When Anna van der Breggen (NL) crested the summit of the Cima Galistina with 40km remaining in the World Championships, the gap was still only a dozen seconds.

His Dutch teammate Annemiek van Vleuten chipped away at the lead group with a fierce pace early in the climb, and when van der Breggen passed him with a sharp acceleration shortly thereafter, no one was able to follow him.

Van der Breggen, who won Thursday's individual time trial, this time solo, settled for a familiar result, albeit in different shades: within 5 km, instead of the precise timing system installed at the finish line of the Enzo e Dino Ferrari auto stadium, the cobbled It was even thought that the margin of victory could be measured by the minute hand on the clock tower in the center of Imola in the

When the bell sounded with 28.8km to go, the gap was 1 minute 40 seconds. He finished 1:20 ahead of van Breuten and bronze medalist Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA).

"When I got the gap, I knew I still had 40 km to go. But the circuit is hard, and I knew the guys chasing me would be tired," Van der Breggen said. 'But the circuit is hard, so I knew the guys chasing me would be tired too.'

The imposing Dutch team has been on a winning streak of long-distance solo attacks since Chantal van den Broeck-Blag's 23km victory in Bergen three years ago; 12 months ago, van Vleuten won after a 100km assault, and in 2018 Van der Breggen's victory in Innsbruck was also after a 40km solo lead.

"I never thought about that. The course was different from Innsbruck."

Van der Breggen's attack in Galisterena on Saturday was not specifically planned, but it was within the brushstrokes of the Dutch team's strategy. With a total climb of 2,800 meters, the orange-clad women tried to wear down their rivals far before the finish, and Marianne Vos and Van Breugten took the reins on the fourth of the five laps of the race.

"I think you never know when the perfect moment to attack is. But I knew I was feeling good and was going to race hard on lap four." It was still long, but if it didn't work out, Anne-Mike was right behind me. With more riders it is easier to try something like this."

Van der Breggen, who won the world championships in time trial and road racing the same year, completed the double that Jeannie Longo had achieved in 1995. Perhaps even more striking than Van der Breggen's replication of the feat from 25 years ago is the dominoes that have fallen over the past five weeks: after winning his first national road title in late August, he has gone on to win the European time trial title, the Giro Rosa, and now the He has won one title after another: the European time trial title, the Giro Rosa, and now the rainbow jersey.

"I didn't know what was going to happen during the season, and I didn't know what kind of racing I could do," van der Breggen said of his season, which was condensed by the coronavirus outbreak. I'm glad we had the World Championships because we have the same Classics coming up, and I didn't think I'd take two jerseys, but I'm glad I did, because I didn't know what to expect." "

Van der Breggen's World Championship double means that she will spend her last season as a professional athlete in the rainbow jersey. She will run another year with SD Worx (known as Boels Dolmans starting in 2021) before moving on to coaching.

"I don't think so," Van der Breggen replied when asked if she would reconsider her decision. Of course it's good to stop when you can still win races. Of course it's good to stop when you can still win races. I have more things to think about, like my family. As a rider, you feel it's time to stop and do something different. If I really want to keep going, I should keep going, but for me, I just want to have the best year possible. So far, it's been pretty good."