The Women’s WorldTour is back with the start of the Tour Down Under in Australia—but not all the sport’s biggest names are racing. Marianne Vos and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, of Team Visma – Lease a Bike, will not be racing, for different reasons.
For Vos, the past months were far from her usual winter routine of ‘cross. She spent much of her time at hospitals supporting her sick father.
Marianne Vos did something very clever to make sure she never does puppy paws again
Now, her attention is fully on the spring classics, starting with Strade Bianche on March 7, followed by Paris-Roubaix a month later, and ultimately the Tour de France Femmes. “I don’t like focusing on a single race,” Vos told NOS. “There are so many beautiful races and spring classics with different highlights. Right now, my preparation is aimed at those events, and then the Tour de France will be a major goal again.”
The multiple world champion admitted that balancing family obligations with training was difficult but necessary.
“Skipping the cross season was already something I considered at the start of last season,” she said at a training camp in Spain. “But it was also because of family health reasons—my father was in the hospital. That is where your focus goes. You want to be there for him.”
Meanwhile, PFP, last year’s Tour de France winner, has also returned rested after a period off the bike to recharge. The 33-year-old Frenchwoman plans to structure her season in three key blocks: the Spring Classics, the Tour de France, and the world championships.
The Women’s Tour Down Under kicked off with Kiwi Ally Wollaston taking Stage 1. Victoria’s Sarah van Dam, in her new Visma – Lease a Bike Kit, took fifth in the sprint. Movistar’s Olivia Baril is sitting third in the GC. The men’s Tour Down Under starts right after the women’s ends. Check back with Canadian Cycling Magazine for reports on both races, with daily stage reports.
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