Double World champion triumphs after “difficult” post-Olympic year
Marianne Vos (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) has been awarded the Sportvrouw van het Jaar – the Sportswoman of the Year – title in the Netherlands for the third time, according to Dutch TV station NOS. The Double World champion, who won the title in both 2008 and 2009, defeated 2011 and 2012 winner Ranomi Kromowidjojo, the World 50 metre freestyle swimming champion, and Ireen Wüst, the World 3000 metre speedskating champion, to take the Jaap Eden troohy.
“It was quite a difficult, after an Olympic year,” Vos said in her acceptance speech. “I had some had times, but I was there at times when I had to be there. That’s why it is so great that I’m now standing here, along with such greats as Ireen and Ranomi.
“Special thanks go to the people around me and my teammates,” Vos added. “They often had to listen to my complaining, but have dragged me through anyway.”
Vos was virtually unbeatable in both road and cyclocross in 2013, retaining her World titles in both disciplines. She also utterly dominated the World Cup, taking the competition for a fifth time, and winning five of the six road race rounds that she started.
Virtually the only chink in the World champion’s armour came in the Giro Rosa, where she was unable to compete in the high mountains. This was largely due to her shift in training emphasis, in order to ride mountainbike World Cup events. Her experimentation with mountainbiking also saw her miss a number of road races, allowing big rival Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) to take the World number one spot away for the first time since 2007.
Last month saw Vos voted the Netherlands Female Cyclist of the Year for an eighth consecutive year.
Vos’ third Sportvrouw title still leaves her three short of the record held by the great Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel, however, while the last cyclist to win the Sportman van het jaar title was Theo Bos, in 2006, when the Belkin sprinter was still racing on the track.
Vos was not the only cyclist to be honoured at the Sportgala, however, as 18-year-old Mathieu van der Poel – the junior World road and cyclocross champion – was voted Talent of the Year.