Dutchwoman discusses Cookson, MTB racing, difficulty of repeating a worlds win and more
Defending her title in fine style in Saturday’s women’s road race championships, Marianne Vos has joined a very select group of riders who have managed to take gold medals in two consecutive years.
As the old adage states, you wait ages for a bus and then two come together. In Vos’ case, her wait was in the five years since her 2006 win, when she finished second each time.
That was hugely frustrating for her and after she turned things around last year and finally returned to the top step of the podium, she went and repeated that feat today.
“Of course it is great to defend the title,” a satisfied Vos told the media in her post race press conference [see video below]. “Always they say it is hard to win one. Of course I won one before, but to do it two times in a row is even more difficult, and especially with such strong competitors.
“The Italian team were really strong today and they made it a tough race for us, and the Americans too. They started already at the beginning when we were riding the circuit and at that moment I knew that this was going to be a hard five laps.”
Vos’ success sees her become just the fifth winner of successive gold medals, following in the wheeltracks of the Soviet Union rider Anna Konkina in 1970 and 1971, Jeannie Longo in 1985, 1986 and 1987, Susanne Ljungskog in 2002 and 2003 and Giorgia Bronzini in 2010 and 2011.
The group is a very select one and at this point in time, few would bet her against equalling Longo’s three world championships on the trot between 1985 and 1987.
For Vos, the Dutch team was clearly a big part of her success. “It was a really good race from the team. They gave me the opportunity to keep as quiet as possible in the bunch until the last lap and of course in the end, in the breakaway it was great to have Anna van der Breggen there to react to the attacks. Then I knew I had a chance on the last climb.”
Vos made her move on the final ascent of the Via Salviati, breaking the small group she was in and going over the top several seconds clear.
From there she floored to the finish, where she raced in fifteen seconds clear of Emma Johansson (Sweden) and the Italian Rossella Ratto. However, despite the clear victory, she admitted afterwards that she wasn’t certain of anything.
“Until the last lap I didn’t feel too confident. I felt good, but on the longer climb for sure I wasn’t the best,” she conceded, without making clear who she considered was the stronger one there. “But on the steep climb I knew I had a chance to attack. Then you have to make a tactical move, and of course then it is great to have a team-mate there.”
In the video above Vos talks about her win, gives her thoughts on Brian Cookson’s victory in the UCI presidential election and what his ‘really enthusiastic’ approach means for women’s cycling. She also gives her perspective on the possibility of trying to add a mountainbiking rainbow jersey to her collection from road, track and cyclo cross.