Arlenis Sierra and Van Vleuten

Padua, July 11 (RHC) -- Dutch cyclist Annemiek Van Vleuten had words of gratitude for her teammate, Cuban Arlenis Sierra, after dominating the Giro d'Italia for the third time.

"Arlenis this is also for you. You are part of this victory. I miss you, I wish you were here," Van Vleuten said in front of the cameras showing her pink jersey, which accredits her as champion of the 2002 Giro d'Italia.

Always riding as Van Vleuten's teammate in the famous Movistar, the Cuban cycling star had a good performance in the Giro, in which she was forced to abandon last Thursday in the seventh stage because of a fall suffered a day earlier.

At the time of her departure, the Cuban was in an outstanding 24th place among almost 150 cyclists and had finished in an outstanding sixth place in one stage.

Now the Cuban will prepare for the Tour de France, scheduled for July 24-31.

Van Vleuten, 39 years old and leader of the Spanish Movistar formation, dominated the race with two stage victories, obtained in Cesena and Aldeno, to add her third crown in the Italian round, which she already dominated in 2018 and 2019.

In the overall classification, the rider from the Netherlands was one minute and 52 seconds ahead of Italy's Marta Cavalli and 5:56 ahead of Spain's Mavi García.