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Home » Top Stories » Road » Flèche Wallonne

Vos takes third Fleche win

Published: Apr. 22, 2009

Dutchwoman Marianne Vos (DSB Bank) attacked inside of 200 meters remaining on the Mur de Huy and never looked back, sprinting to her third-career victory at the La Flèche Wallonne Femenine, the fourth round of the 2009 UCI World Cup. Vos out-kicked World Cup leader Emma Johanson of Sweden for the win.

American Amber Neben (Nürnberger) was the top North American finisher in fourth place.

“I attacked at 180 meters. It’s not so far, but it’s steep so it’s far enough,” Vos said after the race. “You have to be in front of course here, and at 500 meters everyone wants to be in front. If you have an explosive sprint then you have a chance to win here. I knew I had a chance because of my sprint.”

The women’s Flèche Wallonne course is 98 kilometers long, and spins along the final loop of the men’s course. The route begins atop the Mur de Huy and features eight climbs, including the final ascent of the Mur.

With the win Vos joined Fabiana Luperini and Nicole Cooke as three-time champions in La Flèche Wallonne Feminine’s 11-year history. Vos won in 2008 and 2007. The victory is her second World Cup win of the season, the first coming at the April 13 Ronde Van Drenthe in the Netherlands.

Vos and her DSB Bank team spent most of the day on the defensive as a flurry of moves threatened to get away in the second half of the race. Also forced to defend was Johansson’s Red Sun squad. Johansson herself was forced to chase down a sizable breakaway that contained the race favorites.

“It seemed pretty quiet for the first part of the day, but once we hit the climbs the racing started,” Neben said. “We went really hard on the [Cote d Ahin]. But it was just a cat-and-mouse thing.”

The field regrouped on the run-in to Huy, and the ladies hit the base of the Mur together. Neben was first to attack, but faded in the waning meters. That’s when Vos leapt ahead for the victory.

“The Mur is not so long and it is very steep, that is why it suits me,” Vos said.

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