Marianne Vos has lost her victory in the one-day race from the WorldTour in Sweden. The 35-year-old cyclist from Babyloniënbroek was disqualified after the finish, because she would have taken a forbidden position on the bike along the way. The victory therefore went to the French Audrey Cordon-Ragot of Trek-Segafredo.
Vos had won the sprint after 125.7 kilometers in Vargarda from her fellow refugees Cordon-Ragot and the British Pfeiffer Georgi. However, the Dutch cyclist, who won the green jersey in the Tour de France Femmes last week, appeared to have been leaning with her forearms on the handlebars and with her hands loose for a few moments. That is no longer allowed. Just before the ceremony, Vos was told by a member of the jury of the international cycling union UCI that she had been disqualified.
“It sucks, but it’s no different.”
“It sucks, but it’s no different,” said Vos about her disqualification. “When I lay in that ‘puppy paw position’, I realized after a few seconds that it was not allowed. Then I transferred to the correct position as quickly as possible. Apparently it was enough for the UCI to disqualify me. That we will have to accept it. I am disappointed because I have not benefited from it, but rules are rules.”
Vos was nevertheless happy with how the team had run the race. “It took a while to get back on track. The past week was all about recovering from the Tour. The team helped me a lot to get back into it. We were alert and were well in front.”
“Disqualification does not affect team performance.”
Sports director Carmen Small had also seen a team. “Our riders were constantly up front and did what they had to do. “I don’t think today’s disqualification does not affect the team performance.”
Vos won the WorldTour race in Sweden in 2009, 2013 and 2018. Italian Marta Bastianelli triumphed in 2019, beating Vos and Wiebes in the sprint. In the following two years, the race was not held due to the corona pandemic.
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