Ellen van Dijk has tipped Anna van der Breggen to hit the ground running in her highly-anticipated return to racing in 2025. Speaking to Cyclingnews and Eurosport at Lidl-Trek’s January training camp, Van Dijk expressed her confidence in the former Olympic championโs ability to compete for victories straight away after a three-year hiatus.
โI’ve known her for kind of her whole career, almost,โ Van Dijk explained. โWe raced a lot together and against each other also. For the national team, we have been together on altitude camps and everything, so I know her pretty well. I’m convinced she’s gonna come back straight away really strong. I think for sure she will reach at least the level she had when she retired and I expect her to be straight away competitive for the win.โ
Van der Breggen, a seven-time La Flรจche Wallonne winner and four-time Giro dโItalia Donne champion, retired at the end of 2021 to take up a directeur sportif role with SD Worx. Her surprise announcement in June 2024 that she would return to professional racing sparked excitement across the sport.
Reflecting on her decision, Van der Breggen told Cyclingnews last week, โAt one point I thought, โWhy not? I missed cycling.โ In the back of my mind, somewhere I thought, โI can still do this well, so what am I doing [sitting] in a car?โโ
The Dutchwoman acknowledged the sportโs evolution since her last competitive outing, highlighting the growth in professionalism, financial investment, and events such as the Tour de France Femmes. Despite these changes, Van der Breggen remains determined to rise to the challenge.
Van Dijk is unfazed by the heightened demands of the modern peloton. โWhen she quit, she was on the highest level and she is a great rider. Anna was really at the top of the top, and she knows what she needs to do to be at that level,โ Van Dijk said.
Van Dijk also emphasised Van der Breggenโs insight into the sportโs current standards, having coached Demi Vollering to a Tour de France Femmes victory in 2023. โShe knows exactly what level she needs to be at. She also knows, for example, Demi’s level and what she has to train for. With her talent and her character, and everything in the way I see her training and doing things now, I’m totally convinced she will be there again,โ she added.
While Van Dijk admitted she hasnโt directly observed Van der Breggenโs training sessions, she has little doubt about the 34-year-oldโs preparation. โNo, I actually don’t see her training, but it’s just the rumours you hear โ people are talking about it, of course,โ she said with a smile. โShe trains a lot, is on a lot of training camps, and sheโs not taking it lightly, saying โOh, I will see where I go.โ Sheโs going for it.
โShe made this decision and I wouldn’t assume it any other way. If she puts her head to something, Iโm sure she will be ready.โ
Van der Breggenโs return is set to inject further excitement into the womenโs peloton, setting up potential clashes with her protege Vollering, who switched to FDJ-Suez from SD Worx-Protime earlier this season.