;)
;)
;)
Gold! Vos Makes Olympic Dream Come True
16 August 2012
Already a world champion in road, cyclocross and track racing, Dutch cycling star Marianne Vos has been focused on one main goal for the past four years: a gold medal in the Olympic road race. On July 29, the 25-year-old leader of the Rabobank Women’s Team went to London and made that dream come true, confirming her position as the best female road racer in the world.
Marked as the clear favorite in London, Vos knew she had to race aggressively to win the Olympic title. She was supported by a strong trio of Dutch teammates, and she was riding with newfound confidence in her Giant TCR Advanced SL race bike.
“I waited for this for such a long time, and the preparation was not completely flawless either,” said Vos, who had to recover from a broken collarbone just two months before the Olympic Games.
On the opening day of the Olympics, a rainy, blustery day in London, Vos rode a smart tactical race. Aided by her teammates, she survived the rain and wind, avoided several crashes, and launched a blistering attack at exactly the right moment.
The key move of the race came with about 40 kilometers to go. On the final ascent of Box Hill, the decisive climb on the 140km circuit, Russian Olga Zabelinskaya attacked. Vos was the first to respond, and was quickly joined by British rider Lizzie Armistead and American Shelley Olds.
The four riders built up a lead of 40 seconds. After Olds punctured a tire, it came down to a three-way battle for the medals.
“There was a lot of wind at Box Hill, and that made it difficult to break away,” Vos explained. “After Box Hill, it went upwards for a little bit, and that’s where it ended up working. We were lucky Shelly Olds ended up with a flat tire, and suddenly each one of us in the breakaway group was riding for a medal. Everyone wants to take a prize like that home, so everyone was really racing.”
As the trio approached the finish in a driving rainstorm on London’s Mall, Vos launched her attack on her TCR Advanced SL. She held off Armistead in a sprint finish, securing the gold medal she had worked so hard for.
Vos said afterward that she has matured and evolved in the four years since her last Olympics appearance in Beijing, where she won gold in the points race on the track but was disappointed at just missing a medal in the road race.
“I am four years older and I’m more experienced, which is why I was much more relaxed at the start,” Vos said. “I knew what was waiting for me, and that makes a difference. Besides, I am a much more complete rider now. I can win a race in different ways and that brings confidence.”
“It’s unbelievable,” she added. “What I am feeling right now is indescribable.”
Marked as the clear favorite in London, Vos knew she had to race aggressively to win the Olympic title. She was supported by a strong trio of Dutch teammates, and she was riding with newfound confidence in her Giant TCR Advanced SL race bike.
“I waited for this for such a long time, and the preparation was not completely flawless either,” said Vos, who had to recover from a broken collarbone just two months before the Olympic Games.
On the opening day of the Olympics, a rainy, blustery day in London, Vos rode a smart tactical race. Aided by her teammates, she survived the rain and wind, avoided several crashes, and launched a blistering attack at exactly the right moment.
The key move of the race came with about 40 kilometers to go. On the final ascent of Box Hill, the decisive climb on the 140km circuit, Russian Olga Zabelinskaya attacked. Vos was the first to respond, and was quickly joined by British rider Lizzie Armistead and American Shelley Olds.
The four riders built up a lead of 40 seconds. After Olds punctured a tire, it came down to a three-way battle for the medals.
“There was a lot of wind at Box Hill, and that made it difficult to break away,” Vos explained. “After Box Hill, it went upwards for a little bit, and that’s where it ended up working. We were lucky Shelly Olds ended up with a flat tire, and suddenly each one of us in the breakaway group was riding for a medal. Everyone wants to take a prize like that home, so everyone was really racing.”
As the trio approached the finish in a driving rainstorm on London’s Mall, Vos launched her attack on her TCR Advanced SL. She held off Armistead in a sprint finish, securing the gold medal she had worked so hard for.
Vos said afterward that she has matured and evolved in the four years since her last Olympics appearance in Beijing, where she won gold in the points race on the track but was disappointed at just missing a medal in the road race.
“I am four years older and I’m more experienced, which is why I was much more relaxed at the start,” Vos said. “I knew what was waiting for me, and that makes a difference. Besides, I am a much more complete rider now. I can win a race in different ways and that brings confidence.”
“It’s unbelievable,” she added. “What I am feeling right now is indescribable.”
