Annemiek Van Vleuten is the best rider in the world - leader of the UCI World Ranking and the Women's WorldTour, winner of the Giro Rosa and reigning time trial world champion - but she's not willing to stop there. A proven rider of versatility during her decade-long career, she has transformed herself into the sport's newest climbing talent with an ability to hit her best form during the spring and summer blocks of racing this season. She's aiming to have the most significant peak at the 2018 UCI Road World Championships - on the hunt for double rainbow jerseys in the elite women's time trial and the road race.
“I feel the same about both events. I want to win both events," Van Vleuten told Cyclingnews about her quest to both defend her title in the time trial and secure a first-ever gold medal in the road race.
“My focus point is to be at my best possible level at the World Championships. I'm not concerned about what event could be more important, or who my competitors are; I just want to be at my highest level - that is my focus point."
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There isn't much that can stop Van Vleuten once she sets her sights on a target. Her season to date has been the most successful of her entire career, with a first peak during the spring Classics, a second at the Giro Rosa and La Course in July, and a third, and possibly her biggest peak is planned to take shape during the next 10 days in Innsbruck, Austria.
The precision with which Van Vleuten can plan a peak is irrefutable. She broke into this season in near-perfect form, and with grit and determination that saw her sprinting to third at the Tour of Flanders despite crashing earlier in the race and dislocating her shoulder. She then muscled through the arduous cobblestones, and ups and downs of the Ardennes region of the Netherlands and Belgium to finish third at Amstel Gold Race and fourth at La Flèche Wallonne.
She arrived at the Giro Rosa in what she says has, so far, been her best-ever form. "I was intending to peak a second time, a bigger one, in July," she said.
The transformation
World Championships
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/annemiek-van-vleuten-the-rainbow-peak
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