Opinion: As Annemiek van Vleuten rode away, she raised the bar and made every one of her rivals better riders

Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) is the rider of a generation. Over a relatively short time – say, the last six years – she has proved that to us time and time again. She has produced more memorable performances than perhaps any female rider ever.

Her smash and grab at La Course in 2018 and her Worlds win in Harrogate in 2019 are the two that most readily spring to mind, but there are countless others.

The world did not need to see such a display of dominance today for Van Vleuten’s Hall of Fame status to be secure. The stomach bug she fell victim to at the start of the Tour de France Femmes would have seen off most. Had she merely won from a select group, or even not won at all, we would have been no less impressed with her for sticking it out, no more inclined to view her as mortal.

As it was, her twinkle having returned, she put on a show. The manner of her victory served to underline the widespread belief that she is in a league above every other rider in the Women’s WorldTour. Unbeatable, on her day.

An argument could be made that the sport would be better off – or at least more competitive – without a rider so much better than all the others. In the alternative universe, maybe Demi Vollering (SD Worx) would be the first rider on the road, fending off a cooperative collective containing Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon–SRAM), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Suez Futuroscope) and the other young talents.

But by lowering the bar, we do not make the sport or its sportspeople better.

Van Vleuten has already announced her retirement, and while Vollering does indeed look like her successor in-waiting, the sport’s next superstar, it’s a position she holds in direct relation to the presence of her countrywoman up the road. Although, in the end, she could not match her compatriot’s strength, by sticking to the Movistar rider’s wheel for as long as she did – even riding away at one point – she exceeded most expectations and possibly even her own.

Then, as she went in pursuit, Vollering probably pushed herself harder than she ever has before. There can be little doubt that the time spent pedal-to-pedal, in combat with the (other) greatest of all time, will make her a better racer in the long run.

And not just Vollering, but every other professional.

The level that Van Vleuten rides at is the one to which they all know they have to attain if they expect to be able to win bike races. And they all do. The commitment and attitude she invests in her profession are what they all aim to emulate. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t pay off. Even if they put all the work in, load their training plans to the rafters, and fall short, they are better off – better riders – for having tried.

There is no world in which riders’ performances, and the racing itself, would have been better for Van Vleuten’s absence.

We should not wish time away.

There is still one stage of this Tour de France Femmes remaining, and an entire season more before Van Vleuten hangs up her cleats.

It would therefore seem ungracious to look toward a time when she will not be the patron of the women’s peloton.

But that time will surely come. And the racing will, indeed, be better.

Not because she will be gone, but because this remarkable rider was here in the first place.

It is not a denial of van Vleuten’s importance to reject the notion that she is irreplaceable. Instead it is a testament to her significance, an endorsement of her legacy. Few will have one that endures for so long.