What’s it like working for Marianne Vos? “Easy, because she wins.”
An unexpected Tour de France Femmes stage win for the greatest who keeps the overall lead with the help of her team-mates
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Through foothills of the Vosges Mountains and rolling vineyards of Alsace, stage six of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift ended in another victory for Marianne Vos.
The lumpy terrain was expected to be the first of three days for the general classification, but the race played out differently, a large breakaway getting up the road, those teams who missed out forced to chase or accept defeat.
Among that front group former British time trial champion Anna Henderson is one of Vos’s team mates, affording Jumbo-Visma the privilege of not chasing. The 23 year-old even put in a few attacks of her own but when they were caught she tried to help in the lead out.
“It was good, I’ve felt pretty bad all week, but I feel like everyone’s come down to my level now,” Henderson joked after exchanging embraces with team mates, including the yellow jersey clad Vos.
“I was dangling off the back of the group and I thought I could come through and maybe take one last pull but Karlijn [Swinkels] and Riejanne [Markus] did such a good job to position her, and once Marianne’s in the zone in the last kilometre you can’t really do much to help, so I bailed out.
“We wanted to keep yellow but we came here to win stages and that’s what she does.”
A good sprinter after a long day, Henderson might have had an opportunity to sprint for the win herself, but ultimately the benefited when other squads chased the break down.
“It was just to make things hard because we knew that behind Marianne is super strong in the climbs, and if you’re up the road then you can take the stage win, but of course Marianne does Marianne things.”
So what is it like to work for Marianne Vos?
“It’s pretty easy to be honest because she wins.”
Despite being a hilly day the race ended in a bunch sprint, which was not expected in the Jumbo-Visma team.
“We were expecting a breakaway or a sprint form a small group for Marianne,” explained Dutch road champion Riejanne Markus. “But UAE was not in the break and Valcar was not there, and I think they wanted to go for Persico [second on GC] so they chased and it turned into a good situation for us.”
Markus is an accomplished rider in her own right, not only is she national champion but she is a talented time trialist and decent climber. However, despite the race moving into the Vosges Mountains proper for the final two stages, six women teams make it difficult to protect her and go for stages.
“It’s really nice if you have someone like Marianne in the team, you know that every day you can go for the win and that’s a nice motivation. We need to go full gas every day for it but it’s also very nice and very motivating.”
Vos has held both the overall leader’s maillot jaune and the green points jersey since she won her first stage on day two, and some have speculated she can win the race overall. Markus thinks otherwise.
“No, I think that the upcoming days are too tough for me for Marianne as well. Normally it would be nice [to try in the mountains] but after this hard work for six days it would be quite impossible to expect something for the upcoming days.
"I think the green jersey should be a nice goal for the next days so I think will stay with her."
Sacrifice is easy when you’re winning.
Thank you for reading 10 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Owen Rogers is an experienced journalist, covering professional cycling and specialising in women's road racing. He has followed races such as the Women's Tour and Giro d'Italia Donne, live-tweeting from Women's WorldTour events as well as providing race reports, interviews, analysis and news stories. He has also worked for race teams, to provide post race reports and communications.
-
-
Marius Mayrhofer pulls off surprise win at Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
DSM rider breaks down with emotion after he crosses the finish line
By Stephen Puddicombe • Published
-
Ethan Vernon sprints to victory in final leg of the Challenge Mallorca
Brit sees off challenge from Biniam Girmay
By Stephen Puddicombe • Published
-
Jumbo-Visma DS: There are some big talents coming out of Britain
The WorldTour team sees great potential in the current crop of British riders
By Tom Davidson • Published
-
Global backers in talks over new British WorldTour team
Former management of Ribble Weldtite courting interest in new project
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
No win for Jonas Vingegaard? Cycling Weekly's bold predictions for the 2023 season
With under a fortnight until the WorldTour kicks off this year, it is time to take a look into our crystal ball
By Adam Becket • Published
-
From the World Championships to Paris-Roubaix: Cycling Weekly's wins of 2022
It is hard to look past Annemiek van Vleuten, but we tried, so here is the best win of the year, plus nine more
By Adam Becket • Published
-
From Grand Tour victories to gold medals: The nine best signings of 2022
We look back at the signings that made the biggest impacts during this year's season
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
'I remember the crowds more than anything': Tom Pidcock recalls his Alpe d'Huez Tour de France stage win
Our male rider of the year, Tom Pidcock, talks us through the highs and lows of his 2022 campaign
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Watch: Jumbo-Visma 2023 team launch
Stream the Dutch super team's presentation
By Adam Becket • Published
-
‘Current WorldTour system is killing all the smaller teams,’ says Reinardt Janse van Rensburg
South African ex-Lotto Soudal rider fears more teams could find themselves in B & B Hotels-KTM situation if the system doesn’t change
By Tom Thewlis • Published