Marianne Vos received yet more accolades as she was awarded the title of Dutch Sportswoman of the Year in the Netherlands’ capital Amsterdam lastnight. The 22-year-old beat other finalists World champion speedskater Renate Groenewold (also a track cyclist, who was once a member of Vos’ DSB Bank team) and World Champion judoka Marhinde Verkerk; the margin of victory over Verkerk was only slight.
Vos won the title for a second successive thanks to winning the World Cyclocross Championship, the overall road World Cup (including the Trofeo Binda, La Flèche Wallonne and Open de Suede Vargarda rounds), a third successive World Championship silver medal on the road, and finishing the year as the World number one by a considerable margin. Vos now has now won the prestigious “Sportvrouw van het Yaar” twice but has a long way to go to match the legendary Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel, who has won it five times.
The award was collected by Vos’ father as she is currently in South Africa, training with the Dutch national team.