'If I am not better than when I retired, it will be difficult' - Anna van der Breggen manages expectations in pro racing comeback

Anna van der Breggen isn't sure what to expect in her highly-anticipated comeback to professional racing with SD Worx-Protime since retiring from the sport at the height of her career three years ago. Now 34, the former world champion and Olympic gold medallist believes the women's peloton is stronger and that if she can't reach her previous form or higher she won't be in contention to win at the major races.

Having already previewed the 2025 UCI Road World Championships route in Kigali, Rwanda, she confirmed in an interview with several media outlets, including Cyclingnews, on Thursday that she would also target performance peaks at the Ardennes Classics - Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège - and the Tour de France Femmes. 

But while she has set her sights on a handful of races, and hopes to be strong enough to do well, she said that her main objective is not winning.

"It will be different. I'm coming in different and my goal is different. My goal is not to win this race or to be good at that race. I just enjoy riding with the girls at the camp. 

"My goal is to see how it is going in the races. Of course, I want to be as good as possible but I want to be able to play the game, too. I hope I can be good enough to be in the finals, that is what I like the most about cycling. 

"I don't have it in my mind that I need to win [a specific] race. I enjoy what I am doing now way more. I enjoy the long rides, the new teammates that we have, and how they develop. 

"You think differently about cycling now [at this stage in her career] compared to when you are young and you're talented and want to win world championships, a title or race ... you look mostly to yourself. For me, now, that has changed. I see the team and I want to be part of this team. And I want to be strong because that is what decides the best in the race." 

Racing between 2009 and 2021, Van der Breggen amassed two road race and one time trial world title, seven wins at Flèche Wallonne, four overall titles at the Giro d'Italia, twice winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and major victories at Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race and Strade Bianche. She rode her last Worlds road race in Leuven as the defending champion, going out at the top of her game.

During her retirement from racing, Van der Breggen remained heavily involved in the sport as a director for SD Worx-Protime and trained several of the riders including former Tour de France winner Demi Vollering, who has since moved to the FDJ-Suez team.

"I was just tired from all the years that I [raced] before [retirement]. I really enjoyed the first year after I had my retirement, and I think that I just need to have a break at that point to do something different," Van der Breggen said, who just completed a training camp with her teammates before the official team presentation on Thursday.

"At the moment, I am also tired," she laughed, "but a different kind of tired ... from training camp. My energy [motivation to race] has returned quite fast."

She said that deciding to return to racing was a slow process and there wasn't just one specific moment, but rather it was a general feeling that she discussed over time with several close friends and colleagues. 

"I enjoyed being a sports director, but the feeling started to come back to me; What if? What if I was on the bike? Could I be better than I was before? I was getting more curious, and at one point I thought 'Why not?

"A lot of people say that there is the Tour de France now, 'Did you come back to race the Tour?' But, for me, that was not [the reason]. It's more in general, I missed cycling. In the back of my mind, somewhere I thought 'I can still do this well, so what and I doing [sitting] in a car'."

An eighth Flèche Wallonne?

Van der Breggen does not yet know which race will be her first this year, but she does know that she aims to peak at the Ardennes Classics and then perhaps the Giro d'Italia before helping teammate and reigning world champion Lotte Kopecky in her pursuit of the yellow jersey at the Tour de France. 

She said SD Worx-Protime are giving her the freedom to slowly build her form and to decide where best to start her season.

"For me, the Ardennes are important in April. That will give me time to build up further ahead of these races. It's quite late. The team is giving me the possibility to go into racing when I feel like I have the level and am good enough to do this. After the Ardennes, I hope to do all the stage racing season. That is what I like. The first races are very exciting and then the longer climbing and stage races, step-by-step," Van der Breggen said.

An eye on the Ardennes means that she could find herself in the position of winning a record eighth time at Flèche Wallonne, but she reminded the press that iconic climbs like the Mur de Huy require top form and that is something she is not yet sure she can build to in such a short space of time.

"Of course, if I had the choice, I would like [an eighth Mur de Huy title]. I think everyone is saying this. Some riders like this race, but less than something like Flanders or Roubaix. The list of riders on our team is not that big so I can go in and see," she said.

"You need to be in top shape to be able to win Flèche and these last climbs are not lying. If I am not at that level, yet, or better than I was when I retired then it will be difficult. If I don't make it there, it is OK for me, it is one of the most difficult races to start with, but I will try."

Asked if she truly believes that she needs to be a better rider than before she retired, Van der Breggen said, "I'm not sure if "better" is the right description. It has changed, for example, being in position before major climbs will be harder. More riders can do this now, and the speed will be higher.

"I always liked to sit in the back and not waste energy and then go to the front before important points. I think this will have to change because that is not possible anymore. So changing [my] energy output earlier in the race, but I hope that I can catch a lot of this with the endurance [training] that I have done. I'm a little bit older and stronger, and I need to experience this. I know what was happening in the bunch three years ago, but I don't know now."

Van der Breggen said that during her time directing SD Worx-Protime, she saw the peloton become stronger and more professional, especially after the inaugural Tour de France Femmes in 2022. 

"The Tour de France changed things a lot. It also showed how fast things can change and become important. It's now one of the most important races in women's cycling so it's showing that women's cycling is developing fast," she said, describing additional changes that she has noticed over the last three years, including the 15 top-tier WorldTour teams and the introduction of seven second-tier ProTeams.

"The level of the bunch got better. More riders are training, the teams are getting bigger and more professional. That is the biggest change; the teams are changing and it's more professional. Before we had four or five really professional teams and now you can name 10 teams that do it in a really good way. The output is that you have more riders on a level that you can call professional."

Asked if it might take her two or three years to build back to her best form and contest the peloton for the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, Van der Breggen said, "I don't know. I hope not."