At the beginning of the week, the Dutch Annemiek van Vleuten was the big favorite of the World Championships this Saturday in Wollongong in Australia.
Normal, at 39 she had flown over the season by winning in particular the three Grand Tours (Italy, France and Spain).
But a fall during the mixed relay had caused him a fracture without displacement of the right elbow.
And she hesitated for a long time to align herself with the race.
And yet, it was she who won this Saturday to win her second rainbow jersey after that of 2019. She was not necessarily the strongest but she proved to be the most cunning in her extirpating in the last kilometer of a group of a dozen runners imposing themselves in front of the Belgian Lotte Kopecky and the Italian Silvia Persico.
IT'S NOT A DREAM.
IT'S NOT A DREAM.
ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN IS WORLD CHAMPION.
GIRO.
ROUND.
VUELTA.
WORLDS.
đđđđđđđ#Wollongong2022 pic.twitter.com/wTyyNQJDY8
â Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) September 24, 2022
In wet conditions, she relied on all her science and experience.
Unable to put herself in the dancer's shoes due to the pain, she was dropped several times in the hill of the Wollongong street circuit.
She came back each time without panicking.
And when her chasing group joined the five breakaways shortly before the red flame, she suddenly emerged from behind to leave "in postman", still sitting on her saddle, less than a kilometer from the finish. .
"I expected to be caught up with but no one managed to come back," she said, quite astonished, joined after the finish line by her teammates who also couldn't believe it. .
"I can't believe it, I'm waiting for someone to pinch me," she added.
It was hell, I had to do the whole race sitting on my saddle, my legs were exploding on the climbs but I managed to survive,â she added.
For the overpowering Dutch team, now victorious in five of the last six editions of the road race, it is a second triumph in these Worlds after Ellen van Dijk's success in the time trial last Sunday.
Van Vleuten will play next year, his last professional season.
It will be with the most beautiful of tunics.
For her part, the Frenchwoman Juliette Labous, the best chance for the tricolor, honored her rank and finished in an encouraging 7th place.