Eight-times cyclocross world champion Marianne Vos is not going to be participating on this yr’s battle for the rainbow jersey this weekend in Lievín, France, attributable to a slower-than-hoped-for restoration from a race harm.
The 37-year-old Dutchwoman harm one in every of her calves when she fell in the course of the Maasmechelen World Cup race on January 25. According to a Dutch Federation press launch, regardless of some enchancment, she has not but totally recovered.
“In order to not take any dangers and since this harm makes working troublesome, it was determined that Marianne will skip this World Championship,” the Federation assertion stated.
“Of course, we discover this extremely unlucky,” stated nationwide coach Gerben de Knegt. “As an eight-time world champion, we might have appreciated to see Marianne attempt for a brand new title, though we knew it will be troublesome after her fall. We want Marianne a speedy restoration!”
Vos might be changed by Aniek van Alphen for the race, the assertion added.
Even with out Vos, the Dutch girls’s line-up remains to be one of many strongest this weekend. It consists of double defending champion Fem van Empel, former rainbow jerseys Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Lucinda Brand, and a number of podium finisher Puck Pieterse.
The Netherlands at the moment boasts 14 gold medals of their nation’s palmarès within the race, 10 greater than second-placed Germany, together with the final 5 editions.
However, the lack of a star determine like Vos, who has eight gold Cyclo-cross World Championships medals – the present all-time document for a single rider in each males’s and ladies’s classes – can hardly fail to be observed, notably because the information of her withdrawal comes within the ultimate countdown to this yr’s race.
