Anna van der Breggen announces “Now or never” comeback for 2025

Anna van der Breggen is making a comeback. The Dutch star announced on Thursday that she would return to her SD Worx Protime team in 2025, this time as a rider.

Van der Breggen transitioned to working with SD Worx Protime when she first reitred at the end of the 2021 season. She’s worked as a team manager with the dominant squad since then. But, three years after her first retirement the multi-time world champion is keen to get out from behind the wheeel of a team car and back on the bike.

“I am looking forward to pinning a jersey number on again,” Van der Breggen said in the announcement. “The motivation is great to get back on the bike after three years. It’s an exciting decision. If I didn’t feel the motivation, I would never be able to do this. That was also the reason why I decided to stop in 2021 after the Tokyo Olympics.”

“Now or never”

Van der Breggen said that, while she enjoys working with the team off the bike, she realized that, at 34, any form of comeback was a tine-sensitive dream.

“I also find my job as a team leader beautiful and challenging, but I realise that I can still do this job in ten years’ time. If I want to return as a cyclist, it’s now or never. I am looking forward to it immensely,” van der Breggen explained, adding “After a three-year period where I looked at cycling from a different angle, I feel that the motivation and the will to cycle is completely back. I am excited to come back. To suffer on the bike again and to race with the team again. I realise now how much I love the game, the sport and the competition.”

A new perspective and a new focus?

While van der Breggen now brings her perspective as a team director back into the peloton, she also still carries with her the vast experience she accumulated as a racer.

Among the Dutch racers accomplishments are two road world championships, a time trial world championship title, the 2016 Olympic road race title, four Giro d’Italia titles, two Tour of California overall wins, European road race and time trial championsihps, seven La Flèche Wallone victories, two Liège-Bastogne-Liège wins, wins at Amstel Gold, Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders and La Course by Tour of France and even a mountain bike win at the Cape Epic as well as, well, a whole ton of other races.

The women’s peloton looks a lot different than it did just three years ago, though. Van der Breggen says she returns to the peloton focused more on the experience than winning.

“My mindset will be different. I will be less focused on wins in certain races or on having clear goals. After this long break, I feel it is a privilege to be able to ride races and be a cyclist again. For me, it is no longer so much about ticking off races or victories, but more about enjoying the sport and the competition.”

That said, she also wouldn’t mind winning.

“Of course I aim to become a better cyclist than in my previous period. Whether that succeeds always remains the question. Do I still want to be a winner? Of course I feel competition in me. I always want to win. However, that doesn’t mean you always  can win. That’s fine too, because that only makes the victories you have more beautiful.”

No lack of talent at SD Worx

When van der Breggen returns to SD Worx-Protime as a rider, she will be joining an already-stacked team. That includes reigning world champion Lotte Kopecky and dominant sprinter Lorena Wiebes. Demi Vollering also currently rides for the team, though both Vollering and the team have confirmed this will be her last year with the squad.

The reigning stars seem happy to have the iconic rider back on the roster.

“I am looking forward to racing with Anna in the coming years. I just joined the team when she quit and I actually regretted that at the time,” Kopecky said. “If you see Anna still training with us at training camp, we didn’t just ride her off, on the contrary. I think it’s a good choice and she won’t regret it.”

“I like the fact that Anna is coming back. She almost rode us off at times during training too. I think she will bring a lot of good things, in terms of atmosphere and also on a sporting level,” Wiebes adds. “I expect her to compete at a high level again soon and hopefully win enough races. I have always been able to work well with Anna as a sport director and I expect the same in the races. I am curious to see what it will be like in the peloton.”

Van der Breggen isn’t the only past-world champion plotting a return to the pavement in 2025. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot has indicated her intentions to return from mountain biking to the road next season. Rumours have already linked her to SD Worx Protime’s rival suqad, Visma Lease-a-Bike.