Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) came into the season with an ambitious goal of winning all three grand tours, and while she succeeded at La Vuelta Femenina and the Giro d'Italia Donne, she was upset to have finished just off the podium in fourth place at the Tour de France Femmes.
"Of course, there's disappointment that I was not good the last two days," Van Vleuten said.
"I was in the battle and gave it my all. I didn’t make any mistakes, or think that I was not smart or that I did something wrong. I don’t know what happened, I was obviously not myself. And that’s a bit sad for my last Tour de France. I don’t know what happened."
Van Vleuten came into the eight-day race as the defending champion and as one of the overwhelming favourites but struggled on the two final decisive days.
On stage 7, she finished third on the Col du Tourmalet 2:34 behind winner Demi Vollering (SD Worx). On the stage 8 time trial in Pau, she finished 14th at 1:41 behind Vollering. She dropped one place in the overall classification finishing fourth at 3:59 behind the Tour de France Femmes overall winner, Vollering.
Although she expressed disappointment in her performances, she also said that she felt unwell and had stomach problems following the queen stage 7 on the summit of the Tourmalet and that those symptoms carried into the morning of the time trial.
"When I woke up this morning, I already felt off. Yesterday evening I felt like I would be sick this morning. I was not really sick, I didn’t have a temperature that was high, but I said I’d give it a go, you never know," Van Vleuten said.
"But I already know from how I was riding yesterday on the Tourmalet, I think people that watch more women’s cycling know it is not the level I normally have."
"Knowing how I felt and that it was hard to recover from that stage in a short time, I was hoping for it and going for it, but I knew that it would be hard."
Van Vleuten said there were highlights from this week, too, in watching her teammates Liane Lippert and Emma Norsgaard secure stage victories.
"Yes, it's a huge disappointment for me, for my own performance. But not for the team performances, it was super nice to share the win of Liane and Emma, two beautiful wins out of eight stages," Van Vleuten said.
Our champion. And many people’s.@AvVleuten completes her final @LeTourFemmes avec @GoZwift stage.Miek is 4th overall to cap off an outstanding Grand Tour season, winning La Vuelta and the Giro Donne.#RodamosJuntos | #TDFF2023 pic.twitter.com/WniNyfcj1YJuly 30, 2023
As she crossed the finish line of the time trial, she was surrounded by all of her teammates who had arrived to support her in her last Tour de France Femmes before retirement.
Van Vleuten appeared to be emotional as they chanted her name and congratulatory hugs.
"I was emotional for my teammates. It was so nice for them to be there. It was such a nice gesture after they worked so hard for me the whole week and to be there at the finish line with such a warm welcome. Our team is like a warm family, and I had a really good time in the two years," said Van Vleuten, who will retire at the end of this season.
"I think we achieved a lot of beautiful memories, and it's also what the manager told me, and it will not make any difference after this disappointing Tour de France for me, personally, for the GC. But we won two stages, and we achieved a lot together, and that was nice to hear those words of the manager at the finish."
'I won't be the leader' - Van Vleuten to work for Vollering, Wiebes at Glasgow Worlds
Van Vleuten will now head to the Glasgow World Championships, where she lines up as the defending champion. She will join the Dutch National Team that includes Vollering and Lorena Wiebes and revealed that she will not be the team leader but will work for her teammates in her final Worlds.
"I think Vollering will be the leader, together with our sprinter, and I will be there also, but I am on the leader," Van Vleuten said.
"I think she already [arrived] this spring at an amazing level. It was sad that I could not really compete with her for the last two days [at the Tour de France] at my normal level because it would have been a bit more interesting."
Van Vleuten also praised Vollering and SD Worx for their success at the Tour de France Femmes and noted that Vollering handled the pressure of being a team leader and a champion very well.
"She was super good, the whole team, they did super well. She is a young rider, and it is not easy to have so much pressure on your shoulders. I can also feel the pressure. I'm 40, and I can also feel the pressure, and I'm a bit more used to it," Van Vleuten said.
"She can deal with the pressure, and it's not easy in the Tour de France, there's a lot of tension, so shout out to her that she can handle it already at such a young age. She had an amazing performance."
ASO announced that the Tour de France Femmes will begin in Rotterdam, Netherlands next year, where Van Vleuten said she would be watching as a fan while she enjoys her retirement.
"For sure, I am a big cycling fan, and I don't know in what kind of role, maybe already in a role in the team, but first I will take a sabbatical next year, but for sure I will be supporting because I am a big cycling fan."
