The greatest cyclist of all time. What a wonder woman. A legend. A wonderful performance. Standing ovation. Marianne Vos continues to amaze the cycling world. The wholesaler in prizes from Babyloniënbroek is applauded by almost everyone, because – at the age of 34 – she has won the cyclo-cross world title for the eighth time.
Vos, who has already set up a series on the road that you can relate to, caused a lot of admiration with her strength test. Cycling fans and others who felt called upon praised the way in which she remained concentrated until the last centimeters in Fayetteville, USA. Any misstep could have been fatal. And then you have to stay sharp. Until the ultimate end. The swimming all-rounder Maarten van der Weijden knows all about it. The expert in the field of endurance and perseverance was full of praise for Vos.
Rutte speaks of ‘beautiful performance’
Prime Minister Mark Rutte also sympathized. He conveyed the congratulations via his Instagram account.
Altena wants to pay tribute to Marianne
Naturally, the municipality of Altena, which includes Babyloniënbroek, has also made itself heard. She is proud of her honorary citizen. “We had already wanted to pay tribute to Marianne after she became Dutch cyclo-cross champion on the road in Rucphen at the beginning of this month, but she got on the plane fairly quickly afterwards to go cycling in America. But,” says a spokesperson for the municipality. . “As soon as we have contact with Marianne, we will see what is possible in consultation with her. Of course also taking into account the current corona measures.”
Back to the game, because there was also (acidic) criticism. Was this an ideal course for a cyclocross world championship, a few wondered on social media? And shouldn’t Marianne have taken over from Lucinda Brand more often in that blood-curdling final?
‘I can’t blame myself’
Brand himself showed himself afterwards a sporty loser, writes Wielerflits: “There were moments when we wanted to force each other’s heads on each other. Then you end up at a somewhat slower pace, but there was certainly hard racing. Or am I frustrated? Frustration is not the right word. Of course I prefer to race. full house all the time, but this is also part of it. We know that about each other. We know each other very well and she knows very well how to handle it. I know that too. But yes, she has a big weapon that I don’t I did everything I could, I can’t blame myself.”
Will our cycling pride ever strike like this again? Marianne Vos’s rivals must know her tactics by now, right? After all, in much the same way, she took the rainbow jersey in the cross-métier for the first time in 2006.
Then, as an 18-year-old newcomer, she surprised Hanka Kupfernagel in Zeddam in Gelderland. At that time, the German was a champion in international cyclo-cross. The world cycling organization UCI is causing a sense of déjà vu, because the two videos that she has put on Twitter, showing Vos’s grab for power in 2006 and 2022, show a lot of similarities. As if time doesn’t matter at all.