Annemiek van Vleuten TDF Femmes Insights

VeloViewer has had a long-term working partnership with the legendary cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten, and, as the winner of the TDF Femmes 2022, she is the perfect rider to give us a perspective on how teams and riders will use VeloViewer in this year’s race.

1. When did you first start using the VeloViewer WorldTour package, and what was the impact of being the only women’s team using the package at that time?

GreenEdge team (currently called Jayco-AlUla) started using VeloViewer in 2017 and this gave us a big advantage over other teams. It was a great tool to prepare and meant all the girls in the team came fully up to speed to the meetings, as we all had access to the WorldTour App.

Personally I used it a lot with Google Street View especially for the Classics – for example, with Flanders some people only think the climb is important, but I always told my teammates it’s the lead into the climb which is more shocking! This is especially true for races like Flanders where you go left, right, left, right, then you enter a climb where it is important to position yourself for those crucial moments.

VeloViewer helped me to memorise the lead into the climb to position myself to know where the road will narrow. When on the big roads you have to remember where it narrows and I tried to remember the street view. For example, at a specific house I would know I needed to go left and move up, so I was in the position at the right time.

It helped to come well prepared to the team meetings to clarify our team planning. As we were all using VeloViewer everyone already knew what the DS was talking about, and it was easier to memorise when we would make a certain action on the road.

2. In what ways did you, as a rider, use the software to help you prepare for races?

My preparation for the race was using a Garmin device. I would usually ride with tape on the handlebars with the climbs on it but I didn’t write this as the Garmin showed this detail, instead I was preparing the tape with VeloViewer information. For example, on which kilometre to go, or if the road narrowed and when I needed to position myself.

I used it for the recon of Flanders as I had done this already with VeloViewer and knew already all the roads so I didn’t need to look at my Garmin – I used it a lot with Street View so a big advantage in preparation. It also helped to know the climbs which were coming, potential hazards, and the very narrow sections.

3. How would it help during the races with information on your head units and interactions with your DS?

In the race VeloViewer assisted us as they were using it in the team car too – it helped to communicate in team meetings as we could see Street View shots to visualise points that may come up, and where to be extra cautious.  It definitely made us sharper and more focused, and we could relate to the course as we had seen it already. For the DS’s it was extremely useful. VeloViewer contributed a lot especially when other teams weren’t using the WorldTour package.

4. How will you feel watching the racing on Alpe d’Huez? 

Finishing up Alpe d’Huez will be nice, and I hope they have a good fight up there because that will make it more epic watching. It is a great climb where they will need to go hard.

I don’t have any fear of missing out because I feel as though as an athlete I stopped on good terms with myself, and achieved everything, especially as I won the TDF Femmes already in 2022. I feel I can really enjoy the race. It doesn’t feel strange to be on the other side of the fence. When I think it would be nice to be on the podium I also know how much work goes into it, and I knew there was not a new challenge for me to continue. I have tried everything to reach the highest level, and I could not think of anything that I left on the road, so that has helped me to relax with not competing.