Beijing points race champion will only be chasing road gold in Olympic games
Dutch phenomenon Marianne Vos will not be racing on the track in the Olympic games in London next year, the Nederland Bloeit rider told TV channel NOS. The 24-year-old won the points race, almost at a canter, at the last Olympics in Beijing, China in 2008, but the event has been removed from the programme.
In place of the points race in the new programme, the one individual endurance event is the Omnium, which would be too complicated to prepare properly for if she is to be on top form for the road race.
“The last winter period has taught me that the route towards the Omnium is not easy,” said Vos. “The Omnium requires a very specific preparation; for that you must train very intensively on the track in the run-up to the Games, which would be to the detriment of my preparations for the road race and time trial.”
“The combination road and track seems to me to be too complex”, she concluded.
Vos spoke to NOS shortly before travelling to London to check out the course of the Olympic road race and time trial; while there is no women’s event, Sunday’s London Surrey Cycle Classic is a test event for the course to be used next August and will offer Vos the chance to check it out.
Vos has been almost unbeatable on any terrain this year, successfully defending her World cyclocross championships, then – along with teammate Annemiek van Vleuten – dominating the World Cup races, and winning the women’s Giro d’Italia. The only place where the all-rounder has come unstuck was when she went up against Kirsten Wild (AA Drink-Leontien.nl) with the winner representing the Netherlands in the World Championships.
Since her win in the 2006 road World Championships, where she shocked the peloton with a late attack, Vos has taken the silver medal in each of the four subsequent races. For this reason, as much as any other, Vos will be approaching the Olympic road race next year in a different way.
“The last World Championships on the road taught me that you have to make a choice in order to be able to excel,” she explained. “It actually goes against my nature, but in London I would like to achieve the maximum.”
In Beijing Vos’ points race gold came shortly after what, for her, was a disaster in the road race, where she won the peloton sprint for sixth behind the five-rider winning break. If everything goes to form, after an even more dominant season than usual, Marianne Vos should start next summer’s Olympic road race as reigning World champion, and take the second gold medal of her career.