The 39-year-old Movistar Team rider and Tour favorite beat compatriot Demi Vollering by 3 minutes and 48 seconds in the eight-stage bike race. Katarzyna “Kasia” Niewiadoma from Poland was third.
World No. 1 Van Vleuten won stages seven and eight.
Her victory came despite starting the Tour with a stomach problem and tackling no fewer than five bike changes during Sunday’s final stage, according to cycling news publications VeloNews and Cycling Weekly. Team Jumbo-Visma rider Marianne Vos, who won two stages and led most of the Tour, eventually won the green jersey for winning the overall points classification or the sprinter competition, depending on the final result.
Team SD Worx’s Vollering secured the polka dot jersey for the Queen of the Mountains competition while Trek-Segafredo’s Shirin van Anrooij was the best young rider and secured the white jersey for 2022.
Canyon-SRAM Racing was the best team overall, beating FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope and Trek-Segafredo.
The race covered 1,029 kilometers (639 miles) in eastern France and finished at La Super Planche des Belles Filles.
This was the first Tour de France for women since 1989.