Annemieke van Flugtten will wear the rainbow jersey for the first time at the Tour de Romandie Feminine, October 7-9, to celebrate her world championship victory.

The Dutch rider says he has no pressure on his shoulders and just plans to race with all his heart and finish the season in the best possible way, no matter what the outcome.

"The last time I was World Champion [in Yorkshire in 2019] was the year I used COVID-19, so I know how special it is to race in the rainbow jersey. I couldn't wait to race in the rainbow jersey," said Van Vleuten, who won her second career elite women's road race at Wollongong in September, "I want to come here and see the team again.

"I was checking the UCI calendar before the World Championships to see if there were more races than Romandie. I wanted to race without any pressure. If there was a pressure race like the Tour de France coming up, I wouldn't have been keen on it."

"It would be nice to race in Romandie, but I want to get results without putting pressure on myself or the team.

"I could have fully recovered my elbow after the World Championships, but racing in the rainbow jersey is a great opportunity.

Van Vleuten had broken her elbow after crashing in the team time trial mixed relay three days before the elite women's road race. However, in the road race, she attacked at the last minute in the last kilometer to take a memorable and stunning solo victory.

In an interview with the press on Thursday before the Tour de Romandie, Van Vleuten admitted that his elbow was still sore, but that it should be fully healed within five to six weeks.

"It was like a roller coaster. The pain in my elbow has been amazingly light. After the road race, my elbow didn't have any reaction or worsen.

"Every day I felt that it was getting better. I even went out for a little training and had the feeling that I could get out of the saddle."

"I ate a lot of coffee and cake, but I also made sure to get out of the saddle and ride. I was able to enjoy my victory and not think about my broken elbow all the time. I still need some time, but in four or five weeks it will be better."

Van Vleuten said that despite the injury and the season not being over yet, he was able to celebrate a little with family and friends when he returned to the Netherlands from Australia.

"I hope I had enough time to celebrate," he said, "I went out for a celebratory dinner with friends and family. In the world of cycling, I don't think there is enough time to celebrate because you are always focused on the next goal. It was really nice to have some relaxing time at home after the World Championships."

The Women's World Tour will conclude with the first Tour de Romandie Feminine in Switzerland. The three-day race will take place in mountainous terrain, including a second stage that finishes at the summit of Tion 2000.

Van Vleuten said he was pleased that the organizers of the long-running WorldTour men's Tour de Romandie have added a mountain women's event to their calendar that raises the bar for women's cycling.

"I am glad that the Tour of Romandie has put so much effort into organizing this race for women, good field, beautiful course, it's beautiful here," van Vleuten said.

"It's nice to have a variety of races on the calendar and the Tour de Romandie is an important race. It's hard to find hilly races on the women's calendar and there are more and more. The variety of races allows different types of riders to develop and not just one type of rider can win them all.

"If there are no uphill races, then the girls do not need to train for uphill races. The more uphill races we have, the better the athletes will be. It is important to have a variety of races on the calendar."

Van Grooten won the Giro d'Italia Donnay, the Tour de France Fam, the Challenge by La Vuelta, and took the world title in Wollongong.

Asked what he expected from his performance at the Tour de Romandie, Van Breutenen said he was still recovering from his injury and was aware that he was not in the best form.

"To be honest, I have a broken elbow and I know I am not in the best shape anymore. Personally, I expect a really high level field of all climbers. I know that I myself am not 100% anymore and I want to enjoy the three days of racing in this beautiful area as much as I can without feeling too much pressure."

"I'm not really focused for this race, but I'm happy to be here and to be racing with the team. There's a lot of pressure on my shoulders, so it's nice to have a race where I can race with all my heart and see how it goes. Having said that, whatever the outcome, I will go home happy on Sunday."