"I want to see my team grow and enjoy wearing my rainbow jersey, because that's the best way to say goodbye to this sport." Annemiek's words. Van Vleuten reported by the Spanish newspaper Brand which seem like an epitaph to his extraordinary career.
The Dutchman, having passed the age of 40, is preparing to experience his last season, At the end of which he'll hang up his bike. And there doesn't seem to be any room for him to back down from his plans, even if it seems strange considering we're in the pre-Olympic year.
Quitting despite everything
The champion of the Movistar She was very clear about this: «I want to quit while it still hurts to do so, I won't change my mindI will suffer, I will cry, but I don't want to give up when my level drops, I want to still be at the peak of my abilities, at my maximum level."
In her interview, during the training camp that the orange champion spent in Colombia, Van Vleuten also underlined how her relationship with her team, with which she is only in her second year, is very deep: «It's a strong team, they all have great technical qualities, I have to admit that this is the first time I've placed complete trust in my teammates and in the team system. I know the girls will carry me to the foot of the first climb, no matter what. I'll just have to follow their wheel.I want to see them grow and accompany me on this final competitive journey of mine, setting my sights on some races, even if I don't have specific goals in mind yet."
Female professionalism
After her accomplishments last year, winning all three major tours, one might think she'd want to repeat her feat, thus sending the peloton off in the best possible way. In this regard, Van Vleuten focused on the duration of stage races, offering her opinion on a hotly debated topic.
«"Three-week races for women too are possible," says the Dutchman, "but we need to work on them slowly. It's not something that can be achieved in the short term." For now, it's best to spend about ten days, concentrated on emotions. But I'm sure it will happen, we'll get there once the transition to professionalism is complete and every cyclist has a decent minimum wage, enough to live off their work as an athlete.
Her statements are thought-provoking and have prompted us to ask for a reply from another totem of women's cycling, Fabiana LuperiniLike Van Vleuten, the Tuscan was a stage race specialist, having won five Giro d'Italias and three Tours de France.
"I," Fabiana explains, "believe that going back to the past, to my time, is the best solution. Many have forgotten that when I won the Tour, it was spread over two weeks and had more than enough stages and kilometers. Three would be too many, for me it is also too many for men and it has been discussed for a long time".
«Fifteen days is the right solution, the one that brings out the real values on the pitch, I don't think that an extra week would change things.. We've seen, moreover, that even the current formula ultimately rewards the strongest; extending it by a few stages would test everyone's endurance. But I wouldn't go beyond two weeks: it wouldn't make any more technical sense."
Two weeks okay
In some ways, however, this disparity between men and women may seem out of step with the times. It's been scientifically proven that in all endurance sports, performances between the sexes tend to get closer as the distance increases, so much so that in some running events, women actually win.
Is it a problem of cycling culture still being too chauvinistic? "I don't think so," says Luperini. "Each sport should be viewed in its own unique way. If we look at tennis, in major tournaments there's still a difference between three and five sets, and that's right. In cycling, for example, the 150-kilometer distance for women is more than enough to establish the right hierarchies in the field. If anything, it's the men's system that needs to be addressed.
«Returning to the discussion of the two weeks – continues the sports director of the Team Corratec – these would allow the Tour to tackle both the Alps and the Pyrenees, today with such a short duration it is impossible to do both, the transfers would be too long».
Retirement? Maybe he'll reconsider.
The Tuscan also had her say on Van Vleuten's decision to end her career while still at the top.
«In his place I would have continued for another year, precisely because we are getting to the Olympics which are a bit like the compendium of all the work of a four-year period. But the Dutchman probably knows that the path of Paris It won't be in her favor, and after all, she's already won an Olympic gold medal, albeit in the time trial and not the road race. However, I'm not so sure about her retiring at the end of the year: she's clearly superior, and if she's the same in 2023, maybe she'll reconsider. Before taking it for granted, it's better to wait..."
