Marianne Vos will begin her 2019/20 cyclo-cross campaign at the Brico Cross in Essen, Belgium, on December 7, her CCC-Liv team has announced.
Vos rode what was her first full season of cyclo-cross in three years last winter, winning the overall World Cup title for the first time in her career, but is back to a reduced programme in 2019/20. It's nevertheless no small undertaking, with seven races on her provisional programme between December 7 and February 2 next year.
They include the World Cups in Namur, Belgium, on December 22, in Heusden-Zolder, also in Belgium, on Boxing Day, and the final round of the series on home turf in Hoogerheide, in the Netherlands, on January 26. Her programme is set to culminate with the World Championships in Dübendorf, Switzerland, at the start of February.
After winning the 2018/19 World Cup, the former world champion went on to take the overall title in the Women's WorldTour on the road this season.
"I chose to take a break after the end of the road season and to take the time to work towards cyclo-cross, resulting in a somewhat shorter 'cross season," Vos explained on her CCC-Liv team website.
"That may not be ideal in light of a favourable starting position, but I accept that," she added. "People who know me know that I enjoy cyclo-cross, and that I'll love getting in on the action this winter.
"In particular, after the training camp with CCC-Liv [December 9-19], more races have been scheduled with some nice, important ones," she said.
Those include the GP Brussels round of the DVV Trofee on January 5 and the Dutch national championships a week later in Rucphen.
Vos finished third at the 2019 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Bogense, Denmark, behind Belgium's Sanne Cant and Vos's Dutch compatriot Lucinda Brand. Depending on how this winter's 'cross campaign goes, Vos may yet line up as one of the favourites on February 2 in Dübendorf, where she'll try to take the eighth elite cyclo-cross world title of her career.
