The 39-year-old climbing sensation absolutely decimated the peloton up the Petit Ballon and Grand Ballon climbs, distancing the yellow jersey of Marianne Vos by more than 24 minutes. With her dominant victory, Van Vleuten took a firm grasp on the overall lead and the yellow jersey.
On the morning of the final stage —another big mountain stage suited to Van Vleuten— Movistar’s equipment sponsors went big on the yellow jersey celebrations.
Van Vleuten was given not one but two special edition bikes: an all-yellow Canyon Aeroad equipped with a SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset, Quarq power meter and Zipp 303 wheels, wrapped here in Continental tires and all sporting yellow accents.
Her spare bike also got a minor makeover, now sporting yellow wheel decals, yellow bar tape, and yellow SRAM decals on the crank arms.
To complete the package, Van Vleuten also received two yellow helmets, yellow socks, yellow head unit wraps and even, yellow bidons.
Normally, Van Vleuten already rides a bike different from her teammates. While Movistar bikes usually sport a black and blue Canyon bike (Aeroad or Ultimate) with white decals, Van Vleuten’s bikes are all matte black with blue decals. Why?
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“Weight reasons,” Dani Sánchez, the teams’ communications person explained. “She wants it as light as possible, and layers of paint mean some extra grams.”
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(Image credit: Movistar )
(Image credit: Movistar )
(Image credit: Movistar )
(Image credit: Movistar )
(Image credit: Movistar )
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Cycling Weekly'sNorth American Editor, Anne-Marije Rook is old school. She holds a degree in journalism and started out as a newspaper reporter — in print! She can even be seen bringing a pen and notepad to the press conference.
Originally from the Netherlands, she grew up a bike commuter and didn't find bike racing until her early twenties when living in Seattle, Washington. Strengthened by the many miles spent darting around Seattle's hilly streets on a steel single speed, Rook's progression in the sport was a quick one. As she competed at the elite level, her journalism career followed, and soon, she became a full-time cycling journalist. She's now been a journalist for two decades, including 12 years in cycling.
