Marianne Vos labelled as ‘greatest of all time’ as she closes in on 250th race win after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad triumph

The 36-year-old held off Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx-Protime), Elisa Longo Borghini and Shirin van Anrooij (both Lidl-Trek) to claim her 249th win on the road.

It was just the latest triumph in a glittering career and it was made all the more impressive on her debut appearance.

Speaking on The Breakaway, Rowe said: “I think what’s stood the test of time is the belief that she’s got in herself and she’s never sat on her laurels and got complacent.

“That’s why we have seen a little bit of a rollercoaster as a career, as every sportsman or woman has, but the ability to come back from that is what makes her the greatest of all time.”

Vos has shown time and time again she has been able to rise to any challenge facing here, but cycling at the highest level is increasingly a young athlete’s sport.

The Dutchwoman had major iliac surgery last year and Blythe said her ability to reset, recover and ascend back to the top of the podium at the age of 36 is “incredible”.

“It [her career] goes up and down,” Blythe said. “She was so successful in the early part of her career and then at the Tour de France Femmes when it came along two and a half years ago, she was in incredible form and sprinting really well but since then, she’s just dropped off a little bit.

“She obviously had the surgery so there’s a big reason why but we knew she was on the start sheet today and none of us picked her, none of us really mentioned her, but then we weren’t surprised when we saw her.

“It was like, ‘Right, Marianne is there, obviously she’s there’. She’s just incredible at being able to build herself back up and that hunger for winning.

“It’s very difficult for someone that’s been at the top of the game to know that the sport has moved on, it’s got harder and she’s been able to reach the peak of that again.”

Lloyd echoed those sentiments, hailing Vos as a “rare” talent, the likes of which don’t come around all too often.

“It’s so rare to have that longevity in any sport, partly because sometimes motivation wanes or your physical prowess wanes, but close to 250 wins and that’s just on the road,” Lloyd added.

“I’d imagine if you added up the wins of the rest of today’s peleton, they might not come to 250.”