Annemiek van Vleuten will stop cycling after next season. The Olympic champion extends her contract with Movistar, but will end her career at the end of 2023.
“I did not yet have the feeling that I wanted to stop immediately,” said 39-year-old Van Vleuten. “I’m still super motivated, but I’m also aware that there will come a time when I have to stop. And it suits me better to stop when I’m still at top level.”
Van Vleuten has been regarded as one of the most successful Dutch cyclists for years. Last year she won gold in the time trial and silver in the road race at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Due to the decision, she will not defend her title at the 2024 Games in Paris.
Van Vleuten has been driving for Movistar since 2021, where her contract expired this year. Van Vleuten is experiencing an excellent season with the Spanish formation. This year she wrote Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and a stage and the final win in the cycling week of Valencia to her name.
Annemiek van Vleuten won gold in the road race in 2021.
Annemiek van Vleuten won gold in the road race in 2021. Photo: Getty Images
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Van Vleuten is in his fifteenth year as a professional
If Van Vleuten ends her career at the end of 2023, she will end sixteen years in the peloton. De Wageningse started her career in 2008 with the Dutch team Vrienden van het Platteland and is now the number one in the UCI ranking at Movistar.
Van Vleuten won seven World Cup medals in her career, including three world titles. In 2017 and 2018 she was the best in the individual time trial and a year later the Wageningen driver was crowned world champion on the road.
In 2016 at the Games in Rio de Janeiro, Van Vleuten was already very close to her first Olympic title, but she fell hard in the lead in the descent. The gold then went to Anna van der Breggen.
Van Vleuten is currently preparing for the Giro d’Italia Donne, one of the most important competitions for the women’s peloton. The race, which Van Vleuten has already won twice, starts on Thursday. The Tour de France for women is scheduled for the end of July.
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