Tour de France Femmes: ‘Incredible’ Marianne Vos is ‘up there with the men’ at reading a race after Stage 2 win

Marianne Vos’ tactics to claim victory and the yellow jersey on Stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes have drawn huge praise from Eurosport’s Breakaway team.

The Jumbo-Visma rider timed her sprint to perfection as she fended off the challenges of the likes of Elisa Balsamo (Trek–Segafredo), Maike van der Duin (Le Col-Wahoo), Silvia Persico (Valcar-Travel & Service) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) to take the win.

Watching the action for Eurosport, Adam Blythe was impressed with the way Vos overcame her rivals and suggested she could even provide a match for male racers.

“She’s so good at saving energy,” he said “And she’s so efficient on the bike, but just how vigilant she is of everything that’s going on.

“She’s so aware of a situation, she can read a race very, very well, probably better than half of the men’s… well, she’s up there with a men’s peloton like the top riders in the men’s peloton and the women.

“She’s by far the best woman I think at reading a race, and well up there with the men’s as well. She’s incredible.”

For Vos, the win was her 241st career victory and puts her in prime position to claim the first ever Tour de France Femmes.

Overall victory will see her add to a lengthy list of accolades that include European and World titles, Olympic gold and three Giro Donne crowns.

Dani Rowe believes Vos’ continued success is down to her elite mentality and studious preparation whenever she competes.

“She’s such an instinctive racer. And what I love about Marianne Vos is she never becomes complacent,” she said.

“She said at the end that she wasn’t confident that she was going to win and all she needed to do was put all the cards in place to give herself the best chance.

“She’s such an incredible bike rider and has won almost every single race that has been offered to her. And yet she’s still trying to better herself race on race.”

Dani Christmas, who was also watching for Eurosport, hailed Vos’ passion and also suggested the Dutch superstar is example for other women to follow.

She said: “As we said in commentary, it’s like every time she wins, it’s like it’s her first win.

“That she’s so passionate about it and obviously so motivated to just keep on delivering victories and yeah, an inspiration for the whole peloton.

“I think if you asked any rider in the bunch, ‘who do you look up to?’ They all say Marianne Vos and you know, that’s a very special position to be in.”

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