Annemiek van Vleuten (Dutch:[ˌɑnəˈmikfɑɱˈvløːtə(n)]; born 8 October 1982) is a retired Dutch professionalroad racing cyclist, who most recently rode forUCI Women's WorldTeamMovistar Team.[3][4]
Van Vleuten is twice a winner of both theroad race (2019 and2022) and thetime trial (2017 and2018) at theUCI Road World Championships. In the Olympic Games, she crashed out of the lead of theroad race in2016, before winning the gold medal at thetime trial event and a silver in theroad race at theCOVID-19 pandemic-delayed2020 Olympics. She won theDutch National Road Race Championships in 2012, and won theDutch National Time Trial Championships four times between 2014 and 2019.
Van Vleuten has won all three of women's cyclingGrand Tours equivalents – winning theGiro Donne in2017,2018,2019,2022 and2023, winning the inauguralTour de France Femmes in2022 and winningLa Vuelta Femenina in2023. In 2022, she became the first woman to complete a Giro–Tour double in the same year. Van Vleuten has won nine grand tours and six of women's cyclingGrand Tours equivalents in a row.
In winning theUCI Women's Road World Cup in2011, and theUCI Women's World Tour in2018,2021 and2022, van Vleuten won multiple stage races and one day events. She has woncycling monuments includingLiège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes,Strade Bianche Donne andTour 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]
As a child, van Vleuten played football, gymnastics and horse riding, and rode her bike to school. Van Vleuten studiedanimal sciences and specialised inzoonoses andepidemiology at theUniversity of Wageningen,[7] graduating with a master's degree in epidemiology in 2007. In 2005, she was advised by her doctor to take up cycling following a knee injury playing football.[8][9]
Starting her cycling career at amateur teams in 2007 aged 25, van Vleuten joined the DutchDSB Bank–Nederland bloeit team in 2009.[9] Quitting her office job in 2010 to become a full time professional cyclist, her first major win was at the2010 Novilon Eurocup Ronde van Drenthe. She then wonLa Route de France later that year.[10] In 2011, she won theUCI Women's Road World Cup, winning key races likeTour of Flanders for Women,GP de Plouay – Bretagne andOpen de Suède Vårgårda.[11]
In 2012, van Vleuten represented the Netherlands in theWomen's road race at the2012 Summer Olympics, along withEllen van Dijk,Marianne Vos andLoes Gunnewijk. The race was won by Vos.[12] Van Vleuten also won theDutch National Road Race Championships.[13] After a less than successful 2013,[14] she won theDutch National Time Trial Championships for the first time in 2014.[15] In 2015 she joined theBigla Pro Cycling Team.[16] She took part in the2015 European Games for theNetherlands, incycling; van Vleuten won a bronze medal in thetime trial, and finished seventh in theroad race.[16]
In 2016, van Vleuten joined theOrica–AIS team. On 7 August 2016, while leading theroad race at theOlympic Games, van Vleuten crashed head first on the steep descent fromVista Chinesa after missing her braking point before a sharp bend, 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) before the finish.[17][18] The crash knocked her unconscious, and she was hospitalised with threelumbarspinal fractures and a severeconcussion.[19] Despite her injuries, van Vleuten was riding a bicycle within ten days of her accident[20] and made a winning return to competition one month later, taking the overall victory and two stage wins at theBelgium Tour.[21] Earlier in the season, she had also won her secondDutch National Time Trial Championships.[9][22]
In 2017, she became world champion for the first time, winning thetime trial event inBergen, Norway. She also won theHolland Ladies Tour,La Course by Le Tour de France, and retained her national Time Trial Championship.[9][23]
2018 was van Vleuten's most successful year of her career – she won theGiro Rosa (winning 3 stages), she defended her world title in thetime trial at the2018 UCI Road World Championships inInnsbruck, Austria, and she won theUCI Women's World Tour after multiple victories at events such asLa Course by Le Tour de France and theHolland Ladies Tour.[24] She ended the 2018 season with a total of 13 victories.[9]
In 2019, van Vleuten defended herGiro Rosa title, winning by over 3 minutes and taking all the major classifications (general, points and mountain).[9][25] At theUCI Road World Championships inHarrogate, she won theroad race after riding solo for 100 kilometres (62 miles) of the 149-kilometre (93-mile) race, holding back the chasing groups.[26] She also won the Dutch national time trial championship for the fourth time.[27] Despite winning the Giro Rosa and major races such asLiège–Bastogne–Liège andStrade Bianche, van Vleuten finished second in theUCI Women's World Tour standings behind fellow Dutch riderMarianne Vos.
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In theCOVID-19 pandemic-disrupted 2020 season, she won the road race at theEuropean Road Championships, as well asStrade Bianche for the second time.[28]
For the 2021 season, van Vleuten joined theMovistar Team. She started her season by winningTour of Flanders for Women, 10 years after her first victory.[29]
In July, she was one of four Dutch cyclists competing in the 137-kilometre (85-mile)women's Olympic road race inTokyo, where she won the silver medal in the race, crossing the finish line 75 seconds behind Austria'sAnna Kiesenhofer.[30][31] With around 60 kilometres (37 miles) left in the race, van Vleuten crashed, but rejoined the race.[31] Her attack with 2.1 kilometres (1.3 miles) to go secured her second place.[31] When van Vleuten finished the race, she celebrated thinking she had won, as she was unaware of Kiesenhofer being in front of her.[32][33] Three days later, she became Olympic champion by winning the gold medal in thetime trial.[34]
She won theUCI Women's World Tour for the second time, following victories at theChallenge by La Vuelta andLadies Tour of Norway.[29] In October, she crashed in the first everParis–Roubaix Femmes, breaking herpubis bone in two places,[35] ending her season. In December, van Vleuten was named Dutch cyclist of the year (Keetie van Oosten-Hage Trophy [nl]) for a third time, having previously won the award in 2017 and 2019.[36][37]
In 2022, van Vleuten started her season by winning two classics –Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and theLiège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes for the second time.[38] In June, van Vleuten signed a one-year contract extension with theMovistar Team, with the intention to retire from cycling at the end of the 2023 season.[39] She won her thirdGiro Donne the following month, winning two stages and the points classification.[40][41]
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Later the same month, she was named as one of the pre-race favourites for theinaugural edition of theTour de France Femmes.[42] During the race, she suffered from stomach issues early on, which had left her more than a minute behind race leaderMarianne Vos after three stages.[43] Having moved up to eighth overall following the sixth stage, van Vleuten split the race apart on the penultimate stage (Stage 7); having attacked on the first climb of the day, theCol du Petit Ballon, onlyDemi Vollering was able to keep pace with van Vleuten. Before the top of the next climb, theCol du Platzerwasel, van Vleuten was on her own, having accelerated clear of Vollering. Van Vleuten remained clear for the remaining 62 kilometres (39 miles) and ultimately won the stage by over three minutes, moving into the race lead.[44] The next day she cemented her victory, extending her lead in the process; she attacked with 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) remaining, passed the remaining breakaway riders, and soloed to win by 30 seconds ahead of Vollering. In the general classification, van Vleuten won by nearly four minutes from Vollering, with only five other riders within ten minutes.[45] She became the first woman to complete a Giro–Tour double in the same year.[38]
In September, she won theChallenge by La Vuelta,[46] as well as winning the second stage.[47] The following week, van Vleuten recorded her worst result in thetime trial at theUCI Road World Championships inWollongong, finishing in seventh place – a result she described as a "shit day".[48] Three days later, in themixed team relay, van Vleuten crashed shortly after leaving the start, which resulted in a fractured elbow and made her a doubt for theroad race three days later.[49] Van Vleuten ultimately took the start of the race, initially riding as adomestique forMarianne Vos.[50] By the end, van Vleuten capitalised on a late-race stalling of pace, attacking with around 700 metres (2,300 feet) remaining, holding off around a dozen riders by a second to take the rainbow jersey.[51] In doing so, van Vleuten became the first female rider to win theTriple Crown of Cycling.
Van Vleuten did not win any major classics in the first few months of the season, with rivalDemi Vollering achieving a clean sweep of the Ardennes Classics. However, she won the inaugural edition ofLa Vuelta Femenina, beating Vollering by nine seconds.[52] This made van Vleuten the first woman to win all three of women's cycling major races.[52] Van Vleuten then won her fourthGiro Donne by a margin of nearly 4 minutes, winning three stages, the points classification and the mountains classification.[53] The second edition ofTour de France Femmes was won by Vollering, with van Vleuten finishing 4th overall. She stated disappointment with the result, explaining that illness had dampened her performance.[54] Van Vleuten retired at the end of the 2023 season.[6]
In December 2024, Van Vleuten announced she would join theFenix–Deceuninck team in a young rider development role.[55] She has also worked as a pundit for Dutch television.[56]
Outside of cycling, van Vleuten lives a low-key life, enjoyingscuba diving, watchingfootball, and playing theSettlers of Catan board game with friends.[7][9] Van Vleuten has been in a relationship with Spanish former amateur cyclist Oscar Abad since 2022, and she announced her pregnancy in June 2025.[57]
Het is de derde keer dat Van Vleuten de Keetie van Oosten-Hage Bokaal wint. Ze deed dat eerder in 2017 en 2019. [It is the third time that van Vleuten has won the Keetie van Oosten-Hage Cup. She previously did that in 2017 and 2019.]
The ciclamino points jersey goes to van Vleuten after her two stage wins.
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