With tears of joy in her eyes, Annemiek van Vleuten ran into her mother’s arms and hearted her dearly.The Dutch woman was overwhelmed by her feelings of happiness after the women’s individual time trial of the World Cup title, partly because of a drastic experience.
Just over a year ago, the 34-year-old almost died in a horror crash at the Olympic road race – now Van Vleuten was proud to slip over the rainbow jersey.
“It’s so great to celebrate the title with my mother – especially after Rio last year.This was a very hard day for them,”said van Vleuten.She added:”To experience this climax with my mother, not only the depths, is very special.”
On the demanding World Cup course in Bergen, Norway, van Vleuten (28:50 minutes) was 12 seconds ahead of her compatriot Anna van der Breggen.For the second year in a row, the German women remained without podium place in the fight against the clock.Former World Champion Lisa Brennauer (Durach) and Trixi Worrack (Cottbus) disappointed on positions 12 and 17, while the Dutch were impressively equal to their exceptional position.
Van Vleuten enjoyed the moment of triumph, which brought her back to life the images of the accident in Rio de Janeiro.She was lying in the lead, headfirst, crashed in a breakneck downhill run and hit a curb with her neck.Van Vleuten was immediately unconscious, the worst had to be feared.But the Dutch woman survived the horror crash with comparatively mild luck and a few weeks later she was back on the bike again.
On Tuesday, van Vleuten crowned her outstanding season and celebrated the first World Championship triumph in the individual time trial of her career – ahead of van der Breggen, who had won the road race in Rio and dedicated gold to her formerly overthrown team mate.
Meanwhile, the Bund Deutscher Radfahrer (BDR) is still waiting for the first precious metal of these championships.Brennauer was 1’48 “behind the winner, and Worrack was even more than two minutes behind the winner,” I didn’t feel well, I didn’t put any pressure on the pedals,”said the 35-year-old, who had to finish in the 20th minute.For the third time in a row, he will participate in a world championship.
Brennauer, who triumphed in Spain in 2014 and won a bronze medal in 2015, actually wanted to go near the podium:”I’m well prepared and highly motivated,”the Allgäuer had said, pointing to her last ascending form.The 29-year-old had no proof.