Foldable Bikes Party: Chasing rainbows: Marianne Vos and the World Championships

Monday 28 January 2019

Chasing rainbows: Marianne Vos and the World Championships

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Marianne Vos has not worn a rainbow jersey in almost four years. For someone who had barely been out of one since the age of 18, that's quite something – something she's out to put right this year.

Once the overwhelmingly dominant force in women's cycling, Vos has endured a rocky few years. In 2015, she was beset by a combination of injury, illness, and pushing herself too far for too long, and was forced into an extended break from the sport.

After coming back part-way through 2016, she was good – there were the European road race and the Ladies Tour titles, among others – but it was a far cry from the dominant, cannibalistic Vos of old. Prior to 2015, she was averaging more than 20 wins per season on the road. Since her comeback, it's been more like seven.

Yet, the back end of 2018 – and indeed the start of 2019 - have seen a glimmer from the shadows, a hint that Vos might be 'back' – not just in the peloton but back to her old self.

The start of 2018 saw her out of shape during the cyclo-cross season, ill during the cobbled classics, and then out of action completely when she broke her collarbone again at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. She came back in June and there was immediate cause for encouragement, with a string of high placings at the Women's Tour and a stage win at the Giro Rosa. She then won the overall at the Ladies Tour and says things truly clicked into place as she won the Crescent Vagarda. From there she went to the Tour of Norway and won every stage. The run crossed over onto the mud, with Vos winning the World Cup series with victories in four of the nine rounds.

"The consistency at the end of the season, and also the start of the cyclo-cross season, has given me a lot of confidence and motivation. That has been the biggest win of the past year – not exactly the results themselves but more the consistent shape, the feeling of being fit and healthy and being able to do what I have in my potential," Vos says.