Marianne Vos is perhaps the best female cyclist the world has ever seen. She has had Olympic glory, world championship success and is currently dominating the women’s road racing scene. As we approach La Course by Le Tour de France, we catch up with the lady herself to find out how she feels ahead of the big event.
I still cannot describe the feeling of crossing the line at the Olympic Games in London. After many years of preparation everything fell into place on that race.
One of my proudest moments in my career so far though is La Course. I was part of the petition to have a race on the Champs Elysees on the final day of the Tour de France. I am happy that the ASO decided to give us their stage and opened their powerful doors for us to show women’s cycling to the world. It was great to achieve this with all the people who made this happen. I am sure it will be a moment that we will never forget.
Marianne Vos is a true inspiration to women’s cycling. Find out more about the world’s most influential female cyclists.
It is my dream to make cycling more accessible to women and to create a worldwide stage for women’s cycling. A stage from which the dreams of every aspiring cyclist can be launched. Young, old, fellow professionals and future talent.
La Course has already had a really positive effect on women’s cycling. A lot of people have been talking about it and the press has also stood up and taken notice. The race will be also broadcast live across the world so a lot of people will see it on television and see how exciting women’s cycling really is.
Marianne Vos proves she is Strava’s Queen of the Mountain at the Women’s Tour 2014
Every team at La Course will bring their best riders. There will be really strong riders there like Giorgia Bronzini, Kirsten Wild and Lizzie Armitstead so there will definitely be a big battle for victory.
I don’t really have any pre-race superstitions. But I always stretch. I start with this in the morning and stretch again in the evening.
An average training day starts with breakfast and a read of the papers. After that I change and head out training. My session depends on the time of year. In winter I will build on my base. So I will do long endurance rides. In summer it completely depends. It can be long endurance training, time trialling, sprint training or another effort training.
When I finish training I always eat something. After that it depends on what is on the schedule. Often I’ll have some meetings or PR stuff. Otherwise I enjoy spending time with my friends or reading a book.
If I was to give people one piece of advice it would be to enjoy everything you do, and do it with passion.
To find out more follow Marianne Vos on Twitter or Like her on Facebook. If you want more information about her training plans and race stats, you can also follow Marianne Vos on Strava.
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