For Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team), the number of race days before the final curtain closes on an illustrious career is now in the single digits. After this week's Tour of Scandinavia, the 40-year-old super star will finish her career at the Simac Ladies Tour in her native Netherlands.
On stage 2 of the Scandinavian Women's WorldTour race on Thursday, she rode her last mountain stage, crossing the line in second place at the Norefjell ski resort, beaten on the summit finish by Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-SUEZ).
“I expected Uttrup to be really strong, and I was a bit on my limit to follow her. I didn’t have anything more to attack, to be honest. Then it was a sprint to the finish line, and that’s always hard with Cecilie,” Van Vleuten said after the stage.
The veteran had been the only rider able to follow when the Danish climber attacked, though Kim Cadzow (Team Jumbo-Visma) and Greta Marturano (Fenix-Deceuninck) came back to the front later, finishing third and fourth, respectively. Van Vleuten herself had anticipated more riders to be in the fight for the stage win.
“I expected also other contenders [to be] closer, it was important also for the GC. We also have a time trial on day 4. For instance, Grace Brown has a really strong time trial, it was good not to have her with me, and in the end, I had better legs than I expected,” Van Vleuten said.
This last-ever summit finish was a good day out for Van Vleuten who is now looking forward to the time trial in Herning, Denmark on the penultimate stage, that will decide the GC.
“I expected to struggle a bit more, I was actually on a good day, so that gives also confidence for the time trial,” Van Vleuten finished.
The Dutch rider announced after the World Championships road race in Scotland, where she finished eighth, that she would stretch her career with a series of criteriums and two stage races, the Tour of Scandinavia and the Simac Ladies Tour. Earlier in her final season she successfully defended a Giro d’Italia Donne title and then was fourth at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
