Dutch road cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten came back from this dramatic Rio Olympic crash to win her first world title on Tuesday, taking the time trial in Bergen, Norway.
“This one is really beautiful without the crash in Rio, but this makes the story really, really special,” an emotional van Vleuten said. “Actually, I still cannot believe it. ... This season I’m surprising myself what I can do. To be world champion in the time trial, I never thought I’d be able of this.”
Van Vleuten, 34, covered the 13-mile course in 28 minutes, 50.35 seconds, topping countrywoman Anna ven der Breggen by 12 seconds.
Australian Katrin Garfoot took bronze, 19.02 seconds ahead of Chloe Dygert, a U.S. Olympic silver medalist in track cycling. American Amber Neben, the defending champion, was 11th.
In Rio, van Vleuten suffered three small spine fractures and a concussion when her brakes appeared to lock, and she flipped over into a ditch during the road race. Van Vleuten was alone in the lead at the time with about seven miles to go of the 87-mile course.
She was eventually hospitalized in intensive care.
Van der Breggen went on to win the Olympic title.
Van Vleuten wasn’t out long. She raced at last October’s world championships, placing a career-high fifth in the time trial. She then won La Course in France, a two-day race, in July.
“To be an athlete is to have really ups and downs,” van Vleuten said Tuesday. “Sometimes really downs, but the downs make the ups even more beautiful, I think.”
Van Vleuten’s first celebratory act Tuesday was to climb past two barriers and into her mother’s arms.
“Last year my mum watched the Rio race on television, it was her birthday and she was with lots of my family, so it was a really hard day for her,” Van Vleuten said in a news conference, according to Cyclingnews.com. “My father died in 2008, and so it was really special to have her here and celebrate the good things of cycling together. We’ve dealt with bad things together in the past, so it’s important to be really happy and proud to celebrate and to also remember my father.”
The world championships continue Wednesday with the men’s time trial at 7 a.m. ET on the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA and streaming on NBCSports.com/live.
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She is in tears already: Not all have finished, but the Winner seems to be safe. @AnnavdBreggen congratulates @AvVleuten! #Bergen2017 pic.twitter.com/rIu73CvkwB
— UCIWomenCycling (@UCIWomenCycling) September 19, 2017
🇳🇱 Annemiek van Vleuten jumps the barriers to hug her ❤️ mother after winning the 🏆 world championship title 🌈 #Bergen2017 pic.twitter.com/aXLQzSJq3t
— Canadian Cycling Mag (@CanadianCycling) September 19, 2017