After a devastating end to last season for Annemieke van Vleuten, who crashed badly in Paris-Roubaix and faced a difficult recovery, the Movistar rider won the overall at the 2022 Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, proving once again how she once again proved that she can make a speedy and powerful comeback.

Van Vleuten laid the foundation for her overall victory on the third stage, which featured three Category 1 climbs, and after showing no weakness or lack thereof in her recovery from two broken pubic bones, she attacked on the final climb and rode solo to the stage win and a minute lead over her closest major rival. The final stage, a Category 3 climb 30km from the finish, looked like a stage for the sprinters.

Grace Brown (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope), who started the stage 2:31 behind the overall leader, tried to create a stir for the Dutchman who took the lead in the women's WorldTour and UCI ranking last year. Brown went into the breakaway and stayed in solo pursuit, but Van Vleuten used her teammate's experience to defend.

"The team rode really well from the front all day and checked in well," van Vleuten said on his website. Grace Brown pulled away and we drove right back in and got the lead back to within two minutes." We were a minute and a half on top and 30 kilometers from the finish."

Brown's former team, Bike Exchange Jayco, was also in contention for a stage win.

"As expected, after that climb, I got help from a team that wanted to sprint," said Brown. It also helped that Team Bike Exchange released some of their sprinters in favor of sprinter Ruby Roseman-Gannon. For me personally, I had nothing to gain today except to ride safe to the finish and secure the jersey. It worked out well."

Brown was caught 10km from the finish, Marta Bastianelli (UAE Team ADQ) won the stage, and Van Vleuten easily took the overall win in her first race of the season after reeling in a large group five seconds behind. It was also his first race since his crash in Paris-Roubaix, and a strong comeback following his 2016 Olympic crash (three vertebrae fractures and concussion) and his silver medal win at the 2020 Road World Championships just 10 days after breaking his wrist at the Giro d'Italia Donne.

"To think that it was only four and a half months ago that I crashed hard in Roubaix and was on crutches in mid-December: ...... I am so happy to start the season in this way," van Breuten said in a team statement. 'It takes the pressure off my shoulder and proves that both myself and the team are back. It's also a race in Spain and a bigger goal for the team.

"It's nice to start in the sun rather than the temperatures of the classics and to be able to relax a bit more. It's important to learn lessons for the Giro and the Tour de France. It's important to learn lessons for the Giro and the Tour de France.