Annemiek van Vleuten climbs to 2022 Tour de France Femmes victory

Annemiek van Vleuten won the women’s Tour de France for the first time last Sunday after winning the final uphill stage to La Super Planche des Belles Filles

The 39-year-old won the stage by 30 seconds ahead of Dutch compatriot Demi Vollering with Silvia Persico in third, 1 minute 43 seconds behind the winner.

In the overall standings, Van Vleuten was 3m 48s ahead of Vollering and 6m 35s ahead of Katarzyna Niewiadoma in third spot.

“That’s actually a dream that comes true. Winning in yellow at the top. And it was not an easy stage. It was not an easy week. It has been a super big rollercoaster for me. And even today it was not easy. But to finish here in yellow, solo … the best way."

"I am super-proud to be the first winner of the Tour de France for the women, when it is back on the calendar. And then again, to be the first woman to win it in this new version. I hope it is a big start and we can build this event to be a bigger event for the women.", Van Vleuten said.

Van Vleuten had just about enough energy to punch the air in delight when crossing the line after the 123km mountain stage in the Vosges mountains of eastern France. It featured two 1st category climbs, the second ascent being the final climb up La Super Planche des Belles Filles, which finished with gradients of 23%.

She entered the final stage with a lead of 3m 14s seconds over Vollering.

On Saturday’s penultimate stage, Van Vleuten rose from eighth overall to take the yellow jersey from Marianne Vos with more superb climbing in the Vosges. The 39-year-old Movistar rider, who grabbed the lead with a brilliant solo performance in the mountains on Saturday, bided her time in the peloton before powering up the final climb to seal her triumph.

The yellow jersey group reeled in the 11-rider breakaway with five kilometres to go at which point van Vleuten climbed out of her saddle and began powering her way up the final crippling climb. 

Van Vleuten added this victory to a long list of achievements, including three Giro d’Italia  titles, Olympic gold in time trial and three World Championship golds.

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2022 Tour de France Femmes Overall GC

01 NED Annemiek van Vleuten Movistar Team 26:55:44
02 NED Demi Vollering Team SD Worx + 03:48
03 POL Katarzyna Niewiadoma CANYON//SRAM Racing + 06:35
04 FRA Juliette Labous Team DSM + 07:28
05 ITA Silvia Persico Valcar-Travel & Service + 08:00
06 ITA Elisa Longo Borghini Trek-Segafredo + 08:26
07 DEN Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig FDJ-SUEZ-Futuroscope + 08:59
08 FRA Evita Muzic FDJ-SUEZ-Futuroscope + 13:54
09 USA Veronica Ewers EF Education-TIBCO-SVB + 15:05
10 ESP Mavi Garcia UAE Team ADQ + 15:15