The reigning champion did not race at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but she made her presence felt nonetheless. Anna van der Breggen buckled her seatbelt in the SD Works car in Ghent and began her second career as team manager.

But she never really settled down. "It's hectic," she told Cycling News after the finish. 'You have to think about 15 people.'

Van der Breggen, who had won almost everything she needed to win, often many times over, announced her retirement at the end of 2021.

She has completed the required UCI sport director course and is studying coaching, but preparing for the chaos of the cobbled classics is probably not possible, even for someone who has won so many.

Actually, it was cool to try. As a rider, that first race puts a lot of pressure on you and you wonder how you're doing. I was happy to finally get there today," van der Breggen said.

Despite honing his go-karting skills in a recent team training camp, he did not get behind the wheel at Omloop. That duty fell to his colleague Lars Boom, who passed on information, gave encouragement, provided food and clothing for the riders, dealt with mechanics, and much more.

The task was made more difficult by the fact that she was drawn in car 21 of 24 teams and was the last in the formation.

"You try to focus on doing a lot of things, sometimes at the same time, because you know what's going to happen. 'It was really hectic, especially when the wheel broke. It's easy to forget when you work there that the girls at the front desk still need information."

"I learned a lot. The more you multitask, the less you forget what you need to do at the same time. I didn't have to drive the car today, so I could really focus.

But Van der Breggen's day didn't just begin in the car; there was no shortage of pre- and post-race tasks. As a rider, she was probably isolated from the flurry of activity going on around her.

"There's a lot going on ...... And working with the staff. Preparing the bikes, preparing the bottles, when to do it, what to do ...... It was my first race and I had to think about 15 people. It was my first race and I had to think about 15 people and I forgot some things.

In the race itself, van der Breggen played an important role throughout, as Demi Vollaring cleared the final climb of the Bosberg with Annemiek van Fluten. Van der Breggen encouraged her young protégé to back herself up without getting sucked into cooperating with her more experienced counterparts, given that her two teammates were chasing behind her.

In the end, that did not happen, and Vollering finished in second place.

"I didn't win today, but it was a really good race and a good experience for me to learn how to ride in a final. It is not easy to sprint against Anne-Mike, who has a lot of experience."

"We talked a little bit about the final, about the last kilometer. Normally she can win the sprint, but in that situation, under pressure, it's always different. So you can never say never. Normally she is a faster sprinter and would have won this sprint. It's good that she was able to learn, but of course it's a shame she didn't win. "

The race as a whole was a day to remember. Van der Breggen said, "The girls did a great job and it was really cool to be able to help them out from inside the car."

She will do it all over again on Sunday in Omloop van het Haegeland.