246 total wins on the road. On one-day races, on stage races. One victory in the Tour of Flanders, five victories in the Flèche Wallonne. Five days spent in yellow on the Tour de France women 2022. Three road world championship titles, in addition to the eight rainbow jerseys won in cyclocross. A gold medal on the road at the London Olympics in 2012 and another on the track at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Marianne Vos is full… or almost! Because on closer inspection, a race that seems cut out for it does not appear there (yet): Paris-Roubaix. Can the Dutchwoman, a true icon of her sport, win the youngest of the great Ladies Classics? Our specialists Martin Weynants and Ludivine Henrion answered the question in the special episode of the podcast “We know our Classics” dedicated to the women’s peloton…
Back in the peloton after surgery on an artery at the start of the year, Marianne Vos has competed in three road races in recent weeks. Twentieth in the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, she then finished on the podium in A Travers la Flandre (behind Demi Vollering et Clare Consonni) before taking 15th place in the Tour of Flanders. Is it capable of shining in Roubaix, for its fourth day of racing in 2023?
“You should never bury Marianne Vos”smiles our consultant Ludivine Henrion. “Even when you don’t expect it, she’s there. As long as she stays on a bike, we can’t help but name her among the favorites, or maybe this time at least among the outsiders”. Especially since the Dutch driver’s qualities, worked in particular in the plowed, are no longer to be demonstrated. Just like her fighter character. “And she has a small score to settle with Paris-Roubaix”completes our commentator Martin Weynants. “In 2021, she finishes second after being surprised (like everyone else) by the attack from afar of Lizzie Deignan. And last year she could not participate, dismissed the very morning of the race by the Covid.
So, will Marianne Vos take her chance for her second participation? “In any case, she knows how to prepare. And I think she has something in mind. She decided to shorten her cyclocross season this winter, for her operation, then to come back slowly. On A Travers la Flandre, she attacked 70 kilometers from the finish to make an effort.” The opponents are warned: it will be better not to bring the Dutchwoman on the velodrome, given her intrinsic burst of speed… “We must not forget that she has an Olympic title on the track”adds Ludivine Henrion.
