Annemiek van Vleuten considering leaving Mitchelton-Scott, with Olympic success on her mind

The 37-year-old has flourished since joining the Australian team in 2016, but is out of contract at the end of the year.

Mitchelton-Scott have also been involved in a recent sponsorship issue that saw them cancel a deal with Spanish non-profit organisation Manuela Fundacion.

"I am currently talking to other teams, but of course also to my current team," said Van Vleuten, who is yet to win an Olympic medal after crashing while leading the road race in 2016.

"An important consideration is which team will best help me go for the medal in the Olympics, and which team will keep me happy as a rider? I perform my best when I am really enjoying myself.

"Mitchelton-Scott has a lot of advantages for me, because I feel very much at home here. But there are also other options. When I have everything clear, I will put it all together and make a choice.”

Van Vleuten was victorious at the World Championship road race in 2019, as well as the Giro Rosa and Strade Bianche.

She has only competed once so far this year – winning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad – and is eager to get back to competitive action when her season resumes in Spain at Emakumeen Nafarroako Klasikoa on July 23.

"I will take it race by race at the moment, but I have the focus that I want to be good for August 1 for Strade Bianche which will be a really important race," Van Vleuten explained.

"In the lead-up to Strade I will have three races in the Basque Country which are really nice to get into the rhythm of things, so I look forward to starting racing there. It is great they have organised three races in the area, it makes it worth the travel and I think it will be really good to have three races in my legs and for the team as it is such a long time ago since we had a race stress."

Van Vleuten is also scheduled to race La Course in late August followed by the World Championships and then several races in October.

"People ask me if I have too much on my program, but I will feel super lucky with every race that I can race this season and I just have to focus on being in optimal shape. I am confident I can race in all the races and on different parcours," she added.