Categories: Awesome Dutch GuysBelgian AffirmationsLa Vie VelominatusRacingThe Hardmen

Ride Like a Girl: Marianne Vos

"V"os plays in the sand. Photo: Danny Zelck

While it took seven Belgians to dominate the Men’s Cyclocross World Championship race on Sunday, it only took a single Dutchwoman to dominate the women’s race. That’s seven times more dominanter, if my math is correct – which it always is.

Cyclocross fascinates me, mostly because it is completely insane. But I admit: I like the idea of combining Cycling and miniature golf. Put some canti’s on your road bike, take to the mud and woods, add some water hazards, sand traps, man-made climbs and jumps, and now you’ve got a sport for people who hate the way their faces look.

Marianne Vos took her fifth World ‘Cross Championship (a record) to further crowd here palmares with rainbow bands. She’s been World Champion in every discipline involving drop bars, many of them multiple times. She’s also won La Fleche Wallone more times than I can count (I can only count to three), National road and time trial championships, and the Giro d’Italia Femminile. She was even World Champion in Mountain Biking as a Junior. One could easily argue that “V”os is the best active cyclist in the world, bar none.

To that point, we don’t pay close enough attention to Women’s cycling. I’m as guilty as anyone; if I was going to pick the winner of a Women’s race, I’d likely pick Vos or Cooke (if she’s not broken, which she often is) or Teutenberg if the race is likely to end in a sprint, which I wouldn’t be able to tell you without first doing some research. And that pretty much exhausts my knowledge in terms of naming riders, which is disgraceful. After all, if one is to understand the great mystery, one should study all its aspects. (Yes, I just quoted Darth Sidious.)

With the ‘Cross season coming to a close, we’re ramping up to start the 2012 Velominati Super Prestige and with it, we are dragging ourselves into paying attention to Women’s Cycling: the 2012 competition will include women’s races with the points amassed counting towards the overall title.

We are also making some coding changes to the backend system in order to fix some problems which means we’re probably only introducing new problems without necessarily fixing the things that needed fixing in the first place.

We’re also adding more races like the Strada Bianca, changing the scoring model, and eliminating certain things such as free DNF swaps. Stand by for further updates and keep a weather eye on the VSP Page for the updated schedule and rules.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

Calmante says:

Feb 1 2012 at 2:41 pm

That is frickin' fantastic! I love it.
wiscot says:

Feb 1 2012 at 2:52 pm

@Bianchi Denti

Just as a counterpoint, this website is run by women.
http://bangabledudesinprocycling.com/

Wow! Those women don't mess around. Great stuff!
TheBuoy says:

Feb 1 2012 at 6:23 pm

I like fit women in lycra who go fast on two wheels ... I am not ashamed to admit that
Ron says:

Feb 2 2012 at 5:54 pm

You live in The Peoples Republic of Carrboro?

HA! I regularly route my rides through Carrboro just so I can take a mid-ride break and watch all the loonies. I sit there thinking, "Where the fuck did these people come from? Who the hell are they? While they look awesome for a Saturday run to the co-op, what the hell do they do all week? And for a living?"

One person is more outrageous than the next. It makes me feel like I'm in a commercial or a movie.
Anjin-san says:

Feb 2 2012 at 7:09 pm

@zalamanda

@frahnk, I have to say @anjin-san's point is a load of bollox, and purely based on a commercial viewpoint, which like you say is rooted in the 80"²s. However if you love watching sport like I do you'd watch anything that you'd find innerestin regardless of gender. Lindsay Vonn fizzing downhill, Anna Meares v Marianne Vos cranking on the track is just as riveting as Bauge v Bos, besides when they crash it's just as spectacular as the men's.

Actually my point is that it is human nature to watch the fastest, hardest hitting, farthest driving (golf) participants in your sport of choice. I look nothing like a ball sack - I may be ugly, but there are several pictures on this website that prove I more closely resemble an ass than a scrotum ; )
JC Belgium says:

Feb 4 2012 at 5:59 am

http://www.sporza.be/permalink/1.532048
live cyclocross 15.00 (GMT +1), Krawatencross Lille, Belgium
marko says:

Feb 4 2012 at 6:30 am

@Oli

@Calmante
Speaking for myself, I admire the aesthetics of a finely tuned athletic body as much as the next person. I just was making a comment because it's all too common in my experience for discussions on the worthiness of women's racing to end up as puerile banter about the sexiness - or lack thereof - of various competitors, which I find sad and unbecoming.
As for your comment about the money following the interest, that's definitely not always the case. Many times in sports the interest is generated through money spent on aggressive marketing and growing the sport to create the interest and, hence, the market.

Here here.
mouse says:

Feb 6 2012 at 1:22 am

@Calmante

Don't harsh my buzz.

A+1
Dude, I haven't heard that in 15 years.
Good times.
mouse says:

Feb 6 2012 at 1:50 am

@Calmante
Ive been away for a while, but now I'm back.
@Calmante, it must be said; after the hoopla of "pussiesgate", you've proven yourself as a fine addition to the fold. A man with a strong bloodline and the humour of a 15 year old boy. We have at least one thing I common. (the humour I mean)
And FWIW: me too.
roger says:

Feb 22 2013 at 5:10 pm

pretty well put. adjective - surname