Annemiek van Vleuten (Dutch: [ɑnəˈmik fɑn ˈvløːtə(n)]; born 8 October 1982) is a retired Dutch professional road racing cyclist, who most recently rode for UCI Women's WorldTeam Movistar Team.[3][4]
Van Vleuten is twice a winner of both the road race (2019 and 2022) and the time trial (2017 and 2018) at the UCI Road World Championships. In the Olympic Games, she crashed out of the lead of the road race in 2016, before winning the gold medal at the time trial event and a silver in the road race at the COVID-19 pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics. She won the Dutch National Road Race Championships in 2012, and won the Dutch National Time Trial Championships four times between 2014 and 2019.
Van Vleuten has won all three of women's cycling Grand Tours equivalents – winning the Giro Donne in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023, winning the inaugural Tour de France Femmes in 2022 and winning La Vuelta Femenina in 2023. She became the first woman to complete a Giro–Tour double in the same year. Van Vleuten has won six of women's cycling Grand Tours equivalents in a row.
In winning the UCI Women's Road World Cup in 2011, and the UCI Women's World Tour in 2018, 2021 and 2022, van Vleuten won multiple stage races and one day events. She has won cycling monuments including Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes, Strade Bianche Donne and Tour of Flanders for Women on multiple occasions. She has been awarded Dutch women's cyclist of the year three times, and is considered one of the greatest female cyclists ever.[5][6] Van Vleuten retired at the end of the 2023 season.[6]
- ^ "Mitchelton-Scott women announce 10-rider roster for 2019". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
- ^ Weislo, Laura (8 January 2020). "2020 Team Preview: Mitchelton-Scott Women". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ^ "Movistar Team Women". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ^ "Annemiek van Vleuten: World champion to join Movistar next year". BBC Sport. BBC. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ Becket, Adam (31 July 2023). "Opinion: There will never be another bike rider like Annemiek van Vleuten". cyclingweekly.com. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ a b Gay, Jason. "'Feels Like Death.' Why Is the Most Feared Rider at the Women's Tour de France Retiring?". WSJ. Retrieved 31 July 2023.