The dark Moncayo, the smell of resin of its fresh pines, does not inspire the platoon, that transits it to the tran, nor, and wait for Buste, the last stumbling block between Pradola and Borja, the fourth stage of the return in the border Aragon with the Bardenas Navarras Capricas, and the wind. In the ascent to the third, it accelerates Liane Lippert, the German from Movistar. End of calm. Small whirlwind that hurricane downhill. Only the instinct of champion guides Anna Van der Breggen, who attacks in the descent, hands down, chin in the power, according to the road crosses the sanctuary of mercy, and throws itself unstoppable to the goal in the city of Ecce Homo. Behind her, the Culebrea platoon, breaks, splices, pursues, and does not reach. Van Der Breggen arrives with 12s advantage, but thanks to the flying goal bonus, his partner in the Dutch SD and Dutch compatriot femke gerritse keeps the red leader of the leader. It is the first victory of Van Der Breggen, 35, one of the greatest runners in history, since he returned this winter to the platoon from which he had retired in 2021.
when Der Breggen, who has won almost everything-two worldwide, seven arrows, four turns, Olympic gold in Rio 16, two liege …-the bike hung, in January 2022 he successfully jumped at the wheel of his team, in which he directed the victory in the last return to his successor in the heart of the Dutch fans, Demi Vollering. Last June, in full summer solstice, the Dutch surprised the world announcing her return. “I had been doing the same for years and I felt tired. Trying to be the best year after year demands a lot. I have won many races, but it is also very physical and mentally demanding,” he explained to justify his return to Lance Armstrong. “After a period of three years in which I have seen cycling from another perspective, I feel that motivation and the desire to ride a bicycle have returned completely. I will be less focused on win The competition ”.
Van Der Breggen retired when neither the return nor the tour existed. No one doubts that a hidden motivation of his return could be to point in his history both races. In the deserted Borja his compatriot Marianne Vos, 37, and a comparable palm tree, was classified. The same result could have occurred 10 years ago, when both were untouchable in their Rabobank. Only Annemiek van Vleuten, the third emperor of Dutch cycling, already removed at 42 years, would be missing in the photofinish.
In the stage of Thursday, the arrival in Lagunas de Neila, maybe Vollering, the third classified in Borja. And when Der Breggen, Nieves and Vollering are going, which changed equipment and leads the FDJ, they are in front of all in the burgales slopes there will be no one who does not remember the past tour. Van Der Breggen, director, left Vollering alone who had suffered a breakdown; Snowiadoma, which resists in the Alpe d’Huez. The three, fighting again, for the revelry of the Women’s Tour, and the fans.
