Annemiek van Vleuten 'not strong enough uphill' on Setmana Valenciana queen stage

ALTEA SPAIN FEBRUARY 18 LR Annemiek Van Vleuten of The Netherlands and Movistar Team and Amanda Spratt of Australia and Team Trek Segafredo compete during the 7th Setmana Ciclista Volta Comunitat Valenciana Femines 2023 Stage 3 a 132km stage from Agost to Altea SetmanaCiclista23 on February 18 2023 in Altea Spain Photo by Alex BroadwayGetty Images
Van Vleuten leads the peloton down a descent during the third stage of the race (Image credit: Alex BroadwayGetty Images)

Annemiek van Vleuten has said she was "not strong enough uphill" to drop her competition on the third stage of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana on Saturday, settling for third in a three-up sprint in Altea.

After going clear with Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step) and Amanda Spratt (Trek-Segafredo) on the 15km Tudons climb, Van Vleuten failed to shake off either rider on the following climb and descent, meaning the three contested the flat finish as a sprint, which Moolman Pasio won.

Matilda Price is a freelance cycling journalist and digital producer based in the UK. She is a graduate of modern languages, and recently completed an MA in sports journalism, during which she wrote her dissertation on the lives of young cyclists. Matilda began covering cycling in 2016 whilst still at university, working mainly in the British domestic scene at first. Since then, she has covered everything from the Tour Series to the Tour de France. These days, Matilda focuses most of her attention on the women’s sport, writing for Cyclingnews and working on women’s cycling show The Bunnyhop. As well as the Women’s WorldTour, Matilda loves following cyclo-cross and is a recent convert to downhill mountain biking.