What Retirement? Annemiek Van Vleuten to Race Gravel Worlds

Dozens of women gravel cyclists’ hearts likely sunk this morning when they woke up to the headlines that GOAT Annemiek Van Vleuten would be casually hopping into the mix at UCI Gravel World Championships in Italy next month. The multi-time World Champion on the road is retiring from the pro road ranks at the end of this season, but why not go out with one more try at another rainbow jersey for the trophy room?

Gravel Worlds is a new championship race: The first iteration was run last year, and attracted riders from other disciplines. In 2022, Pauline Ferrand Prevot proved she was a quadruple threat, taking that first World Championship jersey to hang next to her road, cyclocross and mountain bike jerseys. In the men’s race, Mathieu Van der Poel was the heavy favorite, but cyclocrosser Gianni Vermeersch took the win.

So, why wouldn’t Van Vleuten hop into the mix? In fact, that’s basically how she described her decision to race in a recent podcast, as Velo reported today. “I was in a crazy mood and said, ‘why not?'” she told the host of the AD Podcast.

The 40-year-old quite literally just ended her final road season days before making this announcement, showing that retirement isn’t as easy as it looks. She told the podcast host that she doesn’t anticipate winning, but when you’re one of the winningiest women cyclists (or cyclists in general) of all time, the concept can’t be too outside the realm of possibility. Road racing in Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix Femmes will have given her plenty of gravel and cobble experience, so if the race has more of a roadie vibe on gravel, it’s a safe bet she’ll be in the lead pack.

That said, she’ll have plenty of competition on the start line: her nemesis all season, Demi Vollering, is expected to race, as is Lorena Wiebes. And that’s just the road-based firepower on the start line. There may be more cross-country mountain bike racers in the mix, assuming they’re willing to miss out on the last two World Cups of the season in the US—that’s likely to give defending champion Ferrand Prevot pause, since she’s in the running for the World Cup overall.

On top of that, we can’t forget that there are plenty of gravel specialists, including the first U.S. Gravel National Champion Lauren Stephens, who will be in Veneto, Italy, on October 7 for the race.

No matter how it plays out, this is certainly a great way for Van Vleuten to close out her long career on the road—the day before her 41st birthday!

But whatever you do, don’t call it a comeback. Sure, she technically retired this month, but gravel isn’t her new passion. She was clear that this is just a fun experience to close out the season, saying, “I have no ambitions in a gravel career, so I think I will end it here.”

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