The Dutch coach Gerben de Knegt confirmed on Monday that Vos would miss the fourth round of the World Cup in Tabor this weekend after choosing to take a brief break in her racing programme. The Dutch squad will still boast the likes of new European champion Annemarie Worst, Denise Betsema and Lucinda Brand.
“Marianne Vos takes a short period of rest, which I think is a smart move in view of the rest of the season and the upcoming World Championships,” De Knegt said when the team was announced on Monday.
Vos has not raced since the European Championships on November 4, where she finished second in a Dutch 1-2-3. Worst took the title while Betsema finished third after being out-sprinted by Vos in the finale. Starting again in Koksijde will give Vos a three-week break.
Vos brought her highly successful road season to a close with second at the GP de Plouay at the end of August. Her 2018 road campaign saw her finish the year third in the world rankings and second in the WorldTour classification, having won all stages of the Ladies Tour of Norway on the way to victory in the overall classification, the Crescent Vargarda, the BeNe Ladies Tour and a stage of the Giro Rosa, plus a string of other podium places.
She took just a month out of racing following the GP de Plouay and began her cyclo-cross season in the United States at the opening round of the World Cup in Waterloo. She carried on her winning ways in Waterloo and won the most recent round of the World Cup in Bern. She currently leads the World Cup standings by 60 points over Sanne Cant with USA’s Kaitlin Keough in third place.
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