World and Olympic champion details her experiences on the way to her biggest triumphs
Marianne Vos (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) was at the Brabantse Provinciehuis in s’Hertogenbosch, the city where she was born, to present her book “Op de Troon” [On the Throne - ed] last night. Rather than a full autobiography the book, which was created along with ghostwriter Rik Booltink, details her experiences in 2012 as she built towards taking the biggest victories of her career to date.
“I didn’t want to release an autobiography at the age of 25,” said the World and Olympic champion. “It’s not as if my career is over.”
Vos took her first victory in the Ronde van Vlaanderen on Sunday, filling virtually the only major gap in her extensive palmares, then followed this with a victory in a local mountainbike race in the Netherlands.
Several passages in the book are said - by Dutch sports journalist Erica Terpstra and Vos’ best friend Marlies van Hemert - to be quite touching, as the book details Vos’ journey towards her Olympic and World titles, including the self doubt that doesn’t obviously manifest itself in such an outwardly confident athlete.
2012 saw Vos win the Giro Donne and the World Cup in addition to her World and Olympic titles, but also saw her fracture a collarbone in the Holland Hills Classic, and was defeated in a race up the Mur de Huy as Evie Stevens beat her in la Flèche Wallonne.
“She didn’t totally open up at first,” explained Booltink, “but gradually Marianne loosened up and thus gives the reader a good picture of her experience during her peak year in 2012.”
The majority of the pictures included in the 240 page book are by Vos’ elder brother Anton, who now works as a professional cycling photographer as well as running his sister’s website.
“Op de Troon” will be available from Friday, currently only in Dutch.