She’s undoubtedly been the dominant rider in women’s cycling, but Marianne Vos has had a frustrating run of near-misses in the world championships ever since she took her rainbow jersey in 2006.
In the years since she has been runner up to Marta Bastianelli (Italy), Nicole Cooke (Great Britain), Tatiana Guderzo (Italy) and, in both 2010 and 2011, to Giorgia Bronzini.
She has been in strong form this season despite fracturing her collarbone during the Valkenburg Hills Classic on May 25th, returning one month later to take second on the Dutch national championship, then winning five stages and the general classification in the Giro Donne.
Today she’s determined to add a road race gold medal to the points race she won in Beijing in 2008, and is prepared to do everything to win.
“It will be a tough race but I do not think I can be satisfied with silver or bronze,” she told Reuters. “Am I stronger than ever? Yes, I think I can say that.”
One of her top rivals will be Bronzini, who outfoxed her in the past two editions of the worlds and wants to make it three big championship wins over her today. If she does that, she will pull off an extremely rare Olympic/worlds double, something Mark Cavendish was aiming for yesterday.
She said that the frustration of a quiet season thus far will drive her today. “I have built up a bit of anger to use in this race,” she stated, adding that she believed there were many riders that she must keep tabs on. “My rivals should be the usual ones, from Vos to (Ina) Teutenberg to (Nicole) Cooke, but that’s not counting the outsiders, like Shelley Olds, who had not been included in the group of contenders for the win.”
The women’s race will be 140 kilometres in length, and takes in two laps of the Box Hill circuit. That’s seven less than the men, and thus greatly increases the odds that there could be a bunch sprint.
There are just 66 riders in the women’s event due to differences in the Olympic rules between the men’s and women’s races. The imbalance is a disappointing one, not least because several well-known riders have had to miss out.
Women’s road race, 140km:
GREAT BRITAIN
1, COOKE Nicole
2, ARMITSTEAD Elisabeth
3, MARTIN Lucy
4, POOLEY Emma
NETHERLANDS
5, GUNNEWIJK Loes
6, VAN DIJK Ellen
7, VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek
8, VOS Marianne
GERMANY
9, ARNDT Judith
10, HÄUSLER Claudia
11, TEUTENBERG Ina-Yoko
12, WORRACK Trixi
UNITED STATES
13, ARMSTRONG Kristin
14, NEBEN Amber
15, OLDS - EVANS Shelley
16, STEVENS Evelyn
ITALY
17, BACCAILLE Monia
18, BRONZINI Giorgia
19, CANTELE Noemi
20, GUDERZO Tatiana
AUSTRALIA
21, GILLOW Shara
22, HOSKING Chloe
23, SPRATT Amanda
SWEDEN
24, FAHLIN Emilia
25, JOHANSSON Emma
26, SÖDERBERG Isabelle
RUSSIA
27, ANTOSHINA Tatiana
28, PANKOVA Larisa
29, ZABELINSKAYA Olga
CANADA
30, HUGHES Clara
31, NUMAINVILLE Joëlle
32, RAMSDEN Denise
BELGIUM
33, DE VOCHT Liesbeth
34, HENRION Ludivine
35, POLSPOEL Maaike
FRANCE
36, BIANNIC Aude
37, CORDON Audrey
38, FERRAND PREVOT Pauline
NEW ZEALAND
39, VILLUMSEN Linda Melanie
BRASIL
40, SOUZA Fernanda da Silva
41, FERNANDEZ SILVA Clemilda
42, FERNANDES SILVA Janildes
SOUTH AFRICA
43, DE GROOT Robyn
44, MOOLMAN Ashleigh
45, VAN DE WINKEL Joanna
CUBA
46, GONZALEZ VALDINIESO Yumari
VENEZUELA
47, GARCIA BUITRAGO Danielys Del Valle
UKRAINE
48, ANDRUK Olena
BELARUS
49, AMIALIUSIK Alena
CHINA
50, LIU Xin
EL SALVADOR
51, GARCIA Evelyn
NORWAY
52, MOBERG Emilie
LUXEMBOURG
53, MAJERUS Christine
SOUTH KOREA
54, NA Ah Reum
MEXICO
55, DREXEL Ingrid
ESTONIA
56, TREIER Grete
THAILAND
57, MANEEPHAN Jutatip
TAIPEI
58, HSIAO Mei Yu
POLAND
59, PAWLOWSKA Katarzyna
AZERBAIJAN
60, TCHALYKH Elena
FINLAND
61, SUNDSTEDT Pia
HONG KONG
62, WONG WAN Yiu
JAPAN
63, HAGIWARA Mayuko
SLOVENIA
64, BATAGELJ Polona
MAURITIUS
65, HALBWACHS Aurelie
CHILE
66, MUNOZ GRANDON Paola