Marriane Vos Takes Cycling Talents To Olympic Golden Level
by Justin Davis
BEIJING, Aug 18, 2008 (AFP) - Dutchwoman Marianne Vos made up for missing out on Olympic road silverware by being crowned track cycling’s points race champion after a stunning ride in the final here on Monday.
Yoanka Gonzalez of Cuba secured the silver medal with Leire Olaberria of Spain winning the bronze, both riders securing their medals on the 10th and last of the race’s intermediate sprints.
Vos, the reigning world champion in the 100-lap race, virtually sealed her first Olympic gold when she put her bike into overdrive to gain a lap on the peloton over six hard laps of riding on her own.
That gave the 21-year-old Vos a decisive 20 points, a tally of 30 and a 20-point lead over second placed Maria Luisa Calle of Colombia.
A crash early in the race which took down American Sarah Hammer, Japan’s Satomi Wadami and Trine Schmidt of Denmark caused a scare in the peloton.
And after just 20 laps Vos was trailing at the back.
But by lap 63 of the race she had recovered enough to launch an audacious bid to gain a lap on the peloton, which she achieved on lap 69.
“The crash was early in the race and after 20 laps I was already pretty beat,” said Vos, who failed to live up to her hopes of a medal in the women’s road race and time trial.
“I was just able to gain a lap at the right moment. After that I just tried to recover.”
Vos is considered something of a cycling phenomenon, having won world titles on the track, on the road and in the hybrid discipline of cyclo-cross.
In an exciting finale to the race, she simply kept watch on her rivals to make sure none of them imitated her earlier feat.
A number of attacks came and went, and while Calle and Gonzalez were consistent in searching out the points Vos simply counted down the laps.
“A couple of laps before the end I knew (she had won),” added the Dutchwoman, who was in tears as she saw her national flag hoisted above the podium.
It took until the final few laps, however, for the silver and bronze to be decided.
Gonzalez and Calle sat in joint second going into the last of the 10 sprints, where five, three, two and points are picked up by the first four riders over the line.
But Gonzalez took command at the front of the peloton to add a further five points, taking her tally to 18.
Despite sitting on 13 points, Calle’s bid for silver or bronze was far from secure.
In the event of riders finishing with the same number of points, the one who finishes ahead of the other on the final sprint takes precedence.
Olaberria had only 10 points ahead of the final sprint, but the Spaniard sprinted to second place behind Gonzalez to take her tally to 13, picking up the bronze and leaving Calle down in fourth place.
Photo by: Corvos Pro
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