Annemiek van Vleuten celebrates her overall victory in the yellow jersey at the end of the Tour de France Femmes (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Annemiek van Vleuten didn’t begin her journey into cycling aspiring to win the Tour de France. Growing up in Vleuten, Netherlands, in the 1980s and 90s, her first memories were of the men’s race on grainy television footage showcasing riders competing in the jerseys of her home team, Buckler-Colnago-Decca turned Rabobank. She was hooked.
"The first Tour de France I watched was when I was eight, and my parents didn’t have anything to do with cycling. It got me, especially when a Rabobank rider was in front. Rabobank was a Dutch team with Dutch riders, and when my family went outside to the beach, I stayed inside watching those stages.
"I only watched the Tour de France; I never considered myself being a cyclist. Cycling felt far away from anything I could be a part of, but I have special memories of the Rabobank riders, and that was my first memory of the Tour de France."
Van Vleuten spoke these words at an international press conference, with pride and triumph in her voice, while wearing the yellow jersey she earned after winning the overall title at the 2022 Tour de France Femmes , 32 years after watching Rabobank race the men’s Tour on television.
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