Annemiek van Vleuten posts massive eight-hour 'empty the tank' ride on Strava

Annemiek van Vleuten looks like she'll be starting the 2020 season pretty much where she left off in 2019, having stormed to victory in Yorkshire with a monster ride to claim the rainbow bands, as she kicked off the new year with a massive eight-hour training ride where she "emptied the tank".

For the second year the Dutchwoman has joined her male Mitchelton-Scott team-mates' for a training camp, as her female team-mates are mostly Australian and at their national championships.

Training in southern Italy, their ride was a 146 mile effort to the southern tip of the boot, taking just over eight hours.

Van Vleuten's average speed was 17.9 miles per hour with the ride including 15,361ft of elevation. The 37-year-old burned 5,000 calories as she tackled four HC climbs, totalling 58 miles.

She also took three QOM's, on Gioiosa Ionica, Discesa 'Tri Sctrati' and Bivio San Brunone di Colonia, having left at 8am and returning after 5pm.

The ride was the sixth day of a nine-day trip, with Van Vleuten posting a breakdown of the planned rides totalling 1,140 miles and over 100,000 feet of climbing.

"Normally I am one of the strongest in a training camp when we train with the girls. Here I am clearly the weakest of the bunch. The difference between the men is really very big. So also with a good condition and with Colombia in my legs, I am the least here," Van Vleuten said in a blog post.

After her magnificent win at the Yorkshire Worlds, Van Vleuten also posted the data of her 100km solo breakaway ride, showing fans exactly what it took to secure the rainbow bands.

As well as the camp in Italy, the Dutchwoman recently spent a month in Colombia focusing on endurance training. According to Strava, she was accompanied by the likes of Michael Albasini and Jack Haig.

After a few days rest, Van Vleuten will do one more training camp before starting her 2020 campaign at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Strade Bianche.