Vos wins Pajot Hills Classic

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Marianne Vos (Rabo Liv) won her first race of her comeback season at the new UCI race Pagot Hills Classic on Wednesday. The Dutchwomen sprinted to the win ahead of US road champion Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans) and Lotta Lepisto (Cervelo Bigla).

Vos was forced to take a break last year due to a hamstring injury that she sustained at the Dutch national cyclo-cross championships at the beginning of January 2015. Rabo Liv announced last June that Vos would not return to road racing and that she had written off her 2015 goals.

Vos later described her health problems and tired feeling as a sign of over training but stated that she would return in 2016 with an eye on the Olympic Games in Rio.

Her first race this season was on March 13 at the Drentse Acht van Westerveld where she placed tenth. 

At the Pajot Hills Classic, Vos started with a team that included Anna van der Breggen, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, Shara Gillow, Thalita de Jong and Kasia Niewiadoma.

The 122.4km race was held on a 21km circuit, followed by a main loop of 56.7km, and then two final circuits of 22.3km each. There were also eight cobbled sections.

A strong lead group formed during the race that included many of the heavy-hitters including Ferrand-Prevot, Guarnier, Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle High5), Ellen Van Dijk (Boels-Dolmans), van der Breggen and Niewiadoma.

Although it looked as though the lead group would stay away to the finish, they were caught by the main group and Vos won the sprint to the line.

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