Everyone wins with Marianne Vos heading up new Jumbo-Visma women’s team

Marianne Vos will be heading up a newly formed Jumbo-Visma women’s team in 2021, and that’s a landmark transfer that we should all be cheering about.

The highly decorated Dutchwoman will leave the CCC-Liv franchise where she has ridden with for 15 years to move a new home team that adds vigor and finance to women’s racing and gives the 33-year-old a platform to keep her winning for years to come.

The Jumbo-Visma women’s squad will be starting off in the continental ranks due to UCI regulations preventing a new team from heading straight into the WorldTour. Though Vos is the one standout figurehead of the squad, the Dutch outfit is likely to follow an upward trajectory, and fast.

“The goal of the team is to build the best women’s team in the world,” team manager Esra Tromp said when the Jumbo-Visma women’s team launched last month. “We will make a major contribution to women’s cycling with the knowledge and experience available within this organization.”

If one thing has stood out in the whacky 2020 men’s season, it’s that Jumbo-Visma has the backroom acumen to progress a squad from the middle of the bunch to the leader of the pack, and fast. Three or four years ago, no one would have forecasted that the then-LottoNL-Jumbo would evolve into the grand tour superteam of Primož Roglič, Wout van Aert, and Sepp Kuss.

All the knowledge and financing behind the transformation of the men’s squad will be piled into the women’s team, adding the potential for a new powerhouse in the women’s peloton alongside the likes of SD Worx, and Trek-Segafredo. The playing field will level, and the talent disperse.

“It’s nice that strength is divided over several teams,” Vos told NOS last month. “That gives better competition, and that’s good for us, and the fans.”

It’s a win for Vos, too – the brain-boxes that turned the likes of Roglič and van Aert into world-beaters will be at her disposal to keep her at the pointy end of the pack for many years to come.

Vos will be the undisputed star at Jumbo-Visma, at least until new signings come on board. Although the triple world champ hardly had a fallow season in 2020 with three wins at the Giro Rosa and top-5s in the world championships, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and La Course, a change of scene from her long-time Liv squad could give her a fresh spring in her step as she fights for her place at the top of a women’s peloton crowded with talent. That’s a tick in the box for Vos.

Jumbo-Visma has long looked to retain a Dutch core in its men’s team, and the signature of Tom Dumoulin at the start of this season came as a huge trophy to top its home contingent. Vos will likewise ensure that the women’s team has a Dutch star at the head of the squad in its debut season alongside seven younger countrywomen. That’s a win for the sponsors, a win for the home fans, and a win for team boss Richard Plugge and Co.

Have you started cheering Marianne Vos’ move to Jumbo-Visma yet? Maybe you should be.