Annemieke van Fluten, who won her first World Championship in 2019 with a solo victory in the Yorkshire Dales, wore the rainbow jersey for just 15 race days. But after his "best win of his career" at the Wollongong World Championships, the 39-year-old had the perfect ending to his last season in the pro peloton, wearing the rainbow.

"It's great," said a delighted Van Vleuten at a post-race press conference at the UCI Road World Championships.

"That's why I was so disappointed after breaking my elbow. I knew the course, and when they announced the course for next year I had already secretly seen how many meters of altitude it would be. So I felt like this was my best chance."

"So now I'm here, and next year I'll be world champion and I can always wear the jersey.

On a rainy and drizzly afternoon, a fleeting rainbow appeared over the finish line in Wollongong, but the immortal rainbow jersey was waiting for Van Vleuten at the finish line.

"This may be the best win of my career. Looking back on the past week, I'm not sure. The Dutch rider said at the victory press conference, after a long silence, that he was satisfied with his victory.

Van Vleuten's first season in the rainbow jersey ended with a pandemic and a broken wrist from a crash at the Giro Rosa on the eve of the World Championships. The World Championships, which Anna van der Breggen won a year before she retired, ensured her final rainbow season. This feat is now being emulated by her compatriot van Vleuten.

"Every day I can remind myself that I am a world champion. 'This year is better than next year. When I became world champion, I couldn't wear the world championship jersey in many races because of what happened to Covid. [But] I still trained a lot wearing the jersey."

"I'm really proud to race wearing the rainbow.

On Wednesday afternoon, Van Vleuten lay on the ground in shock. A mechanical crash in the mixed relay TTT without 20 pedal strokes and in an instant it looked as if her world championship was over. Not only was her immediate race over, but her chances of competing in Saturday's road race seemed to sink as quickly as Van Vleuten's fall to the ground.

But if there is one athlete you don't write off, it's Van Vleuten.

On Thursday night at the Dutch team hotel in Sydney, Van Vleuten told Cycling News that things could change and there was no need to panic. His training that day was successful, moving from the rollers of the hotel to the streets of Sydney. The doctor had told him there was no further damage to his elbow. Pain was the only barrier.

Since 2016, Van Vleuten has experienced major setbacks in her career, overcoming highs and lows. Despite these setbacks, the world's number one rider in the women's peloton has continued to set goals and achieve them. In the latter years of her career, when she has won every possible race, the secret to Van Vleuten's success has been to not dwell on the what-ifs.

"I see a lot of people who get negative about what happened," Van Vleuten told Cycling News on Thursday. 'We need time to grieve over what happened. But if you don't dwell on what happened and try to make the best of what you have, you give yourself a great gift. Don't look back. Last night, I wasn't thinking about what happened. It happened, so let's make the best of the situation."

At the championship press conference in Wollongong on Saturday evening, Van Vleuten was asked. How did you cultivate your fortitude through multiple setbacks?

"The skill I have acquired thanks to those shitty moments is to think about the impossible. To not be negative about what happened. A lot of people get caught up in what happened. I think all the shitty moments in my career have taught me that it's much better to focus on what is still possible and look forward instead of backward. I think that's a skill I've learned

"But I have to say that this time it was hard to think that it was still possible. At least I didn't have to be negative with my teammates. I tried to stay positive and I didn't see them crying. I just wanted to be a good teammate."

A frozen Ellen van Dijk was the last rider in the mixed zone after the race. Wednesday's time trial world champion stopped to watch a live broadcast of van Breuten singing the Dutch national anthem at the medal ceremony. Before mounting his clip for warmth and congratulations and riding away, van Dijk said of his teammate. 'She's a special person, she keeps surprising everyone.'