Tour de France Marianne Vos ends through the back door, but Visma | Lease a Bike will be proud.
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Follow us on GoogleMarianne Vos withdrew from the Tour de France Femmes during Stage 9, but the team at Visma | Lease a Bike will have been pleased with their road captain’s performance. The 39-year-old Vos was coming off an emotionally grueling spring, marked by the passing of her father, Henk. Thanks to plenty of time to rebuild, Vos was ready in time for the biggest race of the year.
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There was no explanation for Vos’s withdrawal in the final stage, but she demonstrated over the first eight days of the race that she is back at the top level. She finished third in stages 2 and 3 and, above all, made a strong impression in her new role as road captain. Vos weathered a lot of climbing, and although she didn’t win a stage, those were positive signs.
Although Vos had already raced quite a bit this year, the loss of her father played a major role during the first few months of the season. “It’s been a tough year, and you deal with it together with the people around you. Visma | Lease a Bike has helped me a great, great deal, and I’m grateful to them for that,” Vos said on the subject ahead of the Tour, in an interview with IDL Pro Cycling, among others.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot vividly described how Vos’s personal tragedy affected the entire Visma | Lease a Bike team. “When it happened, I was very sad for her and her family. There isn’t much you can do at a time like that, except give her space and let her know you’re there for her if she wants to talk. That’s also why I rode Paris-Roubaix—because I wanted to help Marianne win.”
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Marianne Vos grateful to Visma | Lease a Bike
How exactly did Vos get the space from Visma | Lease a Bike to handle everything? “They gave me the freedom and support I needed. We trust each other, but cycling is ultimately what I love most and what I enjoy doing the most. Once things had settled down a bit, I also enjoyed refocusing and seeing what was possible.”
For that reason, she raced Paris-Roubaix and the Amstel Gold Race, started in the Vuelta a España (where she had to withdraw on Day 2 due to a broken collarbone), and put in a strong performance in June with a stage win at the Tour of Catalonia. “The team made sure I could do the work I needed to do. That transition wasn’t difficult for me. But it’s still tough.”
Team manager Rutger Tijssen also spoke about how he tried to guide Vos toward the Tour de France. “For me, the person is ultimately what matters most, and first and foremost, Marianne is a person. She deserved all the space she needed to come to terms with her loss during the first part of this season,” said the Dutchman.
"She wanted to ride the Giro d’Italia (in June, ed.), although that was going to be a challenge after breaking her collarbone. However, I told her that we were going to hit the reset button and that we would give her plenty of time to refocus and rebuild. That’s what she did during the five weeks leading up to the Tour. At a time like that, the person comes before the athlete."
Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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