Marianne Vos - Blog Posts
📸 leon_van_bon
Today's Visma Lease-a-Bike accomplishments 💛🖤🤍
Wout secured the maillot rojo for stage 3 of the Vuelta! ❤️❤️
Wout also managed to place 2nd in the bunch sprint at the end of the second stage of La Vuelta! Not yet the win we're looking for, but he's getting close!
Marianne Vos WON the maillot vert at the Tour de France Femmes!💚💚💚 Absolutely incredible accomplishment!
Olac Kooij with his second stage win of the Tour de Pologne!! 🥇🥇
And, to finish it out, a beautiful Jonas Vingegaard - Wilco Kelderman 1-2 in the GC of the Tour de Pologne!💛💛💛
The bees are really shining right now and it's so so deserved after such a rough year💛🖤🤍
THE WOMEN IN THE TDFF JUST RACED 2 STAGES IN ONE DAY😱😱
absolute fucking badasses🔥🔥🔥
shoutout to VLAB for figuring out that the jerseys for the mens tdf were awful and no one could find them in the peloton and FIXING IT because these new jerseys are 🔥🔥🔥🔥
🎥 & 📸 via teamnlinsta
🥈MARIANNE VOS🥈 Paris 2024 Olympics - Cycling: Women's Road Race 📸 by Robin van Lonkhuijsen
MARIANNE VOS Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition 2024 📸 by Eloise Mavian (tornanti.cc)
Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition 2024 🥇 Marianne Vos (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) 🥈 Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx - Protime) 🥉 Ingvild Gåskjenn (Liv AlUla Jayco)
📸 by Rafa Gomez/Sprint Cycling
Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift 2024 📸 by Luc Claessen/Getty Images
Marianne Vos & Annemiek van Vleuten of The Netherlands after the 95th UCI Road World Championships 2022 - Women Elite Road Race a 164,3km one day race from Helensburgh to Wollongong on September 24, 2022 in Wollongong, Australia. (Photos by Tim de Waele & Alex Broadway)
La Vuelta Feminina 2025, Stage 6
La Vuelta Feminina 2025, Stage 3
We love a first Women's World Tour victory for any rider. Femke Gerritse edged out Marianne Vos to win Stage 3, she was all smiles. And honestly, we loved seeing how excited her team was for her, SD Worx-Protime needs some good vibes for morale!
2025 La Vuelta Femenina, Stage 2
Vos is still the Boss.
Critics of the Dutch team at the UCI Road race Championship have noted that Marianne Vos was one of the few riders that could have beat Lotte Kopecky in a reduced bunch sprint, and it was crazy that the Dutch team chases the break when Vos was in it. We got a glimpse of what could have been and what form Vos is in during the UCI Gravel Worlds.
Still the GOAT!!🐐
Tour de France Femmes - Stage 7
After two brutal stages, this medium-mountain stage apparently daunted enough of the teams, especially with the Alpe d'Huez on Sunday, that the GC teams took it relatively easy. So finally, we got a true breakaway stage, with both Visma Lease-a-Bike and AG Insurance-Soudal very active to secure points in the sprint and mountains classification, respectively. Marianne Vos may have had the sprint classification all-but secured, but she went in the break and took no chances, so all she needs to do tomorrow is finish in the time cut.
Meanwhile, Justine Ghekiere and her teammate Julie van de Velde drove the break hard, with van de Velde doing a lot of work on the front to keep Ghekiere in the polka-dot jersey. (When she was awarded the most aggressive rider at the end of the stage it felt quite appropriate.)
Meanwhile, behind, the peloton was have a lazy day, with neither Canyon-SRAM nor SD Worx-Protime willing to spend much energy to real in the break until the base of the final climb. That meant that the remaining members of the break kept their time gaps, and it suddenly became apparent that Ghekiere wouldn't just secure the polka-dot jersey, she was probably going to win the stage! Ghekiere said in later interviews that she was dog-tired, but pushed on and took the stage, more than a minute ahead of the GC leaders.
Finally, on the slopes of the final climb, we saw some attacks in the reduced bunch, though not initially as we might have expected. Maëva Squiban (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) was the first to launch, and she stayed away and ended up taking second on the stage. a very impressive performance, one that would have been a stage victory if Ghekiere hadn't been hunting mountains points.
Pualiena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck) was the first to attack from the bunch, and Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) tested GC leader Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) once or twice, but it settled back in a detente, with the slopes not steep enough to get separation. It wasn't until the flamme rouge that Niewiadoma attacked, and when Vollering countered, she sprinted to third place on the stage and reduced her gap to Niewiadoma by four seconds.
Obviously, everything is waiting tomorrow for the final stage finish atop Alpe d'Huez, but we have to come back for a moment and say how impressive Gheiere has been in this TdFF. We knew she was a good climber, although the Giro mountains classification wasn't the best showcase, she won the blue jersey partly due to Clara Emond's withdrawal. But we remember that last year in Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, she rode for mountains so successfully that she won GC, and earlier this year she won the mountains classification in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya in an impressive performance. Kudos to her and her team, we know riders like van de Wilde and Sarah Gigante have been riding hard for her, and it's been a great team effort.
Tour de France Femmes - Stage 6
After yesterday's crash-marred finish and with two huge mountain stages ahead of the riders, many people thought today would be a day for the breakaway. Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) was cleared to continue racing, but she and several other riders might have liked an easier day, although this was not to be restful for anyone. There were indeed breakaways, including some strong riders, but the peloton kept them all on a tight leash. (We think this photo of Blanka Vas ignoring the rest of the riders at the start taking a selfie is absolutely hilarious!)
One of the stronger breakaways formed when Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) wanted to claim some points in the mountains classification, and hunted for them in a group with Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) and Niamh Fisher-Black (SD Worx-Protime). They stayed away for a while and Ghekiere achieved her goal of taking the polka-dot jersey, but they were never given more than a couple minutes.
Marianne Vos and her Visma Lease-a-Bike teammates were very active in setting her up for the intermediate sprints, as she began clawing back points from Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich-postNL) in the green jersey classification. Vos sprinted for several and pressed on so she was in good position over the final categorized climbs, knowing she might not be able to stay with the GC group but if she could stay in contact, she could contest the spring at the stage finish.
As that trio of Brown, Fisher-Black, and Ghekiere was being brought back with about 14km to go, Cédrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit-WNT) attacked out of the group to make a solo raid near the top of the Côte des Fins, and although Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck) tried to follow, Kerbaol escaped and began a fiendishly aggressive descent into Morteau. We knew from Stage 3 that Kerbaol was in very good form when she nearly won the ITT, and today we saw that she is a very good descender. She was laying the bike over into the corners and used every bit of the road to take optimal lines. It was nerve-wracking and thrilling at the same time!
Behind, there was a bit of looking around to see who would chase. Some of the teams seemed to look at Demi Vollering , but she wasn't willing or able to lead the charge, nor should she with the yellow jersey on her wheel. Eventually the domestiques for the big teams began emptying themselves to limit Kerbaol's time gap, and local rider Juliette Labous (FDJ-Suez) led the technical descent.
Kerbaol had begun the stage in fourth on GC, and she was a real threat for the yellow jersey. For a while it seemed like she could potentially take the GC lead from Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) at the end of the stage, but the leaders got down safely and made up some time in the flatter sections. Kerbaol pushed to the line, never looking back, and took the stage win and landed herself in second place on GC.
Vos had used her own famous descending skills to get back on the GC group, after being distanced towards the top of the last climb, and then led out the sprint and easily took second on the stage ahead of Liane Lippert (Movistar), landing her in the green jersey. Vos stands a very good chance of keeping the jersey through the end, as it would be difficult for Kool to get any more points on her in mountains stages, and it is almost a mathematical impossibility for Lorena Wiebes to score more.
Kerbaol's move into second shook up the top 10 a bit, but no other major changes in GC opened up. Now we wonder how Kerbaol will do in the mountains, and whether she can hold onto her podium place. It's not an impossibility, and we do enjoy seeing a smaller team score a victory in the biggest stage race of the year, particularly a French rider on French soil. Chapeau!
Tour de France Femmes - Stage 2
Another sprint stage, a short one this time in the morning of day 2 before this evening's ITT. Only 68km from Dortrecht to Rotterdam, pancake flat, no mountains points—please forgive us if we think these sorts of stages are boring.
If you like windmills or Dutch road infrastructure, there's a lot to see in flat Dutch stages. If you don't care about traffic calming or pedestrian islands or raised crosswalks or trams or continuous sidewalks, then there really wasn't much to watch in this stage until the end.
For the better part of an hour and a half, the most interesting thing to happen were a few minor crashes in the bunch with touches of wheels, or Tashkent riders getting dropped off the back, and no one wants to see that. If you only caught the last 10km (or even 3km, to be honest) we wouldn't blame you.
Fast forward to the end, then, which certainly was exciting, a full bunch sprint after winding through narrow roads and roundabouts on the entrance to Rotterdam. The irony of the Netherlands is that the very bike paths and road furniture that make the country great for average people to bike make it a challenging place to race for the pro peloton. Most of the sprint teams got their riders through a series of turns and across several bridges safely, but crash near the front on one of the biggest bridges took Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) out of contention and split the group in half.
Team SD Worx-Protime led in the approach with Blanka Vas and Team dsm-firmenich-postNL did the same with Pfeiffer Georgi, and when the sprinters lit their candles, Charlotte Kool came up on the right-hand side, slipped past Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease-a-Bike) and slingshotted around Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) to take her second Tour de France Femmes stage in a row!
Kool and Wiebes were a couple bike lengths ahead of Vos, who was in turn a couple bike lengths ahead of Lotta Henttala (EF-Oatly-Cannondale) and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek). These are the best sprinters in the world right now, and seeing them go head-to-head almost makes the back-to-back sprint stages worth it.
More racing later today in what they are calling Stage 3.
Tour de France Femmes - Stage 1
It's finally here, the biggest stage race on the Women's World Tour calendar, le Tour de France Femmes (avec Zwift, if you prefer). This was a true sprint stage, pancake flat, with the only climb with mountain points coming over a bridge as the riders rode *up* to sea level!
In terms of excitement, it was admittedly a snoozer, with few attacks, no cross-winds, and the bunch all coming in together. Commentators were reduced to following the occasional rider coming back to the bunch from mechanical.
As the peloton wound its way into The Hague, the speed predictably picked up, with the last kilometer being raced at more than 60kph. In a chaotic finish with what seemed like a premature launch, Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich-postNL) had a phenomenal kick and won the sprint by about three bike-lengths, a fantastic result for a rider who had a rough season so far.
It does seem fitting to have a Dutch rider winning the first stage in the Netherlands, although the betting odds might have been on Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime). However, Wiebes appeared to have had a late mechanical and wasn't able to contest the sprint. The closest riders to Kool were Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno X-Mobiliy), Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), and Lotta Henttala (EF-Oatly-Cannondale), and Marianne Vos (Visma Lease-a-Bike). It's kind of fun that Team dsm-firmenich-postNL won the first stage in the Tour de France Femmes and the Tour de France Hommes (with Romain Bardet) this year.
Cristina Tonetti (Labora Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) won the "mountain" points climb over Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) and landed in the polka-dot jersey, a nice day for her and her team!
And Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Mobility) wears the white jersey, a nice reward for her second-place finish! (Strong Finnish representation in that final sprint, by the way.)
And so Charlotte Kool takes the first yellow jersey for this year's TdFF. She actually takes the green jersey as well, though she'll loan it out tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, Tuesday will see the peculiar double stage day, with a short sprint stage in the morning and a short ITT in the evening. (Pour one out for the team mechanics, they're going to be working overtime tonight and tomorrow!) These split stages are weird, we've see them in races like Baloise Ladies Tour, but not the Tour. However, the organizers wanted to keep eight stages, even though they were constrained on the calendar by the Paris Olympics, and this was the solution. Kool could keep the yellow jersey through Stage 2, but it might be a taller order to keep the jersey after the ITT on Stage 3.
Tour de France Femmes begins Monday!
After the long pause from the 2024 Paris Olympics (which has been pretty great, tbh) we finally begin the Tour de France Femmes on Monday, August 12!
We're looking at eight stages, with the riders rolling out from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where they will spend most of three days on 2.5 stages around Rotterdam. We say 2.5 stages, because Tuesday features two different stages, a short sprint stage and then an evening time trial. We don't know how we feel about these types of stages, but at least it will showcase different riders' talents.
Stage 4 on Wednesday will see the riders cross into Belgium and travel parts of the routes for Amstel Gold Race and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, including the famous hills like the Cauberg and the Cote de la Roche-aux-Faucons. And then finally, on Thursday, the Tour de France actually reaches France, and we will see increasingly mountainous stages that should determine the general classification, including finales on Le Grand-Bornand and the infamous Alp d'Huez.
As for GC, the odds-on favorite has to be defending TdFF champ Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime), who as we have said this year, is the best climber and stage-racer in the world right now. Cycling News has a great run-down for the other challengers, however, which we recommend.
It will be interesting to see how other strong teams like Canyon-SRAM and Lidl-Trek can put SD Worx under pressure. We've seen that in the Tour de Suisse and it can be done, but frankly, Vollering is so dominant right now that she might still win even if she's isolated on half the stages. She is just that good. Keep an eye on riders like Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM) or Evita Muzic (FDJ-Suez) as possible spoilers, and definitely contenders for the podium.
We honestly don't know how the fight for the points jersey will go, and we're excited to see how that plays out across the stages. Defending green jersey wearer Marianne Vos (Visma Lease-a-Bike) will want to repeat, but she'll have some serious competition from Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), who is still the fastest pure sprinter in the world and has shown she can get over the hills remarkably well. We'd love to see Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) back to winning ways after being off the bike due to injury.
We are less optimistic about the competition for the polka-dot jersey, and think it will likely be swept up by the GC winner. But that isn't always the case, like in the Giro this year, and we'd love to see some breakaway action and a non-GC rider try to hold onto that jersey.
We also expect several teams to hunt stages and keep several of the stages entertaining. EF-Oatly-Cannondale has been on a rampage this year, scooping up stages in the Vuelta Feminina and the Giro d'Italia Women, and they have the firepower to do it again with Alison Jackson, Kim Cadzow, Clara Emond, or Kristen Faulkner. Another team to watch is AG Insurance-Soudal, which has options in Tour Down Under champ Sarah Gigante, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, and Giro mountains classification winner Justine Ghekiere.
And finally, we expect to be surprised! We'd love to see a new talent announce herself on the biggest stage of the season, that's part of what we love about bike racing. This year's course is less likely to be an SD Worx show like last year (5 out of 8 stages), particularly with Lotte Kopecky not on the start list, so we are looking forward to some surprise moves and performances that will keep the racing interesting all the way to the top of Alp d'Huez!
Volta a Catalunya Feminina just wrapped up with some great performances from both veteran riders and new talents.
Stage 1 went to a sprint, and Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance-Soudal) got the better of Marianne Vos (Visma Lease-a-Bike), despite Vos' later complaint of a line change.
Stage 2 reversed fortunes, as Vos soloed away to victory, showing she can win with speed and with strength. As a bonus, her teammate Riejanne Markus took second on the stage and moved into second place on GC.
Wollaston struck back on Stage 3 and won the sprint again over Vos, but that left Vos in clear lead in the General Classification, sharing the podium with teammate Markus. Katrine Aalerud of Uno-X Mobility held on to third.
Stage 7 of La Vuelta Feminina was almost tailor-made for Marianne Vos (Visma Lease-a-Bike), an uphill drag after a long day in the cross-winds. What can we say about the greatest of all time, she knows how to get there safely and has the snap to finish. And her team controlled the breakaways, including a decently strong one spurred by Olympic champ Anna Kiesenhofer (Roland).
Vos was in good position heading into the final left-hander, right behind Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek). The group was headed by Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Cannondale), who had a nice lead-out from teammate Alison Jackson and then hammered the climb. Faulkner would take second on the stage, despite doing a lot of work on the front. Her climbing ability reminds us that she took second in the Tour de Suisse in 2022. It's nice to see such a new team like EF so active in this Vuelta.
Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) started out of position (what is going on with that team?) but closed to fourth on the stage, right behind ELB, so the GC is unchanged going into the final mountaintop stage.
Évita Muzic out-sprints Demi Vollering to win Stage 6 of La Vuelta Feminina!
Muzic's teammate Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) paced the lower slopes of La Laguna Negra climb, and after a brief pull by Marlen Reusser (SD Worx-Protime), Vollering took over on the front for the last kilometers, with Muzic in her wheel. When Vollering put in her trademark acceleration in the last kilometer, only Muzic could go with her, leaving top contenders like Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) and Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) behind. Muzic then sprinted around Vollering in the last 100m, and although Vollering responded, Muzic stayed ahead for the win.
It's nice to see Muzic stepping up, particularly since teammate Cecilie Uttrup-Ludwig has been largely absent this season. It also doesn't escape our notice that Vollering is rumored to be joining FDJ-Suez next season after leaving SD Worx-Protime. Muzic would make a very dangerous co-leader or mountain domestique for Vollering in the stage races!
Vollering extends her overall lead to second-place ELB to almost a minute, with Riejanne Markus (Visma Lease-a-Bike) about 20 seconds behind ELB. Markus has had a good race so far, and a podium place would be a really nice addition to the green sprint jersey that Marianne Vos has all but locked up.