Anna van der Breggen will retire next year after looking to defend her olympic title in Tokyo. Her team mate Chantal Blaak will join her in retirement after the spring of 2022.
Van der Breggen was one of the most dominant cyclists on the road over the past five years, winning the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile twice, La Flèche Wallonne Féminine five straight years, the 2016 Rio Olympic Games road race, the 2018 World championship and the 2017 WorldTour title.
Chantal Blaak has wins in Gent-Wevelgem, Ronde van Drenthe, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Amstel Gold Race and at the 2017 World Championships.
“The Olympic Games in Tokyo are, of course, a great challenge and an important reason for continuing another year,” van der Breggen said. ”I also want to end my career with a great, full season. Especially after this year, which was largely lost due to the corona pandemic, I am enormously motivated to continue for one more year.”
“In women’s cycling, it is not common for cyclists to make this step into coaching after their active career,” Blaak added. “We know that we need to grow further as a team. The level of competition is constantly going up. I particularly like the direct approach to coaching, training and nutrition. After all, we want to continue to be the number one women’s cycling in the world.”
The pair will continue to work for the Boels-Dolmans (soon to become SD Worx) cycling team as directors through to the end of 2024.
