Eight-time cyclocross world champion Marianne Vos will make her long-awaited return to the off-road discipline after nearly two years out, at the World Cup in Besançon on December 29.
The Royal Dutch Cycling Union (KNWU) announced Vos’ return on Monday and confirmed her performance would determine whether she’ll ride at the Cyclo-cross World Championships in Liévin, France later in the season.
Her last cyclocross appearance was at the Benidorm World Cup in January 2023 as she skipped the entire subsequent 2023-24 ‘cross season to recover from iliac artery surgery undergone in August of that year. It was the first full cyclocross campaign that Vos had missed since her injury-plagued 2015 season.
“It’s great to welcome Marianne [Vos] back to the field,’ said National coach Gerben de Knegt.
“She wants to get a taste of this discipline again in Besançon and will partly base her performance in this French race on whether she will also ride the World Championship later this season.”
It comes off the back of a stellar road campaign in 2024, which saw Vos return to her best and take wins at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Amstel Gold Race and two stages of the Vuelta. She then capped off the season with another rainbow jersey at the Gravel World Championships in Leuven.
Vos is one of 11 elite Dutch women confirmed for the French round of the cyclocross World Cup, with world champion and Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Fem van Empel also taking the start.
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Other headline names for the women’s race in Besançon include former rainbow jersey wearers Lucinda Brand and Ceylin Alvarado, with Puck Pieterse skipping this round.
In the men’s race, the biggest Dutch name is six-time and defending world champion Mathieu van der Poel, who made an impressive season debut in the cross field this past weekend with victory at the Zonhoven World Cup.
