Marianne Vos is untouchable as crowds come out for inaugural Tour of Britain

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/may/11/marianne-vos-womens-tour-of-britain-cycling

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Marianne Vos began her season later than usual this year, but the world and Olympic champion is clearly hitting her stride now, unfortunately for her opponents in the Women's Tour of Britain. Vos's victory in the final stage in Bury St Edmunds on Sunday lunchtime was her third in succession and it came in an identically clearcut manner to her sprint wins in Clacton and Welwyn Garden City on Friday and Saturday. Not surprisingly it sealed her overall victory, but she has looked untouchable since Friday.

As in Welwyn, Giorgia Bronzini of Italy got closest in a more technical finish, but that is relative, as Vos was clearly out on her own. Behind, fourth place for Britain's Hannah Barnes confirmed that she has made the transition from being the fastest in Britain, as she was in 2013, to sprinting with the best at world level, while Lucy Garner, once again, was in the mix. As has been the pattern all through, they performed for large crowds, indicating that this experimental venture has surely been a success.

Comparisons between Eddy Merckx and Vos have been made for a while now, and they are not specious in the slightest. The Dutchwoman has the ability and the desire to win time and time again, even when it is not strictly necessary for tactical purposes. Vos took the first intermediate sprint from Emma Johansson, giving her the victory in that classification as well as the overall, while the points jersey ended up being hers as well. It is the kind of across-the-board domination that the likes of Merckx or Bernard Hinault used to achieve, but Vos also has the ability to win world titles on the track and in cyclo-cross and is no mean mountain biker. Worryingly for the opposition, she is still relatively young, with her 27th birthday falling on Tuesday.

"We knew there would be a lot of attacks today," said Vos. "I kept my eye on Emma all day. I knew it would be a fast final few kilometres and a technical finale, which is what I enjoy. The team worked really hard for me all stage so that's why I definitely wanted to go for the stage win."

Apart from on day one in Northampton, where Lizzie Armitstead tempted Vos into making her effort too early and Johansson took the stage, neither the Swede nor the London 2012 silver medallist got the better of the world champion. While Armitstead in particular tried to harry her at almost every one of the intermediate sprints carrying time bonuses in the first four days, the Yorkshirewoman's race was affected on Friday and Saturday by mechanical trouble and it ended prematurely on Sunday when her team pulled her out due to an upset stomach and a fever.

As on Saturday, the stage was marked by an aggressive ride from Emma Pooley; a four-woman escape formed around her, but it was as doomed as her efforts the day before. Another veteran of the Great Britain Beijing team, Sharon Laws, also made her mark by winning the Queen of the Mountains competition, one of the few awards not to be taken by the peerless Vos.