Van der Breggen completes double with road race gold

Anna van der Breggen capped a stellar season on Saturday by winning the women’s road race world title, securing a rare double after claiming time-trial gold in Imola two days earlier.

The reigning Olympic champion attacked 40km from the finish line, beating compatriot Annemiek van Vleuten and Italian Elisa Longo Borghini, who were locked in a photo-finish 1min 20sec behind the winner.

The 30-year-old Dutch rider became the first woman to achieve the double in the same year since French rider Jeannie Longo in 1995.

“It’s incredible,” said Van der Breggen following her third victory in a week after the time-trial and the women’s Giro d’Italia last Saturday under the jersey of her new team Boels-Dolmans.

“It was a really hard race, we were fighting from the beginning. The climbs were really tough.

“In the fourth lap, I felt strong. We made the race hard and I just went for it.

“I felt good but it was really hard. The circuit had some flat parts but it was very hard. I never expected this. This season is pretty good for me so far.”

Van der Breggen dominated the race to reclaim the title she won in 2018 ahead of last year’s winner Van Vleuten, after the 143km run through the sunny hills of Romagna.

It was the fourth title in as many years for the Netherlands, the flagship country for women’s cycling.

Van der Breggen attacked on the steepest part of the second climb of the course, building up a lead of more than two minutes at the start of the fifth and final lap, controlling the situation to the line.

Van Vleuten, who was competing with a fractured left wrist which she hurt just nine days ago in the Giro d’Italia, narrowly edged Italian Longo Borghini, who again settled for bronze after 2012.

Dutch cycling great Marianne Vos – a former Olympic and multiple world champion – finished off the podium in fourth, two minutes adrift of the winner.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.