Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2024, February 24, one-day classic (women's)

[Libertine Seguros]

Following orders, bit bizarre to see her on the radio heading past the flamme rouge.

Oh it wasn't so much an objective question as though she was being disobedient, just "why is that the tactic they're going for?"

I mean, Elisa has improved her sprinting no end in the last 2-3 years, but you'd still absolutely never back her head to head in a sprint against Vos or Kopecky at least until the gradient hits about 10%.

 

[JosefK]

Another trophy to find space for in the Vos trophy warehouse. Amazing race. It feels like a comeback win, somehow. Awesome.

 

[Didinho]

Win 249 on the road it appears. Insane.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Oh it wasn't so much an objective question as though she was being disobedient, just "why is that the tactic they're going for?"

I mean, Elisa has improved her sprinting no end in the last 2-3 years, but you'd still absolutely never back her head to head in a sprint against Vos or Kopecky at least until the gradient hits about 10%.

I would definitely had made ELB do the leadout. Not that I think it would have done much difference anyway. My CQ team is happy with their decision though.

 

[yaco]

No surprise to see Vos win if you watched her form in Valenciana. The surprise was this was her debut in the race.

 

[Izzyeviel]

Oh it wasn't so much an objective question as though she was being disobedient, just "why is that the tactic they're going for?"

I mean, Elisa has improved her sprinting no end in the last 2-3 years, but you'd still absolutely never back her head to head in a sprint against Vos or Kopecky at least until the gradient hits about 10%.

Regardless, if they haven't dropped Vos & Lotte by the time they reach 5km, there isn't any tactic thats going to help them.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I would definitely had made ELB do the leadout. Not that I think it would have done much difference anyway. My CQ team is happy with their decision though.

I would probably have just not led out and let Lotte and Marianne fight it out over who doesn't take it up, and see if one of them can pull an Óscar Freire. It's a slim chance but it seems at the very least a slightly less slim one than leading them out and trying to win a sprint against them.

 

[JR1012]

No surprise to see Vos win if you watched her form in Valenciana. The surprise was this was her debut in the race.

I think to do no cross in the winter was the best choice she made. 11th place at a tough mountain stage in Valenciana speaks for herself. This will porpably be not the only race where she will beat top class riders and win.

 

[Netserk]

Saw it from the Muur to the finish. Good finale. But that last km from Trek ... Ugh.

 

[Netserk]

I would probably have just not led out and let Lotte and Marianne fight it out over who doesn't take it up, and see if one of them can pull an Óscar Freire. It's a slim chance but it seems at the very least a slightly less slim one than leading them out and trying to win a sprint against them.

It was fine to pull under the kite, but after keeping a high pace she should have stopped with ~400 m to go to force the others to do a too long sprint.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

It was a shame that those crashes took a lot of riders out of contention, but I doubt the final would have been as exciting otherwise. ELB's initial attack would probably have been closed down, and then it would have been easier for SDW to control the race, although the team obviously didn't reach its absolute peak today.

 

[Lequack]

I missed Vos, she is the only one who can bring balance to the Empire. So strong today.

 

[Didinho]

Someone threw beer at her on the Muur. Shameful.

 

[theyoungest]

With Vos, Van Anrooij, De Jong, and Pieterse, 4 out of the first 8 in this race were (former) cyclocrossers. And the best crosser isn't even racing yet.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

With Vos, Van Anrooij, De Jong, and Pieterse, 4 out of the first 8 in this race were (former) cyclocrossers. And the best crosser isn't even racing yet.

Kopecky and Wiebes have dabbled in CX, too. I would love to see Kopecky give it another go one winter.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Pieterse is arguably a better MTB racer than CX racer........A discipline Vos couldn't crack; too technical and too hilly.......Having a better engine simply doesn't work in MTB unlike road/ CX.

 

[theyoungest]

Pieterse is arguably a better MTB racer than CX racer........A discipline Vos couldn't crack; too technical and too hilly.......Having a better engine simply doesn't work in MTB unlike road/ CX.

I think it's more about the kind of effort required. In MTB where you constantly have short efforts followed by recovery in the descent, that's perfect for Puck, and theoretically also for Marianne Vos. I'm sure if she had really wanted to she could have become quite good at MTB as well, but you can't do everything.