Vos wins European off-road title   

By The Holland Times Monday 02 November 2009, 14:11

Dutch cyclist Marianne Vos has added another title to her impressive resumé. In Belgium this week Vos won the European Cyclo-Cross Championships for the second time.
 
The reigning World Champion on the road, Vos proved in the Belgian town of Hoogstraten she is equally adept at racing off-road. Vos had previously won the same title in 2005. Vos finished ahead of reigning world champion, and fellow Dutchwoman, Daphny van den Brand, with British cyclist Helen Wyman was third.

For Vos it was her second major victory of the year after her victory at Woerden, in Holland last June.

Dutch Champion Daphny van den Brand took the lead  early on, and led the race for one and a half laps. Dutch hopeful Reza Hormes had to abandon the race after a crash just a few hundred meters after the start. Marianne Vos had to start in the back of the field due to a lack of international ranking points. She quickly bridged the gap up to the front, and as more riders joined the leading group she managed to build up energy for a solo pursuit in the second lap. Van den Brand and Wyman could not match her speed and were left to battle it out for the minor places.

After the race Vos was in high spitits. "My second European title. This is beautiful, even after all my Olympic and World titles. This was my third race of the season, and my second win." "It was long, but I'd be confident that going to happen," said Fox. "It was generally a good running round with the only real obstacle a few short climbs. That suited me extremely well. These bumps I could well digest and then I could always return to my own pace. "