The State of Women's Cycling 2012

Amber Neben

It's the end of another year in women's cycling. What a year it's been - the racing, as ever, has been first rate, just as you'd expect in a sport full of highly professional, competitive athletes spurred on by their own love for what they do rather than by their love of fat bank balances (and, if any women out there are thinking of taking up cycling as a way of becoming rich, think again. The salaries - if you're fortunate enough to get one, many "professional" female riders don't - remain a joke, as are the prize funds at most races. As an example, the winner of the men's Chrono des Nations received €5,785, the winner of the women's race at the same event received €379. The women's race was shorter at 20.87km, 43% of the 48.5km men's race; but Amber Neben's prize was equal to only 6.55% of that received by Tony Martin).

What's different now compared to where we were at this point last year? Not much, at first glance. The season got under way with the usual bad news that races were being cancelled due to organisers being unable to secure the sponsorship they needed in order to keep them going: the Tour de Languedoc Roussillon and GP Ciudad de Valladolid are two examples of races that are no longer with us (but, with luck, may reappear in future years), the Giro del Trentino Femminile was cut to two days from its usual three and even the famous Holland Ladies' Tour got into trouble with organisers announcing it might have to be cancelled until a new sponsor - the hairdressing chain with a long-standing connection to cycling, Brainwash - came onboard and saved the day. The UCI still says it's fully committed to women's cycling, but still seems unwilling to do very much: women's cycling, it claims, is insufficiently developed at present to justify greater financial input; however, it has apparently decided that rather than putting in the cash required to develop it, it will instead wait for a magical fairy to come along and start the process.

Emma Pooley

Perhaps the two biggest and most depressing stories of the year were Emma Pooley's announcement that she was considering leaving cycling, either temporarily or forever, and Rabobank's decision to pull out of the sport. Pooley, who has for some years now been one of the most prominent voices in the sport, indicated that she'd had enough of her well-thought-out and reasoned campaigns for the women to get a fair deal resulting in nothing of any consequence being done by the UCI and needed time away to concentrate on completing her PhD. Rabobank, which has enjoyed enormous public exposure from the highly successful teams it sponsors (especially the women's team, home to world number one Marianne Vos), announced it would be ending its long connection with cycling because it was no longer confident in the wake of the US Postal/Lance Armstrong investigation that the UCI was able to bring doping to an end. It would, therefore, be ending its sponsorship of both the men's and women's teams, in spite of the fact that doping is virtually non-existent in women's cycling when compared to men's cycling (it said it would, however, continue sponsoring Vos who, as the 21st Century's Eddy Merckx, is every sponsor's dream come true; Vos, being the star that she is, replied that it doesn't work like that and that she and the team come as a package).

Earlier in the year, British Cycling failed to notice that female cyclists competing at the top level of their sport are rock hard, stupendously fit athletes and, in a peculiarly Victorian way, mistook them for weak-willed delicate creatures unable to race on two consecutive days, so it tried to persuade the organisers of the Smithfield Nocturne to drop the women's criterium in order that riders wouldn't be too tired at a (British Cycling) event the following day. The thing is, the Smithfield Nocturne is massively popular event that draws thousands of fans (and generates new ones) in addition to - crucially - getting TV coverage, whereas the British Cycling race isn't. It is, therefore, simply too important to be allowed not to go ahead. Team Mule Bar Girls were first on the case and got a promise from the organisers that, provided a sufficient number of riders signed up, they'd go ahead and run the race anyway. Then, realising that they too could help, fans joined in by Tweeting, Facebooking, blogging and doing all manner of things that have required new words to be added to the English language over the last few years. The race was saved, and it didn't take very long to save it.

The Olympic Women's Road Race was watched by millions

This may yet prove to be the biggest thing that has happened in women's cycling in 2012: the rapid emergence of a new "activism meme" among fans, fueled at least in part by the unexpected success of the Women's Road Race at the Olympics which generated viewing figures far higher than anyone had hoped. We have realised that we do not have to be - and should not be - the silent partner in the riders/organisers and federations/audience triumvirate and that, as the majority of riders, directeur sportifs and race organisers are already doing all that they can, it's down to us to use collective effort to pressure federations, raise funds and get more people to races - by doing so we can help make the changes that the UCI won't, even though the millions of people that watched the Women's Road Race at the Olympics proves a potential audience exists.

Indicative that this is the case is the success of two new projects - namely the Women's Cycling Social Media Jersey and the Fan-Backed Women's Team. When the Media Jersey project began, organisers Sarah and Dan hoped to raise a few hundred dollars to award a t-shirt and a small cash sum as a prize to the rider decided by a poll (which ultimately received 4,605 votes, a fantastic response) to have done most to raise the sport's profile - within only days, it became apparent that they were going to raise enough to much more: the overall winner would receive a t-shirt and $500 and the riders decided to have done most at the Giro Toscana and the Tour de l’Ardèche and Brainwash Ladies Tour would receive $250, while the two runners-up would receive $100. Perhaps the first person to spot the emergence of this trend was Stef Wyman. Wyman is a man with a dream - he wants to see women's cycling become everything it can and should be and he wants professional female cyclists to be on equal footing, both in terms of recognition and salaries, with professional male cyclists - but he is not a dreamer: in fact, as the manager of Matrix-Prendas, the team he has built up through hard times into one of the most successful in cycling, he's about as much a realist as anyone could be. Back in September, Wyman wrote an article for Cyclismas in which he posited the idea that a fan-backed team, in which development would be driven by fans' passion for the sport rather than by sponsors' wallets, might be one way in which women's cycling could be taken forward. It was an idea that proved to have legs as strong as those on the riders in his team and he immediately began getting emails from people who were willing to get involved and provide funds; already the Fan-Backed Women's Team has grown to become more than just one team and is becoming involved with race promotion.

The general feeling is that we don't need to rely on the reluctant UCI - they're not going to help and we don't need them to do so; in the very near future, as a direct result, we might look back on 2012 as the year when women's cycling turned the corner and entered the final sprint into its glorious future. Despite the many problems still facing the sport, I'm more optimistic about the future of women's cycling than I have been at any time since I began following it, and I'm not the only one.

For an athlete's view on fan involvement, read Amber Pierce's article on the subject at Triple Crankset.

Idiocy at the Olympics does women's cycling no favours

So here we are, a week after a British rider won the world's greatest race and with cycling enjoying more popularity than ever before in Britain - and there's a major, international race going on courtesy of the Olympics. Great. Loads of people will be watching.

Which means loads of people will have just heard Chris Boardman's idiotic and destructive suggestion that the reason Jeannie Longo is still taking part in - and winning - races at the age of 54 must mean that women's cycling isn't as competitive as the men's.

Anyone who has ever watched a women's bike race will know that this is about as wrong as it's possible to be - so it's a pity that absolute morons come out with such utter tripe and discourage people who haven't seen a women's race before from doing so. It's precisely because of the smaller audiences, caused by this sort of thing, that women's cycling has difficulties in attracting sponsors and teams exist of annual budgets that wouldn't even cover the cost of the mood lighting on Sky's team buses.

Women's Cycling News

Grand Prix cycliste Gatineau to Feature World’s Best Women Cyclists - Podium Insight


Van der Geest wins cycling race - Botswana Gazette


Olympic dreams, Italian style! - Podium Cafe


Plans for Flemish-Dutch woman race - Wielerland (in Dutch)


Venus de Miles: A ride of their own - Daily Peloton


Primal/MapMyRIDE Women’s Team Tapped for Exergy Tour - Bike World News

What's with... Marianne Vos?

Marianne Vos: what's not to like? Unless you
want to beat her in a race, that is.
(© Eddy Fever CC2.0)

Marianne Vos vs. The World. More evenly matched than one would think. (Jens, Podium Cafe)

She's affable, intelligent, articulate, attractive, polite and funny - you'd have thought that it would be impossible to not like Marianne Vos, but chances are there are one or two women on the professional cycling circuit who would much rather she wasn't around. That's because she also loves to win bike races and, as one of the most talented riders of either gender the sport has ever seen, she often seems unbeatable.

The thing is, she's really far too nice to be disliked: her dismay at taking second place for the fifth time in as many years (itself a record and notable achievement - only four other women have won the Worlds silver more than once: Rosa Sels in 1960/63, Baybe Tsaune in 1968/74, Morena Tartagni in 1970/71 and the incredible Jeannie Longo in 1981/93) after winning in 2006 was obvious, but moments later she seemed content as she saw her rival Giorgia Bronzini take the top step of the podium. That's Marianne: like Jens Voigt, the rider and the person are entirely different characters - on the bike, she's pure aggression, using every available gram of strength to attack, attack some more and then attack again. Off the bike, she's the perfect ambassador for the sport which plainly means a great deal more to her than her personal results.

Early Life and Promising Results

Marianne's dismay at
taking silver for the
fifth consecutive year
at the 2011 Worlds was
obvious
(public domain)

Born in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands in 1987, Vos began her illustrious career at the age of six after developing an interest through watching her older brother Anton, training with his team though she was too young to enter official races (in 2008, when she was listed 39th among the 100th Olympic Athletes to Watch, Time  magazine reported that as a child she would ride 48km to and from school each day). She also took up inline speed skating; a sport that, when she was 14, she gave up in favour of mountain biking - using the skills she had already learned in cyclocross to become National Junior XC Mountain Biking Champion the next year. And Dutch Junior Women Road Race Champion. Oh, and she won silver in the National Time Trial championships, too. Her results remained every bit as promising the next season, 2003, when she retained her mountain bike title and once again came second in the Junior TT, beating the previous year's champion. Immediately, her name began to appear in cycling journals around the world - there was something that looked as though it might turn out to be rather special in this young Dutch girl.

Something Special
Vos' unassuming nature is well-known - noting that she was then still studying for a qualification in bio-medicine, that same Time article goes on to say that she referred to her sporting success as nothing more than "a big hobby." We all know that arrogance is among the ugliest of all human traits, but it can be fatal to downplay one's own achievements and that's a mistake to which someone with as unpretentious and humble a nature as Marianne may well have fallen victim were it not for the fact that she followed up those successes of the first couple of years by becoming nothing less than a phenomenon, winning events in a range of disciplines and rapidly building up the sort of palmares (which you can at the bottom of this page) that entire teams dream about.

Vos had been riding cyclo-cross events since her childhood, but it wasn't until 2004 that she wrote her name in unmissable muddy letters across the scene, winning a major international race at Gieten in which she beat the far more experienced riders Arenda Grimberg and Birgit Hollman; going on in the same year to defeat three-time World Cyclocross Champion Hanka Kupfernagel and nine-time Dutch champ Daphny van den Brand in a sprint finish. Then she won the National Junior MTB title for a third consecutive year, mounting a solo breakaway on a climb with five laps still to go and retaining her advantage all the way to the finish. The next season she made her mark on road racing too, crossing the line in first place in the Dutch Junior Road championshipsand adding a National Individual Time Trial bronze medal to her increasingly weighty trophy cabinet. To make sure the off-road world didn't forget who she was, she won the National Junior MTB title for an amazing fourth time too.

Vos leading Daphny van den Brand in the 2009/10 Cyclo-cross World Cup
(© Rolf van der Zwart/Blackpit Shooting CC2.0)

World Domination!
As we said earlier, off the bike Marianne is about the sweetest, gentlest, kindest person anyone could ever wish to meet (she's an official ambassador for a charity that provides services to disadvantaged young people in Sri Lanka) - but in the saddle, she transforms into a merciless Valkyrie. A rider with that attitude and, crucially, Marianne's talent to back it up, is always heading in one direction - towards becoming World Champion. That happened in 2006, the year in which nobody was left in any doubt that here was a rider of the type that comes along only once every other generation, one destined to dominate the sport. Having become Dutch National Road Champion she also won the European Road Championships, the Cyclo-cross World Championships, the Road World Championships and, in case that wasn't enough, a host of stages in various race including the Tour Féminin en Limousin in which she also took overall General Classification victory. From this point onwards, she added triumph after triumph - in 2007, the Women's Road World Cup, La Flèche Wallonne Féminine, three stages at the Giro di San Marino, two at the Emakumeen Bira (she would win the event outright the following year) and one at the Giro d'Italia Femminile; in 2008, a gold at both the Track World Championships and the Olympics, first place wins at La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and the Dutch Road Nationals; repeating the last two for 2009 and adding World Cyclo-cross gold for good measure; Dutch National TT and World Cyclo-cross gold medals again in 2010 and overall first place in the Holland Ladies' Tour and then for 2011 she became Dutch and World Cyclo-cross Champion again, in addition to winning the Ronde van Drenthe, La Flèche Wallonne Féminine, Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs, Giro d'Italia Femminile and the Holland Ladies Tour.

Vos leading Kirsten Wild
(© Eddy Fever CC2.0)

The Future
In late September 2011 Rabobank - one of the world's most trusted, successful and ethical banks who have woven professional cycling into their very corporate structure - announced that they would be taking over sponsorship of Vos' team from Nederland Bloeit, providing the financial backing required to build up one of the strongest teams cycling has ever seen around her and propel her onwards towards ever greater success. As a result, it's very, very unlikely that we'll see disappointment either in her expression or anywhere in the Netherlands when she crosses the finish line at the 2012 Worlds in Limburg. At some point during her career, cycling pundits began to compare her to "the most accomplished rider that cycling has ever known" and asked the question is Marianne Vos the female Eddy Merckx? By this time next year, the question may have changed to was Eddy Merckx the male Marianne Vos?


In January, Rabobank management announced that, as she'd won so many races over the last year, Vos was becoming bored and that to keep her interested they were considering entering her in men's races. With a VO2max of 72.8ml/kg/min and an ability to produce 6.63w/kg of power - both in excess of figures recorded by many male athletes - there's a good chance she'll be winning those races too.


Stop Press!
Within an hour of this article being published, Marianne herself sent us a message via Twitter thanking us for it. That's how nice she is. :-)


Marianne Vos Palmares (podium finishes only)
2001
1st, Harderwijk, Cyclo-cross
2nd, Erp, Cyclo-cross
2nd, Huijbergen, Cyclo-cross
3rd, Boxtel, Cyclo-cross
3rd, Woerden, Cyclo-cross 
2002
1st, National Championship, Road, Novices, The Netherlands
2nd, Surhuisterveen Centrumcross
1st, Bakel, Cyclo-cross
3rd, Pijnacker-Nootdorp, Cyclo-cross
1st, Harderwijk, Cyclo-cross
1st, Almelo, Cyclo-cross
2nd, Koppenberg, Cyclo-cross
1st, Hilversum, Cyclo-cross
2nd, Gieten, Cyclo-cross
3rd, Kalmthout, Cyclo-cross
1st, Reusel, Cyclo-cross
1st, Zeddam, Cyclo-cross
2003
2nd, Gieten, Cyclo-cross
1st, Surhuisterveen Centrumcross

(public domain image)

1st, Bakel, Cyclo-cross
1st, National Championship, Elite Cyclo-cross, The Netherlands 
1st, Vorden, Cyclo-cross
1st, Heerlen, Cyclo-cross
2nd, Pijnacker-Nootdorp, Cyclo-cross
1st, Harderwijk, Cyclo-cross
2nd, Woerden, Cyclo-cross
3rd, Torino, Cyclo-cross
2nd, Milano, Cyclo-cross
3rd, Koksijde, Cyclo-cross
2nd, Zeddam, Cyclo-cross
2004
1st Gieten, Cyclo-cross
3rd National Championship, Junior Road
1st Surhuisterveen Centrumcross
2nd Hoogerheide, Cyclo-cross
1st Pijnacker-Nootdorp, Cyclo-cross
2nd Oostmalle, Cyclo-cross
3rd National Championship, Junior ITT, The Netherlands
1st World Championship, Junior Road
1st Milano, Cyclo-cross 
3rd Kalmthout, Cyclo-cross
3rd Overijse, Cyclo-cross
2nd Reusel, Cyclo-cross
2005
2nd Oostmalle, Cyclo-cross
1st Omloop van Borsele
1st Berg en Terblijt
1st National Championship, Junior MTB XC
1st National Championship, Junior Road
2nd World Championship, Junior Road
3rd National Championship, Junior ITT
1st Harderwijk, Cyclo-cross
1st Wouden, Cyclo-cross
2nd Kalmthout, Cyclo-cross
2nd Woerden, Cyclo-cross
1st European Championship, Elite Cyclo-cross
2nd Pijnacker-Nootdorp, Cyclo-cross
2nd Frankfurt a/Main, Cyclo-cross 
1st Gieten, Cyclo-cross
2nd Milano, Cyclo-cross
2nd Overijse, Cyclo-cross
1st Loenhout, Cyclo-cross
2006
2nd Stage 3 RaboSter Zeeuwsche Eilanden
1st National Championship, Elite Road
3rd GP Gerrie Knetemann
1st Omloop van Valkenburg
1st European Championship, U-23 Road
1st Stage 1 Tour Féminin en Limousin
1st Stage 3 Tour Féminin en Limousin
1st General Classification Tour Féminin en Limousin
3rd in Acht van Chaam
1st Steenwijk 
1st Draai van de Kaai
1st Oostvoorne
1st Profronde van Pijnacker
2nd Holland Hills Classic
2nd Gouden Pijl Emmen 
2nd Stage 2 Trophée d'Or Féminin
1st Stage 4 Trophée d'Or Féminin
2nd Stage 5 Trophée d'Or Féminin
3rd Stage 6 Trophée d'Or Féminin
3nd Stage 3 Holland Ladies Tour
2nd Prologue Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile
3rd Stage 1 part a Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile
2nd Stage 1 part b Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile
3rd Stage 4 Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile
3rd General Classification Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile
1st World Championship, Elite Road
2nd Kalmthout, Cyclo-cross
1st Fourmies, Cyclo-cross
1st Hénin-Beaumont, Cyclo-cross
1st Koppenberg, Cyclo-cross
1st Treviso, Cyclo-cross
1st Vossem, Cyclo-cross
1st Gieten, Cyclo-cross
3rd European Championship, Elite Cyclo-cross
2nd Frankfurt a/Main, Cyclo-cross
2nd Veghel-Eerde, Cyclo-cross
3rd Loenhout, Cyclo-cross
2007
1st Stage 3 Giro di San Marino
1st General Classification Giro di San Marino
1st Omloop van Borsele
2nd Berner Rundfahrt
1st Stage 1 Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
1st Stage 3 Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
1st Stage 4 Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
1st Stage 7 Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
2nd Omloop Door Middag-Humsterland WE
1st Stage 2 Emakumeen Bira
1st Stage 3 Emakumeen Bira 
2nd General Classification Emakumeen Bira
1st Stage 1 RaboSter Zeeuwsche Eilanden
1st Stage 2 RaboSter Zeeuwsche Eilanden
1st General Classification RaboSter Zeeuwsche Eilanden
1st Noordwijk Classic
2nd National Championship, Elite Road
1st Stage 2 Giro d'Italia Donne
3rd Stage 5 Giro d'Italia Donne
3rd Stage 7 Giro d'Italia Donne
1st European Championship, U-23 Road 
1st Acht van Chaam 
1st Draai van de Kaai
2nd Maastricht Omnium
1st Oostvoorne
1st Holland Hills Classic
3rd Gouden Pijl Emmen
1st Stage 1 Holland Ladies Tour
1st Stage 4 Holland Ladies Tour
1st Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt
1st General Classification World Cup, Elite Road
1st Muizen-Mechelen
2nd World Championship, Elite Road
1st Beijing, Scratch
1st Beijing, Points race
1st National Championship, Elite Track, Scratch
2nd National Championship, Elite Track, Pursuit
1st National Championship, Elite Track, Points race
2008
1st Stage 1 Vuelta Ciclista Femenina a el Salvador
1st Stage 2 Vuelta Ciclista Femenina a el Salvador
1st Stage 3 Vuelta Ciclista Femenina a el Salvador
3rd Stage 5 Vuelta Ciclista Femenina a el Salvador
2nd Stage 6 Vuelta Ciclista Femenina a el Salvador
2nd General Classification Vuelta Ciclista Femenina a el Salvador
1st Prologue Vuelta a Occidente
1st Stage 1 Vuelta a Occidente
1st Stage 2 Vuelta a Occidente
1st General Classification Vuelta a Occidente
3rd Dorpenomloop Wijk en Aalburg
1st Parel van de Veluwe
1st Stage 1 Emakumeen Bira
1st Stage 2 Emakumeen Bira 
1st Stage 3 part a Emakumeen Bira
1st Stage 4 Emakumeen Bira
1st General Classification Emakumeen Bira
1st National Championship, Elite Road
1st Stage 2 Krasna Lipa Tour Féminine
3rd Stage 4 Krasna Lipa Tour Féminine
1st Stage 3 Krasna Lipa Tour Féminine
1st Olympic Games, Track, Elite Points race
3rd Stage 1 Holland Ladies Tour
2nd Stage 6 Holland Ladies Tour
3rd General Classification World Cup, Elite Road
1st Stage 2 part a Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile
2nd Stage 4 Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile
3rd in General Classification Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile
2nd World Championship, Elite Road
2nd Frankfurt a/Main, Cyclo-cross
2nd Antwerpen, Cyclo-cross
1st Zolder, Cyclo-cross
3rd Loenhout, Cyclo-cross
2009
2nd Pétange, Cyclo-cross
1st Bakel, Cyclo-cross
2nd National Championship, Elite Cyclo-cross
3rd Heerlen, Cyclo-cross
1st Pétange, Cyclo-cross
2nd Liévin, Cyclo-cross
1st World Championship, Elite Cyclo-cross
2nd Oostmalle, Cyclo-cross
1st Stage 5 Gracia - Orlova 
1st Omloop van Borsele
2nd Flevotour
2nd Lekkerkerk
1st Stage 1 Emakumeen Bira
2nd Stage 2 Emakumeen Bira 
3rd Stage 3 part b Emakumeen Bira
2nd Stage 2 RaboSter Zeeuwsche Eilanden 
2nd Pétange, Cyclo-cross
1st Antwerpen, Cyclo-cross
2nd Hoogerheide, Cyclo-cross
1st Oostmalle, Cyclo-cross
2nd Laarne
3rd Ronde van Vlaanderen
3rd Ronde van Drenthe
2nd Damesronde van Drenthe
1st Ronde van Gelderland
1st Waalse Pijl
1st Dorpenomloop Wijk en Aalburg
1st Stage 1 Giro di San Marino
1st Stage 4 Giro di San Marino
1st Stage 2 Giro di San Marino 
1st Vierdaagse van Rotterdam
2nd World Championship, Elite Cyclo-cross
1st København, Scratch
1st World Championship, Elite Track, Points race
1st Gran Prix International Dottignies
2nd Ronde van Drenthe
1st Waalse Pijl
3rd Omloop van Borsele
1st Stage 1 Gracia - Orlova
1st Stage 2 Gracia - Orlova
3rd Stage 4 Gracia - Orlova
1st Stage 3 Gracia - Orlova
1st General Classification Gracia - Orlova
2nd Omloop der Kempen
1st GP De Santa Ana
2nd Pétange, Cyclo-cross
3rd Vierdaagse van Rotterdam
1st World Championship, Elite Cyclo-cross
1st Oostmalle, Cyclo-cross
3rd GP Costa Etrusca
1st Trofeo Alfredo Binda - Comune di Cittiglio
1st Damesronde van Drenthe 
1st Waalse Pijl
2nd Omloop van Borsele
1st Stage 1 Gracia - Orlova
3rd General Classification Gracia - Orlova
2nd Berner Rundfahrt 
3rd Stage 1 Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
1st Stage 4 Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
1st Stage 7 Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
1st Stage 8 Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
3rd General Classification Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
2nd Stage 1 Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale
3rd Stage 2 Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale
1st Stage 4 Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale
3rd General Classification Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale
1st National Championship, Elite Road
3rd European Championship, U-23 ITT
3rd European Championship, U-23 Road
3rd Stage 1 Tour de Bretagne
1st Stage 1 Thüringen-Rundfahrt der Frauen
3rd Stage 2 Thüringen-Rundfahrt der Frauen
3rd Stage 4 Thüringen-Rundfahrt der Frauen
2nd General Classification Thüringen-Rundfahrt der Frauen
1st Open de Suede Vargarda
1st Holland Hills Classic
2nd GP Ouest France
2nd Stage 1 Holland Ladies Tour
3rd Stage 2 Holland Ladies Tour
3rd Stage 3 Holland Ladies Tour
2nd Stage 6 Holland Ladies Tour
1st General Classification Holland Ladies Tour
2nd Stage 3 Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile 
1st Stage 4 Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile
1st Stage 6 Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile
2nd World Championship, Elite Road
1st European Championship, Elite Cyclo-cross
2nd Nommay, Cyclo-cross
1st Koksijde, Cyclo-cross
2nd Gieten, Cyclo-cross
1st Frankfurt a/Main, Cyclo-cross
2nd Kalmthout, Cyclo-cross
1st Zolder, Cyclo-cross
2nd Loenhout, Cyclo-cross 
2010
1st Pétange, Cyclo-cross
2nd National Championship, Elite Cyclo-cross
3rd Roubaix, Cyclo-cross
1st Hoogerheide, Cyclo-cross
1st World Championship, Elite Cyclo-cross
1st General Classification Gracia - Orlova
1st Trofeo Alfredo Binda - Comune di Cittiglio
2nd Ronde van Vlaanderen 
1st Stage 1 Gracia - Orlova
2nd Stage 2 Gracia - Orlova
1st Stage 4 Gracia - Orlova
3rd Stage 3 Gracia - Orlova
1st Stage 5 Gracia - Orlova
1st GP Sankomij
3rd Prologue Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
1st Stage 8 Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
2nd Stage 9 Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
1st Points classification Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
1st Young rider classification Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin
2nd Teams classification Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin 
1st Emakumen Saria
1st Stage 1 Emakumeen Bira
1st Stage 3 part b Emakumeen Bira
3rd Stage 3 part a Emakumeen Bira
1st National Championship, Elite ITT
2nd National Championship, Elite Road
3rd Stage 2 Giro d'Italia Donne
1st Stage 5 Giro d'Italia Donne
1st Stage 6 Giro d'Italia Donne
2nd Stage 7 Giro d'Italia Donne
1st Draai van de Kaai
1st Stage 2 Route du France Féminine
1st Stage 5 Route du France Féminine
2nd GP Ouest France
2nd Stage 1 Holland Ladies Tour 
1st Stage 3 Holland Ladies Tour
2nd Stage 4 Holland Ladies Tour
2nd Stage 5 Holland Ladies Tour
2nd Stage 6 Holland Ladies Tour
1st Stage 7 Holland Ladies Tour
1st General Classification Holland Ladies Tour
2nd Stage 4 Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile
1st Stage 5 Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile
2nd Stage 6 Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile
2nd World Championship, Road, Elite
1st Melbourne, Elimination race
2nd Antwerpen, Cyclo-cross
2nd Kalmthout, Cyclo-cross
1st Loenhout, Cyclo-cross
2nd Zolder, Cyclo-cross
2011
1st Pétange, Cyclo-cross
3rd Tervuren, Cyclo-cross
1st National Championship, Elite Cyclo-cross
1st Pontchâteau, Cyclo-cross
3rd Hoogerheide, Cyclo-cross
1st World Championship, Elite Cyclo-cross
1st Valkenburg, Cyclo-cross
1st World Championship, Elite Track, Scratch
3rd Ronde van Vlaanderen 
1st Stage 1 Energiewacht Tour
1st Stage 4 Energiewacht Tour
3rd General Classification Energiewacht Tour
1st Drentse 8 van Dwingeloo
1st Ronde van Drenthe
1st Waalse Pijl
3rd Omloop van Borsele
1st GP Elsy Jacobs
1stn GP Nicolas Frantz
1st Dorpenomloop Wijk en Aalburg
1st Gooik
1st GP Ciudad de Valladolid
1st Emakumen Saria
1st Stage 1 Emakumeen Bira
1st Stage 2 Emakumeen Bira
2nd Stage 3 part b Emakumeen Bira
2nd Stage 3 part a Emakumeen Bira
1st Stage 4 Emakumeen Bira
1st General Classification Emakumeen Bira
1st Stage 1 RaboSter Zeeuwsche Eilanden
1st Stage 3 RaboSter Zeeuwsche Eilanden
1st General Classification RaboSter Zeeuwsche Eilanden
1st National Championship, Elite ITT
1st National Championship, Elite Road
1st Stage 1 Giro d'Italia Donne
1st Stage 3 Giro d'Italia Donne
2nd Stage 5 Giro d'Italia Donne
1st Stage 6 Giro d'Italia Donne
1st Stage 7 Giro d'Italia Donne
2nd Stage 8 Giro d'Italia Donne
1st Stage 9 Giro d'Italia Donne
1st General Classification Giro d'Italia Donne
3rd Stage 10 Giro d'Italia Donne
2nd Stage 1 Trophée d'Or Féminin
1st Stage 4 Trophée d'Or Féminin
3rd GP Ouest France
1st Stage 1 Holland Ladies Tour
2nd Stage 2 Holland Ladies Tour
2nd Stage 3 Holland Ladies Tour
1st Stage 5 Holland Ladies Tour
1st Stage 6 Holland Ladies Tour
1st General Classification Holland Ladies Tour
2nd World Championship, Elite Road