After spending her entire 2015 road season on the sidelines, Marianne Vos finally made her racing comeback at last weekend's Drentse Acht van Westerveld. Vos made it into the breakaway and scored a top 10 placing, two seconds down on the winner Leah Kirchman.
It was a strong performance for her first time back in competition but the Rabo-Liv rider admitted that she had some nerves going into the race. "I started a bit nervous in the race," she explained. "You know how it is run and in advance there was a big question about where I stood. But it was immediately quite good and suddenly I found myself back in the leading group. That gave me a kick."
Vos' race programme has not been released and she will not race at this weekend's Trofeo Alfredo Binda. The Dutchwoman says that she's trying not to focus too far down the line, but riding at the Olympics is her ultimate goal.
"I do not look ahead very far. The aim is to make it to Rio," she said. "In the coming weeks we'll see how it goes running. My program is already reasonable. Today was a test. It might not have gone well.
"To say it went well in Drenthe is an understatement. I was able to take a bigger step than I expected beforehand. That is very good news."
Van Der Breggen tops WorldTour rankings
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Anna van der Breggen (Rabo Liv) has moved to the top of the women's WorldTour rankings following the second round at the Ronde van Drenthe. She leads Ronde van Drenthe winner Chantel Blaak (Boels Dolmans) by 10 points in the latest standings, after jumping up from fifth to first place following the race.
Van der Breggen is yet to win a race but consistency has been the key for her with fifth place at the opening round at Strade Bianche and fourth place at Ronde van Drenthe. Former leader Lizzie Armitstead has dropped down to third place after she was forced to abandon Drenthe due to illness.
WorldTour rankings top 10
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#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
Header Cell - Column 3
1
Anna Van Der Breggen (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team
130
pts
2
Chantal Blaak (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam
120
Row 1 - Cell 3
3
Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam
120
Row 2 - Cell 3
4
Gracie Elvin (Aus) Orica-AIS
100
Row 3 - Cell 3
5
Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team
100
Row 4 - Cell 3
6
Trixi Worrack (Ger) Canyon SRAM Racing
85
Row 5 - Cell 3
7
Emma Johansson (Swe) Wiggle High5
85
Row 6 - Cell 3
8
Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Wiggle High5
70
Row 7 - Cell 3
9
Annemiek Van Vleuten (Ned) Orica-AIS
70
Row 8 - Cell 3
10
Lauren Kitchen (Aus) Hitec Products
65
Row 9 - Cell 3
Cervelo- Bigla, Rabo Liv and Liv Plantur confirm teams for Trofeo Alfredo Binda
The third race of the Women's WorldTour calendar is due to take place this weekend with the Trofeo Alfredo Binda and several teams have already announced their line-ups. Lizzie Armitstead is the defending champion but it is last year's third place finisher Anna van der Breggen (Rabo Liv) who will go into the race as the leader of the WorldTour rankings.
Van der Breggen will head a very strong looking Rabo Liv side that includes Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Kasia Niewiadoma. Completing their line-up will be Lucinda Brand, Thalita de Jong and Roxane Knetemann.
Recent Drentse Acht van Westerveld winner Leah Kirchman will lead the Liv-Plantur squad. She will be joined by Floortje Mackaij, Riejanna Markus, Rozanne Slik, Carlee Taylor and Molly Weaver.
Cervelo Bigla is the third team to have announced their full line-up for the one-day race. The Swiss registered team will bring Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Carmen Small, Clara Koppenburg, Gabrielle Polote-Fortin, Joelle Numainville and Lotta Lepisto.
The 2016 Trofeo Alfredo Binda will take place on Sunday, March 20.
Disappointment for Wiggle-High5 at Ronde van Drenthe
Wiggle-High5 boasted an enviable line-up going into Ronde van Drenthe, boasting two former winners in Jolien D’hoore and Emma Johansson, double world champion Giorgia Bronzini, and Elisa Longo Borghini.
However, the race ended up in disappointment when they missed the race-winning move. Without a rider in the key break, they were forced to chase hard throughout but they had missed their opportunity. Amy Pieters was their best place finisher in the end coming home in 14th almost two minutes down.
In this revealing behind the scenes video, the Wiggle-High5 team takes a candid look back on what went wrong.
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