‘A very nice highlight’ – Vos beats Van Anrooij in sprint to land 250th career win

Visma-Lease a Bike rider Marianne Vos landed the 250th win of her glittering career after a superb finish at the Dwars door Vlaanderen.

The 36-year-old secured victory in a time of 3:18.39 after outsprinting Lidl-Trek’s Shirin van Anrooij.

Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) came in third place, as she was the best finisher in the group of four chasers who were a further 15 seconds behind.

“Over the years you can make a lot of memories of different highs and lows and then this is definitely a very nice highlight.”

Proceedings got underway to a drama-free start, perhaps down to some of the climbs being removed from the course after the race was neutralised due to a car accident.

However, once back underway, things eventually started to liven up, as it became clear that a sprint finish was in store.

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Vos holds off Van Anrooij to clinch Dwars door Vlaanderen victory

The Lidl-Trek trio of Elisa Longo Borghini, Lucinda Brand and van Anrooij eventually decided to break away from the pack with around 30km of the 130km course remaining.

SD Worx-Protime duo Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering – who is to leave the team at the end of the season – tried to stick with them, but it was Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), Vos, Paternoster and Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) who managed to eventually haul the leading bunch back in.

When Brand dropped away, the remaining sextet ultimately opened up a 30-second advantage on the peloton, and it was Vos and Van Anrooij who had the legs to out-pace their rivals over the final 12km.

A two-up sprint was the result, despite the best efforts for Longo Borghini to stick with her rivals, with Vos prevailing by a narrow margin as she landed her second victory of the season.

“It is always nice to win a race for the first time,” she added. “At the beginning of spring, I didn’t dare dream that I would start my season like this. The fact that I already have two victories now is definitely very special.

“Shirin is an incredibly strong rider and when she accelerates, you shouldn’t hesitate too long.

“In the sprint I tried to catch her and then it’s sprinting with everything you have left. Luckily it worked out well.”

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‘A very nice highlight’ – Vos beats Van Anrooij in sprint to land 250th career win

Visma-Lease a Bike rider Marianne Vos landed the 250th win of her glittering career after a superb finish at the Dwars door Vlaanderen.

The 36-year-old secured victory in a time of 3:18.39 after outsprinting Lidl-Trek’s Shirin van Anrooij.

Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) came in third place, as she was the best finisher in the group of four chasers who were a further 15 seconds behind.

“Over the years you can make a lot of memories of different highs and lows and then this is definitely a very nice highlight.”

Proceedings got underway to a drama-free start, perhaps down to some of the climbs being removed from the course after the race was neutralised due to a car accident.

However, once back underway, things eventually started to liven up, as it became clear that a sprint finish was in store.

picture

Vos holds off Van Anrooij to clinch Dwars door Vlaanderen victory

The Lidl-Trek trio of Elisa Longo Borghini, Lucinda Brand and van Anrooij eventually decided to break away from the pack with around 30km of the 130km course remaining.

SD Worx-Protime duo Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering – who is to leave the team at the end of the season – tried to stick with them, but it was Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), Vos, Paternoster and Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) who managed to eventually haul the leading bunch back in.

When Brand dropped away, the remaining sextet ultimately opened up a 30-second advantage on the peloton, and it was Vos and Van Anrooij who had the legs to out-pace their rivals over the final 12km.

A two-up sprint was the result, despite the best efforts for Longo Borghini to stick with her rivals, with Vos prevailing by a narrow margin as she landed her second victory of the season.

“It is always nice to win a race for the first time,” she added. “At the beginning of spring, I didn’t dare dream that I would start my season like this. The fact that I already have two victories now is definitely very special.

“Shirin is an incredibly strong rider and when she accelerates, you shouldn’t hesitate too long.

“In the sprint I tried to catch her and then it’s sprinting with everything you have left. Luckily it worked out well.”

Stream all the top cycling action, including the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana, live and on-demand on discovery+.

Vos labelled ‘greatest of all time’ after Omloop triumph brings 250 wins closer

The 36-year-old held off Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx-Protime), Elisa Longo Borghini and Shirin van Anrooij (both Lidl-Trek) to claim her 249th win on the road.

It was just the latest triumph in a glittering career and it was made all the more impressive on her debut appearance.

Speaking on The Breakaway, Rowe said: “I think what’s stood the test of time is the belief that she’s got in herself and she’s never sat on her laurels and got complacent.

“That’s why we have seen a little bit of a rollercoaster as a career, as every sportsman or woman has, but the ability to come back from that is what makes her the greatest of all time.”

Vos has shown time and time again she has been able to rise to any challenge facing here, but cycling at the highest level is increasingly a young athlete’s sport.

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Highlights: Vos seals debutant victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

The Dutchwoman had major iliac surgery last year and Blythe said her ability to reset, recover and ascend back to the top of the podium at the age of 36 is “incredible”.

“It [her career] goes up and down,” Blythe said. “She was so successful in the early part of her career and then at the Tour de France Femmes when it came along two and a half years ago, she was in incredible form and sprinting really well but since then, she’s just dropped off a little bit.

“She obviously had the surgery so there’s a big reason why but we knew she was on the start sheet today and none of us picked her, none of us really mentioned her, but then we weren’t surprised when we saw her.

“It was like, ‘Right, Marianne is there, obviously she’s there’. She’s just incredible at being able to build herself back up and that hunger for winning.

“It’s very difficult for someone that’s been at the top of the game to know that the sport has moved on, it’s got harder and she’s been able to reach the peak of that again.”

Lloyd echoed those sentiments, hailing Vos as a “rare” talent, the likes of which don’t come around all too often.

“It’s so rare to have that longevity in any sport, partly because sometimes motivation wanes or your physical prowess wanes, but close to 250 wins and that’s just on the road,” Lloyd added.

“I’d imagine if you added up the wins of the rest of today’s peleton, they might not come to 250.”

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Vos pips Kopecky in thrilling finale to add Omloop title to glittering CV

Marianne Vos added the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad title to her glittering CV after pipping Lotte Kopecky to the line after a thrilling sprint finish.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider returned to her best to see off the challenge of Kopecky (Team SD Worx-Protime) and secure the victory on her debut in the competition.

Longo Borghini Elisa (Lidl-Trek) completed the podium in third.

It all came down to a sprint finish, with four riders in contention. It was an elite four too, with Kopecky, Longo Borghini and Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) battling hard but unable to drop the best women’s sprinter of all time.

The two Lidl-Trek riders had given it everything to break Vos and Kopecky in the previous few kilometres, constantly going on counter attacks, forcing the others to chase back again and again in the closing stages – but to no avail.

“Well, of course yeah, to win a race like this, you want to give it your all. I couldn’t believe it would be enough for the win today but I’m really, really happy,” said an exhausted but exhilarated Vos straight afterwards.

The women set off on a dank, grey February day for what always looked like being a tough day of racing. It was mercifully dry but that was about all that could be said for the conditions.

A break managed to get away at quite an early stage, but with none of the favourites present the peloton was content to let it go. That could have proved foolhardy, with the lead growing to well over six minutes at one stage.

But there was so much experience in the peloton and with 40km to go, the first cat and mouse games began. The lead started to reduce – it briefly grew as crash after crash disrupted the chase – and then it started to reduce again as Longo Borghini went on the attack over the cobblestones of Haaghoek.

The Italian managed to make that move decisive, taking advantage of the chaos behind as the peloton fractured and no team took charge. SD Worx then put Wiebes on front to chase, but by then Longo Borghini was gone.

The Italian caught the initial break and dropped them with ease, but behind the chase was finally organised, slim-lined and packed with the talent of Kopecky and Vos, with SD Worx’s Demi Vollering and Lorena Wiebes in the mix as well.

Longo Borghini was unable to keep so much talent at bay, caught at the top of the Muur by Kopecky and Vos with van Anrooij in tow. From there, the four riders started playing a game in the last 20km with each other, with attack after attack, a few words here and there and plenty of tactics coming into play.

The Belgian defending champion tried to drop her Dutch rival on the Bosberg briefly, but Vos was having none of it – while Longo Borghini briefly looked to have run out of gas, only to put in a sterling effort to catch back up. As for van Anrooij, she was putting in the best ride of her career to date.

Kopecky did everything she could on the final cobbled section to drop Vos, knowing that taking her all the way to a flat finish would be a huge error. But Vos was riding up the small crests with ease, the hills and bumps causing her no issues whatsoever.

Considering that she had major iliac artery surgery just last year, Vos very much looked back to her old self. By the time she set off on her sprint in the final 500 metres, the result was never in doubt as she adds another title to her illustrious tally.

Most of the women will take a few days off now, before hoping for a warmer time of it when they take on the next Classic, Strade Bianche on March 02.

Stream all the top cycling action, including the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana, live and on-demand on discovery+.

Vos pips Kopecky in thrilling finale to add Omloop title to glittering CV

Marianne Vos added the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad title to her glittering CV after pipping Lotte Kopecky to the line after a thrilling sprint finish.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider returned to her best to see off the challenge of Kopecky (Team SD Worx-Protime) and secure the victory on her debut in the competition.

Longo Borghini Elisa (Lidl-Trek) completed the podium in third.

It all came down to a sprint finish, with four riders in contention. It was an elite four too, with Kopecky, Longo Borghini and Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) battling hard but unable to drop the best women’s sprinter of all time.

The two Lidl-Trek riders had given it everything to break Vos and Kopecky in the previous few kilometres, constantly going on counter attacks, forcing the others to chase back again and again in the closing stages – but to no avail.

“Well, of course yeah, to win a race like this, you want to give it your all. I couldn’t believe it would be enough for the win today but I’m really, really happy,” said an exhausted but exhilarated Vos straight afterwards.

The women set off on a dank, grey February day for what always looked like being a tough day of racing. It was mercifully dry but that was about all that could be said for the conditions.

A break managed to get away at quite an early stage, but with none of the favourites present the peloton was content to let it go. That could have proved foolhardy, with the lead growing to well over six minutes at one stage.

But there was so much experience in the peloton and with 40km to go, the first cat and mouse games began. The lead started to reduce – it briefly grew as crash after crash disrupted the chase – and then it started to reduce again as Longo Borghini went on the attack over the cobblestones of Haaghoek.

The Italian managed to make that move decisive, taking advantage of the chaos behind as the peloton fractured and no team took charge. SD Worx then put Wiebes on front to chase, but by then Longo Borghini was gone.

The Italian caught the initial break and dropped them with ease, but behind the chase was finally organised, slim-lined and packed with the talent of Kopecky and Vos, with SD Worx’s Demi Vollering and Lorena Wiebes in the mix as well.

Longo Borghini was unable to keep so much talent at bay, caught at the top of the Muur by Kopecky and Vos with van Anrooij in tow. From there, the four riders started playing a game in the last 20km with each other, with attack after attack, a few words here and there and plenty of tactics coming into play.

The Belgian defending champion tried to drop her Dutch rival on the Bosberg briefly, but Vos was having none of it – while Longo Borghini briefly looked to have run out of gas, only to put in a sterling effort to catch back up. As for van Anrooij, she was putting in the best ride of her career to date.

Kopecky did everything she could on the final cobbled section to drop Vos, knowing that taking her all the way to a flat finish would be a huge error. But Vos was riding up the small crests with ease, the hills and bumps causing her no issues whatsoever.

Considering that she had major iliac artery surgery just last year, Vos very much looked back to her old self. By the time she set off on her sprint in the final 500 metres, the result was never in doubt as she adds another title to her illustrious tally.

Most of the women will take a few days off now, before hoping for a warmer time of it when they take on the next Classic, Strade Bianche on March 02.

Stream all the top cycling action, including the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana, live and on-demand on discovery+.