Annemiek van Vleuten tackles 985km Colombian ride 'just for the adventure'

ARCIDOSSO ITALY SEPTEMBER 12 Annemiek Van Vleuten of The Netherlands and Team Mitchelton Scott Gravel Strokes Fans Public during the 31st Giro dItalia Internazionale Femminile 2020 Stage 2 a 1248km stage from Civitella Paganico to Arcidosso GiroRosaIccrea GiroRosa on September 12 2020 in Arcidosso Italy Photo by Luc ClaessenGetty Images
Annemiek Van Vleuten tackling gravel at the 2020 Giro d'Italia Internazionale Femminile (Image credit: Getty Images)

The sight of Annemiek van Vleuten has become a common sight on the roads of Colombia over each winter of the past three years. She once used the high elevation of the paved roads for training, to build into the early road season with her Movistar Team. This year the Dutch rider will have an altogether different motivation as she works her way across the rugged terrain of the Andes for the eight days of Transcordilleras.

The Transcordilleras Rally Colombia has taken hold as a formidable gravel race with former WorldTour pros like Laurens ten Dam, Thomas Dekker and Peter Stetina riding hard across the three imposing mountain ranges along South America’s equator. For this edition, Ten Dam and Dekker return to compete in the non-stop, self-supported category, while the eight-day, self-supported stage race includes newcomers Russell Finsterwald, who won Big Sugar Gravel in 2022, and Whitney Allison, who was second overall at the 2023 Belgian Waffle Ride Quadrupel Crown. Returning to the field is Colombian mountain bike champion Marcelo Gutierrez. 

Jackie Tyson
North American Production editor

Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).

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