Vos dominates in Valkenburg

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Marianne Vos (Rabobank Liv/Giant) lived up to her status as world champion and absolute favourite, winning the women's race at the first round of the World Cup cyclo-cross series with a display of classy 'cross racing.

"I have absolutely no regrets at all for extending my campaign after the road season in order to be able to ride here," Vos told NOS right after her win. "I like riding here a lot, and I like winning a lot, too."

"This course is so hard. I tried hard to maintain the same pace throughout the race and stay focused. There's not a single flat section and no time to recover."

The race started with a minute of silence in memory of Amy Dombroski. Not present in the line-up at the start was 2010-2011 World Cup winner Sanne van Paassen (Rabo Women Cycling Team), who is sidelined with leg injuries and is expected to miss most of this 'cross season.

Vos dominated on the hilly course in Valkenburg in the southern Limburg region of the Netherlands. She quickly opened a gap on the rest of the field and then used her speed, power and cycling skills to extended her lead all the way to the finish.

Behind Vos, five women fought for second place. They were US national champion Katie Compton (Trek Cyclocross Collective), French rider Christel Ferrier-Brunea (Faren Kuota) and British riders Nikki Harris (Young Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team) and Helen Wyman (Kona Factory Team).

Compton broke away from the group during the second lap, steadily riding away from her rivals. She finished 1:35 behind Vos.

The other chasers were battling for third place. An acceleration from Harris during the penultimate lap first distanced Ferrier-Bruneau and then also compatriot Wyman. Harris eventually trailed Compton by 17 seconds, holding off Wyman by 12 seconds and Ferrier-Bruneau by 19 seconds.

Logically, Vos is the first leader in the World Cup standings, but she will not defend the white jersey in the next round in Tabor, Czech Republic next week.

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