Vos better than expected

Dutch rider Marianne Vos was surprised with her own strength after claiming victory at the weekend's Trofeo Alfredo Binda in Italy. The victory from a two-woman breakaway placed Vos in the UCI Women's World Cup leader's jersey.

"It was better than expected," Vos told Sportwereld.nl of her form. "The weather was very bad. We finished in the pouring rain and it was pretty cold. That was an important factor in the race and I also think it was in my advantage."

Vos has no regrets over her multi-disciplined approach to the season, saying it hasn't impacted on her performance. The Dutch rider focused on cyclo-cross racing during the European winter, leading to her UCI World Cyclo-cross Championship victory over Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany).

Vos was also pleased with her decision not to defend her UCI Track World Championship in the women's points race. The UCI Track World Championships were held in Poland at the weekend, at the same time as the World Cup round in Italy.

"If the Trofeo Alfredo Binda had gone bad I may have regretted it," she said. "Now that I've won, I thought it was really okay. It's a choice you make, you cannot compete in everything.

"Obviously it hurts when you cannot defend a world title, but I did have a title on the road [to pursue]. That counts too."

Vos will now travel to Belgium where she will preview the Ronde van Vlaanderen course, the next round of the UCI Women's World Cup, later this week.