The Dutch star Marianne Vos has extended her existing contract with Jumbo-Visma by 2 years to run until the end of the 2025 season. It adds some security to the team who rely on their star for their top results. It also puts to bed any thoughts that the 36-year-old might be considering retirement at this stage. In a season where Annemiek van Vleuten is going to call it a day, combined with a repeat of an issue with the narrowing of her pelvic artery, there was the odd whisper that we might be seeing the last of the GOAT.
It’s already been announced that Vos won’t be taking the start of the Cyclocross World Cup in Hoogerheide this season. The issue with her pelvic artery means we won’t see the current world CX champion attempt to defend her title against the young stars that have emerged this season. This contract extension was signed before the medical issue became known. In 2020, Vos also had an injury to her pelvic artery. As a result, less blood can flow to the legs. Whether the leader of Jumbo-Visma needs surgery has yet to be investigated. Ideally, there won’t be two operations but Annemiek van Vleuten has shown that it is possible to come back to the highest level after 2 of these surgeries.
Vos joined Jumbo-Visma in 2021 after the CCC-Liv team suffered a loss of title sponsorship. Her palmares in that short amount of time in the yellow and black contains the CX World Championships, 2 Giro Donne stages, 2 Tour de France Femmes stages and the green jersey in last year’s rebooted Tour.
“I still enjoy cycling a lot. I enjoy racing together and fighting for the win as a team. Women’s cycling has become so professionalised in recent years that I still discover new challenges. And also on a personal level I am still developing. I am extremely motivated to train hard to get the best out of myself.
It is nice that I can share my experience with the younger riders in the team, but at the same time I also learn from them. They make me look at certain things with different eyes. This way we keep each other fresh and sharp and together we form a strong team.”
Marianne Vos
“Marianne has an impressive track record. Her list of honours is already long, and she keeps winning races. We are confident that this will continue in the years to come. Marianne also acts as a mentor to the young riders. Not by telling them what to do or not to do, but by ‘learning by example’. She teaches the newcomers a lot about how to prepare, communicate, work together and deal with the setbacks that can come with being a top athlete. She is also of great value to us in this respect.”
Rutger Tijssen, sports technical director of Team Jumbo-Visma Women
“Since the start of our women’s team, we have gone through a lot of development, and Marianne has always been there. We will continue to develop in the coming years. We wish to inspire female cyclists and compete against the world’s best riders. It is a privilege to do this with Marianne as our figurehead.”
Esra Tromp, team manager Team Jumbo-Visma Women
