Vos headlines Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix

Image 1 of 3

World and Olympic road race champion Marianne Vos is just one of the top elite women cyclists in the world that will line up to compete it the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix, a part of the Mayor of London's festival of cycling this weekend.

The Rabo-Liv racer will face a series of world-class athletes in what will no doubt be a heated bike race held on a flat, fast two-kilometer circuit around St James's Park on The Mall. "I am very much looking forward to the Prudential RideLondon," said Vos.

Vos, who won her 2012 Olympic gold medal in the road race on The Mall, will face Briton's own defending champion Laura Trott (Wiggle Honda) and her Italian teammate Giorgia Bronzini.

"I'm really excited to be racing at the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix again – having such a great field to compete against will be amazing. It means that this race can only get bigger," said Trott, who recently won the gold medal in the points race at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

"I peaked for the Commonwealth Games so I'm not really in the best shape to be Wiggle Honda's team leader right now; I think we'll probably ride for Giorgia Bronzini [2011 world road race champion] instead."

Briton's Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) is a strong contender for the win. She secured the silver medal in the road race at the 2012 Olympic Games and more recently won the gold medal in the road race at the Commonwealth Games. Other notable contenders will be Katie Archibald (Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International), Hannah Barnes (UnitedHealthcare) and Tiffany Cromwell (Specialized-lululemon).

Vos will be tough to beat with a track record for victories this year that includes The Women's Tour, Giro Rosa, La Course by Le Tour de France and the Sparkassen Giro World Cup.

The Dutchwoman plans to stick around and join the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 sportive on Sunday, and she offered some advice for her fellow participants.

"Being well-prepared is half the work," she said. "You don't have to do a full reconnaissance on the climb but you should be able to find out a lot of information from the internet. Try to figure out how long the climb is so you can properly gauge your effort."