The sight of Annemiek van Vleuten has become a common sight on the roads of Colombia over each winter of the past three years. She once used the high elevation of the paved roads for training, to build into the early road season with her Movistar Team. This year the Dutch rider will have an altogether different motivation as she works her way across the rugged terrain of the Andes for the eight days of Transcordilleras.
The Transcordilleras Rally Colombia has taken hold as a formidable gravel race with former WorldTour pros like Laurens ten Dam, Thomas Dekker and Peter Stetina riding hard across the three imposing mountain ranges along South America’s equator. For this edition, Ten Dam and Dekker return to compete in the non-stop, self-supported category, while the eight-day, self-supported stage race includes newcomers Russell Finsterwald, who won Big Sugar Gravel in 2022, and Whitney Allison, who was second overall at the 2023 Belgian Waffle Ride Quadrupel Crown. Returning to the field is Colombian mountain bike champion Marcelo Gutierrez.
Van Vleuten, on the other hand, will not be pinning a number on, so don’t look for her to sprint to any mountain summits or finish lines against the other retired road and mountain bike pros, as it is the supported event she has opted for. Since retiring last fall from a 16-year road career, she says it’s time to instead enjoy new parts of Colombia off a road bike and with no thought of competition.
“I’m not racing for a result, just for the adventure, and just to finish it, or maybe not,” she laughed as she told Cyclingnews about her time in Colombia this year. “If I feel like finishing, I will finish. So I like the concept.”
The concept is a bicycle vacation, not a race. Her boyfriend Oscar had planned to join, but work commitments led Van Vleuten to invite a former teammate, Iris Slappendel, to join her on the eight-day Transcordilleras this Sunday with Altos, a bicycle travel company. She called it the ‘lazy version’, as Altos will arrange all hotels, clean and repair bikes with provided mechanics, and allow for a more relaxed expedition on the mixed terrain of rough gravel and washed-out dirt paths.
“I also want to participate here because people think for sure I will be competitive. People say, ‘Why are you not racing there?’ But that part, I am done with racing. I had the pressure to perform and I had to go for results. Been there, done that,” Van Vleuten said.
“This is just super nice, a new way of enjoying the bike. I am not in the race and it feels really nice.”
Her former Rabobank-Liv Cycling teammate Slappendel – who retired from road racing in 2016 and co-founded The Cyclists Alliance – accepted a late invitation to join the trip, both riding Canyon bikes, Van Vleuten on the Grail and Iris the 'more-relaxed style' Grizl.
“Iris Slappendel was keen for a gravel adventure and I think it’s more fun to do this nice adventure together. So I see this as a way to see Colombia by bike,” Van Vleuten said. “I’ll see many nice roads I have never seen before because I was only training on my road bike. It’s a place I know already, but [gravel] is new for me.
“Of course, I had contact with Laurens [ten Dam] about the gear and the materials, and the width of the tyres, because I have no clue about gravel.”
A fellow Dutchman, Ten Dam was the perfect rider to ask, given finished second to Stetina at the 2022 Transcordilleras and then won the 2023 outing of 852km and 21,000 metres of climbing.
“Also I have a little bit of anxiety that it will be a minimum of six hours each day so it will not feel so much like a relaxed day. We will get some challenges. It is part of the enjoyment to suffer a bit,” she said.
Part of the anxiety came from being off the bike for four weeks before travelling to South America. She arrived at the end of January to participate in a six-day, luxury tour around the Colombian Coffee region with Altos, a third year for the excursion which she said she does "because I love this country", adding that she does not get paid to join the tours.
The pre-Transcordilleras tuneup provided climbing to the highest paved road of Colombia to Alto de Letras (4,000 metres) and accommodations near an active volcano. It was on a road bike with a small group of riders on holiday, and served to get her some much-needed hours in the saddle and adjustment to the elevation near the Andes.
“I did not really train or prepare for it. Actually, I didn’t train at all. The last four weeks before I came here to Colombia I was with my mother, having a nice holiday together. I did not touch my bike for four weeks. So I could feel that when I got here and started to ride the bike again.
A bit of a dent in bike fitness, however, is no longer something to fear but just a part of the new phase where the bike is no longer a tool of trade, but instead one of recreation.
“It’s time for new challenges and I will still enjoy the bike. For the group that are doing the eight days with Altos, I will also try to inspire them with a talk I prepared this winter for everyone that needs to deal with situations in life that are challenging. The title is: 'Accept, Adapt and move on', something I had to do a lot in my career and for sure we need to do during the Transcordilleras."
