Anna van der Breggen is going on training rides every morning before each stage of the Tour de France Femmes. She still looks every bit the professional athlete as she rolls out at sunrise in her SD Worx-Protime kit, but the Dutch rider hasn’t stood on the start line of a bike race since September 2021. Instead, when her mornings at the Tour de France Femmes are completed, she changes from lycra into a team-branded polo shirt and sits behind the steering wheel of the SD Worx team car.
When she made the announcement three years ago that she was stepping away from being a professional bike rider after a career in which she won La Flèche Wallonne seven times, the World Championships twice and an Olympic gold medal, many were shocked. She was only aged 31, and Van der Breggen was still arguably the best rider in the women’s peloton when she retired. It’s fair to say she bowed out at the very top.
“In the beginning, I was really happy that I quit after so many years and that I didn’t have the pressure of big races and Championships,” Van der Breggen explains, speaking on the penultimate day of the Tour de France Femmes.
“I also think my body was pretty much finished at that point. I don't know why exactly, maybe I was too much in training or it was too much mentally, but I could feel motivation was gone which is when I knew I should stop because nothing was working anymore.”
Image: Tornanti
A few months ago when SD Worx-Protime hinted on their social media that they had big news to come, few expected the gravity of their announcement. It was in a simple, short statement, that the Dutch team told the world that their superstar would be pinning on a race number again in 2025. After three years behind the steering wheel, Van der Breggen is coming back to the Women’s WorldTour as a bike rider.
“I now feel that I really like cycling, and I still have the possibility to do it. I think slowly, race by race, the feeling was growing again, like I have choices and I can make choices.” Van der Breggen says. “It's not that I don't like this job. I really enjoy doing it, but being an athlete is something different. I saw this side of the working life, which is good, but I also know the other side so I made the decision, one more time, to try and go for it.”
During her 12-year career, it was never possible for Van der Breggen to compete in the Tour de France Femmes – a race that she has now watched three times from the sidelines, helping Demi Vollering to victory in 2023. Was the temptation of a yellow jersey part of her decision to come back to the peloton?
“It wasn’t really that,” she says. “It's more the feeling of training for a goal and becoming one of the best, that's the feeling I really like, together with the team around you. It is that feeling that you create together in races and you fight for it. For me, the big races aren’t my favourite with all the social media attention, but that's part of the job now.”
Van der Breggen isn’t the only big name returning to the women’s peloton next season. Olympic mountain bike champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has announced her ambition to win the Tour de France and will be focusing entirely on the road next year. This, alongside Vollering’s rumoured team switch, means that there are going to be a number of impactful changes in 2025. Competition is expected to be hotter than ever.
“I know it's going to be difficult, because the power numbers that you need to win definitely have not gone down since I retired so it will be hard,” Van der Breggen says. “For me, the uncertain part is I did not race for three years. So how long does it take to get back on a good level? And is that level good enough to be on the top, or are you going to be average? It depends on how training is going, but I'm going to try it and see how far I can go.”
Image: Tornanti
The Dutch rider certainly has a unique insight into what is required from those at the top of the sport in modern cycling through her work as a sports director. She has helped the likes of Niamh Fisher-Black, Lorena Wiebes and Vollering to the biggest wins of their careers, and knows exactly what it has taken them to get there, from race tactics, to nutrition, to power numbers and more.
It’s not only in the performance and training elements that Van der Breggen has noticed a change in the sport since she retired. She also is keen to point out that the entire landscape of being at a race has changed since the introduction of the Tour de France Femmes. In the early years of the 34-year-old’s career, it would be common for there to be no fans or media at her races at all. Now, it’s a completely different ball game.
“For me actually, it's been really nice to see how many people there are in this Tour de France. Every year it's growing and growing and it's about getting used to this. We need more staff now to get everything sorted and it makes some things more difficult, but also so many nice things come with this,” she says.
“It's a busy week for me and training-wise it is not the best. Sometimes I can go on the bike to the start, then I do 70-80km but that’s maximum. I also have the job to be in the car, to talk with the girls and to make the plans. You are pretty tired at the end of the day, so I cannot do too much, but I just keep on riding as much as I can.”
While she is a born athlete and therefore undoubtedly has her eyes set on victories and success, Van der Breggen’s perspective on women’s cycling has changed over the last three years. Perhaps it is thanks to the break she took, but she now races for more than just her own results and hopes to be part of a wider change.
“The fact that women’s cycling is growing is making more women interested in riding a bike. Seeing this now, I have the feeling that the Tour is really special. Hopefully it reaches young girls in the Netherlands as some clubs are really having problems getting enough women on the bike. That makes me worry sometimes. Hopefully I can be part of giving it a boost and improving cycling for the future so that girls can have good races and everyone can enjoy watching it as well,” she says.
As for her SD Worx-Protime colleagues, how will they cope with having Van der Breggen back on the bike next year rather than in the team car?
“They did not complain,” the Dutchwoman answers with a wry smile.
Cover image: Alex Whitehead/Getty
