Amateur Cyclist vs World Champion: a little climb up the Mortirolo with Annemiek Van Vleuten

It was a chance in a million to be cycling through Italian Alps and end up climbing in the famous "Pantani climb", the almighty Passo del Mortirolo, without even realizing it, and then end up passed by one cyclist only, during the entire climb, and who was no other than Annemiek Van Vleuten; multiple times UCI Road Word Champion and second in Tokyo Road race 2020.
#cycling #bmc #procyclist

[@jeffhsu57]

Thank you for sharing this. It’s a wonderful to see Annemiek van Vleuten on non-mass media lens. She is really down to earth, kind and passionate about cycling. I would never, in 1 million years, to have the opportunity to have that few moments with a pro cyclist. This clip provides me an opportunity to have that an imagination to live that moments. This is really great. thank you.

[@budbud2509]

I loved the way she was talking so easy , effortless to talk .

[@leedorney]

I once met Bradley Wiggins at speed on the back of a chainy (fast riding group) he looked soo perfect, no wonder he won the tour! That was a thrill I'll never forget...

[@campyc40]

I biked with Lachan Morton last year and he was super friendly and down to earth as well.

[@MusicIsLove101]

Great effort! Ann is a legend! I held the wheel of the Jumbo team and some other teams when training during winter in Calpe (for about one second or so.... 😂).

[@TMsubzero]

I was cycling with my kid in a chariot up to lago di Cancano from Bormio. Annemiek went past me and she said: 'Thats real power!'. I screamed: "hey annemiek!' and she said 'yes' and took off :). it was a nice interaction

[@eriwhere]

Well done for keeping up! And what an amazing opportunity to ride alongside a UCI world champion by chance!

[@tohidnikkhah]

This is how Fabio Aru must have felt when caught and dropped by Contador in during 2015! Completely devastated. But for a amateur rider, it was an outstanding performance my friend. Kudos to you!

[@andretim75]

hahaha - she sounded super relaxed !😂

[@dundeedideley1773]

She's halfway through her first of three big climbs that day. She's only warming up and our guy is blowing his gasket 😂😂 what an absolute monster

[@jakebailey146]

BKC bleeding from the eyeballs in Zone 47: "I've got to keep up with this women's pro (actually one of the best riders of all time}." AVV in Zone 2: "I should be courteous passing this person, I'm naturally polite and you never know, they could be some kind of youtube personality."

[@FiachraLennon-thetallestone]

Outstanding. Well done, man. Looks like a beast of a climb. Great to see Van Vleuten along the way!

[@torontogonzo]

I'm impressed that you are carrying on a conversation at all

[@VincentForDesign]

I die inside looking at your BPM, great climb!

[@jcastleable]

you were in the place and at the indicated time on the day to meet the powerful supergirl, what great luck! and the honor you had to exchange a few words with Miek ... how envious.

[@biglegcatluvr]

"I don't give a shit anymore" me when the gradient is over 0%

[@profchaos9001]

I live in that area (15km from the beginning of Mortirolo climb) and AVV basically lives most of the season on top of Foscagno pass near Livigno and trains here in the valley, and according to many females and even male pros that trained with her she trains about twice as much than any other female pro either in time and km.

[@gerardvermaat6944]

1/3th more than her direct competitor in the TdF Vollering. At the start of the TdF AvV was at over 19k km and vollering was at over 13k km of training on Strava. Van Aert and Kuss were at 22 -23k km at that point. This all comes down to if they put everything on Strava, bit this is actually quite likely. Also the men have more race kms ofcourse. Then again i shouldnt compare men and women.

[@xx765]

@@gerardvermaat6944 Her volume relative to Vollering's sounds true. In female TdF this year it was very apparent that after a few days even the other GC girls were just hanging onto their dear lives. They just couldn't take long multi-day races. And there was AVV just cruising.

[@peterslegers6121]

@@xx765 And she was ill in the first days... It wouldn't be wise for Vollering to do the same amount of training at her age. You need to build that up wisely.

[@Leonorexplore]

@@peterslegers6121 Based on the 2023 Tour de France Femmes, Vollering showed a lot of improvement in the hilly and mountain stages. AVV did not look as comfortable as she was in the past. But I would never write her off and she may surprise her opponents during the UCI Worlds in Glasgow.

[@joowsty]

@@Leonorexplore i do think vollering improved a bit, but you could also see that it is mainly van Vleuten who wasnt good. last year vollering had about 3 minutes ahead of the number 3 and 4 too on shorter climbs then the Tourmalet. it was just that van Vleuten was 3 minutes faster then vollering. thats also why van Vleuten didnt catch the Polish rider.

[@thetomasklos]

Great video, thanks! Yes, she's lovely. ❤ I just watched her commenting LBL yesterday on Dutch TV. She's awesome. But as others have said: you've done a fantastic job yourself! (And us mere mortals should definitely not compare ourselves to an absolute *legend* like AvV.) I'm going to go cycling in Italy in August, and have just put the Motirolo (higher) on my bucket list!

[@eLpELoNdeJaPoN]

I just found this video because her accident in the TT and I just can say 5:55 she's one of the best and that line define her style! Now about the video , how lucky you're not just for crossing path with this woman but the way you said " I think I did a wrong turn" ...well Lucky you 😆 Great video

[@timwolf2215]

I watched her win the worlds right in front of my eyes on my home roads in Wollongong Australia. Nothing suprised me with her. Absolute beast. Also this is a real unique part of the world, really hope you enjoyed it, I did

[@Wildambree]

Annemiek love Alta Valtellina and training there many times. You are lucky and strong to follow her some minutes of climbing the Mortirolo! ;)

[@xMaggostx]

Yup, the Mortirolo from Mazzo is a pretty killer climb, you did amazing though!

[@RickClifton]

I did that climb twice within a week - you really need to just shut your brain off and just turn the pedals. What a beast of a climb!! Like Annemiek, following (our second ascent of) Passo del Mortirolo we climbed the Gavia before descending back into Bormio. A bucket list day, for sure...

[@giuseppeverza6332]

lei la conosciamo, ma tu hai dimostrato di essere un grande atleta....chapeau!!!

[@jordicm]

WOW, she just went seated on her saddle all the way up! Amazing!

[@dennisl8602]

dude u strong as hell too. staying with annemiek!!

[@danielhastings3707]

Great video! Top effort too!

[@ricardo8653]

She's really from another world. Good on you!

[@NitroglicerinaBumBum]

Very very good job!!!!! Congratulations

[@vestermunnecom]

I just bought the clothes 🤣

[@egoclubroma7046]

I had the same answer once by another rider, Emma Pooley 🤣 and trying to keep up was just a bad idea of mine 😂

[@andrelott4851]

Thanks for sharing this. Van vleuten, does not matter the gender, is a legend. In my humble opinion she is a perfect rider. She knows herself perfect and she reads the races in a perfect way, like Merckx used. For me she is in the level of Merckx.

[@johncopple6479]

One of the best cycling videos , Ever!! It's Real ! It's Painful! And always expect the Unexpected!!🚴🏜️

[@FortheLoveofCycling]

Wow. Thi is nice. Was there back in 2019. I wanna go back. Great ride.

[@blackchain_cycling]

this was September 2021 ;)

[@martinhoaut7]

She is a legend right now

[@magicracer1]

great job - from both of you👍

[@ciarsz]

Great Video what a very nice lady :) no airs or graces and nice style for someone who bought the gear :)

[@jasonetherington37]

Damm she makes it look so easy!

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

That's why she does it for a living.

[@Mrdoriancourtney]

Anemieke my girl! Just so friendly! Love to watch her ride.

[@laanyan]

Amazing effort!

[@chrisko6439]

Good stuff - riding with that woman who could drop about half of the male peleton. (I might be exaggerating, but she surely is dropping most of the heavy guys/sprinters). Assuming you weigh about 75kg, 300W is 4W/kg and she is almost nose-breathing. Van der Breggen, Van Vleuten, Vos - these women from the Netherlands are living legends...

[@f1clips606]

Sorry but you don't realize the world we live in. The worst man in the tour de france could beat the best woman any day of the year

[@jordikenis3498]

@@f1clips606 not on uphill climbing..

[@allws9683]

@@f1clips606 Well, in the 2018 Giro Femini Annemiek ascended the Zoncolan in 48min. With that time she would finish in the top 40 in a men's Giro/TdF peloton . That means she would drop 100-150 male riders of the peloton on that climb !! The time was also in the top 200 of al registered ascends (male/female) of the Zoncolan. Of course , a lot of riders are sprinters or flat specialist and the mountain specialists would outride AvV uphill. (Egon Bernal set a new record in the 2021 Giro at 40:02 and that is nothing to sniff upon, it's logical. You should judge both separate). But you find me 3 male riders who rode 3 world championships with a kneecap fracture during the race, a 2 week wrist fracture and a 3 day elbow fracture and finished 9th, 2nd and 1st ! With her mental and physical resilience Annemiek is a legend (m/f). She and Anna van der Breggen set new standards in women cycling.

[@terjemyller6573]

I’ve done this climb too, and I certainly didn’t need a world champion to be dropped 😄 funny video and a strong ride, man

[@barrytarr2960]

It is a real brute of a climb from this side.

[@dugfriendly]

out for a 6 hour ride of her own choice - she's putting in the work

[@marmotsongs]

She’s Dutch. She rides for a Spanish team. The Mortirolo is in Italy (not near France).You sound to be German, perhaps. So why did she greet you in French with “bonjour”?

[@blackchain_cycling]

...cuz of the "Bleu Blanc Rouge" socks 😉

[@willyengland]

What a cool surprise! Did you send her the video?

[@doctoralchemist]

What camera and stabilizer are you using?

[@Michaelsmith21588]

She seemed a bit harsh and unfriendly first, but ended up very encouraging „600m more, You can do that“ 😍

[@andrearossi6012]

she seems like a very likeable person

[@seamusweber8298]

Fair dues to you for that honest portrayal. You did very well to stay with a rider of VV's calibre. She is a top pro, so you did well to stay with her. Remember its her job and her lifestyle and all of her support which makes her what she is. Good effort by you. If its was me, od be in inrensive care! Mortirolo!

[@spabcn]

keep pushing on mortirolo to not lose the wheel is the most heroic action I've seen from an amateur

[@POVmotoVIDS]

You stayed on for long time!

[@sandorpiti1588]

Great Performance 👌

[@rickiovine2170]

A “little” climb? What a beast. And, you were not familiar with this climb! That is so difficult. You are my hero. I was right there with you, and felt your pain in my virtual world. I kept thinking “when does this end? Does it get easier?”

[@blackchain_cycling]

Not easy at all, painful all the way up to 1800m :)

[@michaelhub243]

Very nice content! Thank you for sharing! One question from my side: Which gear set did you use on the Mortirolo (Chainrings/gear set)?

[@blackchain_cycling]

52-36 / 10-30. It s safe to say that I was mostly grinding on the 36-10 gear :)

[@raymondvettraino6220]

Le veinard ; belle rencontre !

[@jordyblaauw5040]

Very honest video, but still a great achievement keeping up so well to her. Out of curiosity, what jersey are you wearing? From the arms I like the pattern.

[@blackchain_cycling]

www.tradeinn.com/bikeinn/en/santini-deutschland-tour-2021-jersey/138046087/p

[@pabloracedo3883]

Que privilegio, de la nada te salió gregaria de lujo Una oportunidad única en la vida Y tú no lo haces nada mal por cierto

[@bitchoflivingblah]

AVV imperious - got to hand it to her, she was getting beaten quite often earlier in the season, Strade Bianchi stands out taken out by Kopecky up the Via Santa Caterina, but she bounced back big time by winning the biggest race of the year and obliterating everyone on La Planche de Belle Filles. I hope she wins the Olympic Road Race in Paris !!

[@allws9683]

I think she'll enjoy wearing the 2022 rainbow jersey 🌈. She announced to retire end 2023 and won't do the olympics. The Paris OG has a flat race course , not suitable for her anyway ...

[@wernereichhorst5023]

Wonderful

[@marceldezentje]

Cool you met 'our' Annemiek! 🇳🇱 Mortirolo, the most terrible climb i've ever dome... 😅😱

[@rrohret21]

Wow, just wow.

[@cashcash5711]

Guys anybody know what app he is using to make this video… and add all that data to the video ( HR , cadence , etc )… great video and amazing trip

[@blackchain_cycling]

“Garmin Virb” ;)

[@thesoultwins72]

I don't know how true this is - but I read somewhere that Pantani regularly trained on the Mortirolo and would ride up it with his arms folded.

[@davidgallardo1738]

Tenerife and Teide at the opening ❤️

[@liamhotspur9182]

HAHA, I just bought the clothes!!! Once I climbed to the peak too but I guess it was the other way around...

[@delivrance3961]

excellent!

[@paulgriffiths9923]

Awesome

[@TheBernaski]

Great video indeed! May I ask you what’s your weight?

[@blackchain_cycling]

oscillates between 70 & 72Kg

[@boomshine7]

Imagine if you didnt know her... and you were passed by this girl and she casually said she was doing a 6hour ride with 4000m elevation... the feels

[@markrushton1516]

Could have watched Mike at Col Collective. All you need know on there

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

It's 17 % steep and you are still able to talk, she a little easier than you, but anyway: kudos! That climb is absolutely brutal, it's not even particularly scenic since it's surrounded by forest until the top at 1860 meters. A different Mortirolo climb, the one that's part of the Granfondo Santini, is even steeper and starts next to a graveyard. That's when you know you just climb that "hill" to beat yourself.

[@frankrault3190]

Write forest, not forrest! ;p

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

@@frankrault3190 Done. Thanks for the hint.

[@kevingwong74]

best quote..."22(%)?!?.... I don't even give a s..t anymore!" We've all known the feeling!

[@fabrizimellano1112]

When I climbed mortirolo I hadn't enough air in my lungs even to say a single word😂

[@fajnalowiec]

lucky u. It seems like in reality she's much faster than in tv ;)

[@matthewblue7839]

Great effort, but elite cyclists are so impressive! She likely has a better power/weight ratio, but her pedalling was so smooth, consistent and controlled:just rides away !

[@Chrissummerill]

Greatest female climber of all time. Yeah I think it’s safe to say she has a better power to weight ratio than him. 🤣

[@11-inch]

@RealSweetKid try injecting yourself some of them juice let’s see if you can do the same eh?

[@socopower]

She’s a lovely person

[@rokker333]

YT suggested this to me. WTF what a hell climb is this? 🤣It is almost complete double digit gradient with up to over 20%. Good job. What is your gearing?

[@blackchain_cycling]

36/30

[@rokker333]

@@blackchain_cycling Thx, mate. I definitely could not pedal that climb with that :) Having 36/32.

[@stevegriffiths566]

Your non too shaby yourself great ride that looks a disgusting effort but stunning at the same time

[@ringmike]

Nooo...noooo....I just bought the clothes. LMAO!

[@cyclingbiking4822]

I come here from reddit

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

... which is interesting why?

[@stevedouglas3975]

That looks horrendous! I was just watching the gradient % all the time. Massive kudos for riding that. Just wondering why she denied being a pro, not wanting the attention maybe?

[@cesarjom]

The elastic broke

[@joynthis]

Yeah, the famous old climber's mantra, "I don't even give a shit anymore."

[@LaughingSaint66]

I recognize her voice more than I would her face! cool moment. 22% I dont even give a shit anymore 🤣

[@michaelstratton5223]

Very nice place. If this street were in America, it would be infested with 50 mph pickup trucks and motorycles no matter the time of day, and would essentially be impossible to cycle on without causing a violent traffic jam.

[@chuckp342]

It's a shame that America is obsessed with motoring. I wish we had more of a cycling culture, but we're looked upon as roadblocks.

[@MrMarumari]

A little melodramatic ...

[@bikingchupei2447]

i've watched a bunch of SAFA Brian's videos that were shot in America and none of them are what you described.

[@fallyhag]

Honest question. How is she doing it? You are clearly a talented cyclist. So how does she sustain that next level? Very impressive. Both of you 👍🚴‍♂️

[@blackchain_cycling]

Well, to be frankly honest with you. Had I been a bit more trained and had I climbed that road before, I would have kept her company all the way up 😁. She was not racing for sure, but to be able to move at anything above 15%, you really have to push hard even if you seem relax. it takes a toll on you. I also checked her Strava and her best effort in this climb was this day (out of 3 other tries). So, either she is not as good as I would expect a female pro to be, or I am better than I give myself credit 🙈

[@ktakashismith]

​@@blackchain_cycling Bro, your heartrate is absolutely pinned and you're gutting yourself on this climb, while AVV is on a 6-hr endurance ride and STILL dropped you like a bad habit, casually. You're not even holding 300W and you're blowing up, you wouldn't even make a half-rate domestique in the women's world tour. Get over yourself.

[@LoloMazuelos]

Plus she was training just looking at her watts before he finishes Mortirolo and then a few more climbs of the sort (Gavia and so on). She could've dropped him in no time if she wanted to.

[@joowsty]

she trains daily for 6 hours, 6 days each week, so i think that also helps a lot in doing that. on top of that she rides with pro men a lot. like last winter she did training rides like this with tom dumoulin.

[@bobbwc7011]

@@ktakashismith "not even holding 300 W": 300 W is a very good output for anybody riding clean and not with an entire hospital staff to take care of them. at the very end he was still at 250 W in extremely deep territory for which most cyclist don't even have proper gear ratios. After all the scandals in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, can we finally drop the illusian that pro numbers are achievable without significant doping? There have been very few pro's of who people said they could deliver lots of power even without doping. Remember this very revealing statement in the mid 2000s: Without any doping in the peloton, Jan Ullrich would win all the big tours. So how many Jan Ullrichs are out there? Since Jan Ullrich: none. He was the perfect cycling machine and even he needed doping to keep up with a massively doped peloton and to produce his infamous 500 W over 1 h at the anaerobic threshold.

[@ooostro]

Can you tell me what drive configuration You used on this climb?

[@blackchain_cycling]

I usually ride mountains with 36x30

[@ooostro]

@@blackchain_cycling Thank You for answer. Greetings

[@mikeburton8426]

It was fun to watch right up until the time you said “ I don’t even give a shit anymore”. Then I hit subscribe. Man, I know that feel all too well, cheers.

[@danjo1967]

i used to think this was killer steep, until i started riding in the philippines.... dont start complaining until you get over 30%, and 9-10% is considered "cool lets gets some recovery." (mountain province)

[@davidfinn9828]

Well do you thats a mad climb 🤪 but i bet you are happy that you met and were passed by the greatest female cyclist ever , she is ana is a beast

[@brianward1350]

Now do it in 8 degrees weather and lashing rain like the Santini last Sunday! Grim

[@hernanhernandez3861]

The world champion!

[@claude-mj9mo]

something is off with the data you are showing...600m in 6km means a mean gradient of about 10%, but the gradient you are displaying is constantly way above that value. Plus, you are climbing too slowly (4Km/h?!), i can't even stay upright when moving so slowly. So my guess is that the gradient is less steep than what you are displaying, and that your speed was faster. Anyway, what a great encounter, lucky you!

[@blackchain_cycling]

The Garmin data readings could be off due to different reasons; e.g. bad reception, and there is unfortunately nothing I can do about the .fit file produced. I agree that the readings seem off the slower I climbed, but the gradients could be checked on Strava or Komoot, and 20% is no exaggeration...

[@hunters641]

I think you need another gear….60 cadence is strength work….great video

[@maciejbielawski6220]

Dont understand, once u go, 210W, than 410 , why dont you go constant uphil

[@leedorney]

Such a small minor road for what it means in cycling..

[@lkb3rd]

Wearing the European Champion's jersey you forgot to add !

[@onerty1]

"you are pretty damn good" hahahh. she is probably riding at tempo :)

[@allws9683]

This was cruisin' and enjoying the landscape. At a podcast she mentioned that she does only a couple trainings/blocks (with her coach ) at full intensity to give a trigger and that >90% of training is endurance , with the emphasis on a fun ride .. 😎

[@johkv637]

I would like to see Pogacar in the same video....

[@elliottd323]

zone 2 probably at 5 w/kg

[@chowzisiong7800]

hahahhaa she can't hide it.. that bike and clothes and accent says it all..

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

That bike, clothes and accent say* it all (three items, hence plural).* Also, one separates sentences with one fullstop only.

[@superbandwaistband]

@@einundsiebenziger5488 what do you think the chances are that Chow's first language is English? Grammar nazi takes on a new meaning Mr. Siebenziger. lol

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

@@superbandwaistband So giving someone a hint to improve on their language skills is the same as imprisoning, torturing and killing them because they did something wrong? Because the latter would be the meaning of "nazi".

[@superbandwaistband]

@@einundsiebenziger5488 grammar nazi is a neologism of which you are clearly not aware.

[@YouOnlyLiveHans]

@@einundsiebenziger5488 ok bro congratulations 👍

[@LD-bv1pm]

I suspect it was ego not boredom that led you to trying to stop her catching you lol.

[@alfredubels8517]

Nice kampioen aardig persoon

[@ptkewl]

I'm just a newb compared to her but she seems to have the saddle too high, no?

[@blackchain_cycling]

If that was the case, she would have figured it out during her long cycling career ;)

[@TheGraca]

7:00 Now you're gone I can feel my heart is breaking An' I can't go on... 🙄

[@edwin.jansen]

How to wreck yourself cycling 101. Try to follow Annemiek on the Mortirolo when you had not planned to ride it at all! 🙂👍Annemiek: Rustige duurtraininkje vandaag. Niet te gek doen.

[@commentsenabled7983]

She eased up for you and you still got flicked bro.

[@blackchain_cycling]

you can't tell from the video but I was pedalling with my right leg only ;)

[@brendanshortt4103]

This shit is for real bro POUR GOLD 🚴💯😎🙏