The Dutch won her third consecutive Tour of Spain on Sunday. She leads her compatriot Demi Vollering by only nine seconds in the general classification.
Nine small seconds. It is the very small gap in the general classification in favor of Annemiek van Vleuten which allowed him to afford, Sunday, May 7, the third Vuelta of his career. Less sovereign but still just as resilient, the Dutchwoman drew on the suffering to maintain her lead over her compatriot Demi Vollering (SD Worx) and triumph for the third consecutive year in the Tour of Spain.
At 40, the champion of the Movistar team, who notably won the three major Tour (France, Italy, Spain) and the World Championships last year, grabs her first victory of the year before retiring. at the end of the season. She is also crowned without having won any of the seven stages of this Tour of Spain.
One last epic step
Annemiek van Vleuten had a 1’11” lead in the general classification on Sunday morning over Vollering, but she almost lost everything during the final ascent to the prestigious natural theater of the Covadonga Lakes (12.5 km to 6.9% average slope).
She managed to hang on to limit the damage after being dropped five kilometers from the goal by Vollering, who flew away to win her second stage in this Vuelta, and the Italian Gaia Realini (Trek-Segafredo), second in the stage and third overall.
At the top, in a thick fog, Van Vleuten ultimately kept a small nine-second lead over Vollering, the grande dame of this start to the season after having notably achieved the hat-trick in the Ardennes. “I am very happy and very, very tired”she reacted after the arrival.
A controversial victory?
She had overturned the table on Saturday during the penultimate stage which was surrounded by controversy. With tears in her eyes at the finish, Demi Vollering, who was still wearing the leader’s red jersey on the morning of the stage, accused Van Vleuten and her team of speeding up when she was taking a toilet break. The world champion disputed any opportunistic maneuver, assuring that the team had planned to go on the attack at this precise place, 70 km from the finish, to try an edge shot.
The tiny gap on Sunday evening will inevitably stir up the regrets of Vollering who was aiming, at 26, for his first victory in a Grand Tour. “Without that, I would have won this Vueltashe ruminated on Sunday, but I’m happy to have shown what I was capable of today.”
On the French side, Évita Muzic (FDJ-Suez), fourth in the last stage, finished sixth overall, just ahead of Juliette Labous (DSM).
