Vos debuts on track in Beijing

The World Cup champion on the road, Dutch woman Marianne Vos, will make her debut in the World Cup track race at the Laoshan velodrome in Beijing on Friday. The 20 year-old has already won elite World Championships on the road and in cyclo-cross, but decided to skip the 'cross season this year to focus on qualifying for the Olympic Games. Vos will test her skills on the newly built Olympic velodrome in the scratch race first, and then in the points race.

Vos will also use her time in Beijing to scope out the course for the road race events, which according to her DSB Bank director Thijs Rondhuis is a priority. "That is certainly a priority," said Rondhuis to ANP. Rondhuis explained that Vos would also try to qualify in the individual pursuit, but that competition in that event would come later in the season.

"That is a big training work load," said Rondhuis. "Because the road season is so close to the track season, Marianne began her training for the pursuit later. When we have reached the technical training stage, is when she will start racing that discipline."

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The second round of the UCI Track World Cup will be another important step towards Olympic qualification after the Sydney World Cup last week, as the World Cup winners earn an automatic qualification to the Games. 376 cyclists from 69 teams and 44 countries will face off in 17 men's and women's events over three days.