Road Championships The European Road Cycling Championships are the set of European championship events for the various disciplines and distances in road cycling and have been regulated by the European Cycling Union since 1995. The championships are for under-23, j ...

, as well as

for the second time.

Movistar Team (2021–present)

2021: Olympic Games medals

For the 2021 season, Van Vleuten jointed the . She started her season by winning

, 10 years after her first victory. In July, she was one of four Dutch cyclists competing in the women's Olympic road race in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, where she won the silver medal in the race, crossing the finish line 75 seconds behind Austria's

Anna Kiesenhofer Anna Kiesenhofer (born 14 February 1991) is an Austrian professional cyclist and mathematician, who rides for UCI Women's Team Israel Premier Tech Roland. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in mathematics at the École Polytechnique Fédéral ...

. With around left in the race, Van Vleuten crashed, but rejoined the race. Her attack with to go secured her second place. When Van Vleuten finished the race, she celebrated thinking she had won, as she was unaware of Kiesenhofer being in front of her. Three days later, she became Olympic champion by winning the gold medal in the

. She won the

for the second time, following victories at the

Challenge by La Vuelta The Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta (La Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta before 2020) is an elite women's professional bicycle race held in Spain, and has been part of the UCI Women's WorldTour since 2016. Similar to La Course by Le Tour de France ...

and

Ladies Tour of Norway The Ladies Tour of Norway is a women's cycle stage race. The first edition of the race was held from 15 to 17 August 2014 based in the town of Halden in south east Norway. It consisted of an individual time trial prologue and two road race stages ...

. In October, she crashed in the first ever

Paris–Roubaix Femmes Paris–Roubaix Femmes is a one day women's bicycle race on cobbled roads (or pavé) in northern France, held annually in early April. It is part of the UCI Women's World Tour. The equivalent men's race is a cycling monument, and after the Tou ...

, breaking her pubis bone in two places, ending her season. In December, Van Vleuten was named Dutch cyclist of the year () for a third time, having previously won the award in 2017 and 2019.

2022: Giro–Tour–Vuelta triple, second world road race title

In 2022, Van Vleuten started her season by winning two classics –

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, previously Omloop Het Volk, is a one-day road cycling race in Belgium, held annually in late February. It is the opening event of the Belgian cycling season, as well as the first race of the year in Northwestern Europe, and ...

, and the

for the second time. In June, Van Vleuten signed a one-year contract extension with the , with the intention to retire from cycling at the end of the 2023 season. She won her third

the following month, winning two stages and the points classification. 2022-07-31 - TDF Femmes - Lure - 302 (cropped)

Later the same month, she was named as one of the pre-race favourites for the inaugural edition of the

. During the race, she suffered from stomach issues early on, which had left her more than a minute behind race leader

after three stages. Having moved up to eighth overall following the sixth stage, Van Vleuten split the race apart on the penultimate stage; having attacked on the first climb of the day, the

Col du Petit Ballon The Col du Petit Ballon (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the Vosges Mountains in the Haut-Rhin department of France, close to the summit of the Petit Ballon mountain (). It was crossed on Stage 10 of the 2014 Tour de France cycle race. Detail ...

, only

Demi Vollering Demi Vollering (born 15 November 1996) is a Dutch professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . In 2019 she won the Volta Limburg Classic and the Giro dell'Emilia. In 2021 she won Liège–Bastogne–Liège, her fi ...

was able to keep pace with Van Vleuten. Before the top of the next climb, the

Col du Platzerwasel The Col du Platzerwasel (elevation ) is a mountain pass situated in the Vosges Mountains in the Haut-Rhin department of France, between Sondernach and Le Markstein. It has been crossed occasionally during the Tour de France cycle race, includin ...

, Van Vleuten was on her own, having accelerated clear of Vollering. Van Vleuten remained clear for the remaining and ultimately won the stage by over three minutes, moving into the race lead.On stage 7 she blew the race apart with a solo attack for the stage win, which also put her in the yellow jersey as overall race leader by over 3 minutes ahead of

. The next day she cemented her victory, extending her lead in the process; she attacked with remaining, passed the remaining breakaway riders, and soloed to win by 30 seconds ahead of Vollering. In the general classification, Van Vleuten won by nearly four minutes from Vollering, with only five other riders within ten minutes. She became the first woman to complete a Giro–Tour double in the same year. In September, she won the

, as well as winning the second stage, in doing so she completed a Giro–Tour–Vuelta triple, a feat never managed by a male cyclist. The following week, Van Vleuten recorded her worst result in the

at the

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

, finishing in seventh place – a result she described as a "shit day". Three days later, in the mixed team relay, Van Vleuten crashed shortly after leaving the start, which resulted in a fractured elbow and made her a doubt for the road race three days later. Van Vleuten ultimately took the start of the race, initially riding as a

domestique In road bicycle racing, a domestique is a rider who works for the benefit of their team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. In French, ''domestique'' translates as "servant".However, in French, the term used is ''équipier''. In Ita ...

for

. By the end, Van Vleuten capitalised on a late-race stalling of pace, attacking with around remaining, holding off around a dozen riders by a second to take the rainbow jersey. In doing so, Van Vleuten became the first female rider to win the

Triple Crown of Cycling The Triple Crown of Cycling is a term used in road bicycle racing to denote the achievement of winning three major titles in the same season, usually the Giro d'Italia general classification, the Tour de France general classification and the UCI ...

Personal life

Outside of cycling, Van Vleuten lives a low-key life, enjoying

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

, watching

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, and playing the

Settlers of Catan ''Catan'', previously known as ''The Settlers of Catan'' or simply ''Settlers'', is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber. It was first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag (Kosmos) as ''Die Siedler von Catan''. Pl ...

board game with friends.

Career achievements

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vleuten, Annemiek Van 1982 births Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2015 European Games Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Dutch Tour de France Femme stage winners Dutch cycling time trial champions Dutch epidemiologists Dutch female cyclists Dutch track cyclists European Games bronze medalists for the Netherlands European Games medalists in cycling Living people Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of the Netherlands Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic medalists in cycling Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Road racing cyclists Sportspeople from Utrecht (city) UCI Road World Champions (women) UCI Road World Championships cyclists for the Netherlands Cyclists from Utrecht (province)