"The greatest of all time" - Praise lauded onto Marianne Vos after stunning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad success

Having been written off by many, with her days within the top level of women's cycling seemingly nearing its end, Marianne Vos emphatically announced she can still more than compete with the best in the world by taking a stunning victory on Saturday afternoon at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

“I think what’s stood the test of time is the belief that she’s got in herself and she’s never sat on her laurels and got complacent," said ex-pro turned analyst, Dani Rowe as part of Eurosport's coverage of the race. “That’s why we have seen a little bit of a rollercoaster as a career, as every sportsman or woman has, but the ability to come back from that is what makes her the greatest of all time.”

Outsprinting the reigning world champion, Lotte Kopecky in the finale, the 36-year-old Dutchwoman not only took a massive victory in her own career but also showed the women's peloton that Team SD Worx-Protime can be beaten. “She obviously had the surgery so there’s a big reason why but we knew she was on the start sheet today and none of us picked her, none of us really mentioned her, but then we weren’t surprised when we saw her," says Adam Blythe.

“It was like, ‘Right, Marianne is there, obviously she’s there’. She’s just incredible at being able to build herself back up and that hunger for winning. It’s very difficult for someone that’s been at the top of the game to know that the sport has moved on, it’s got harder and she’s been able to reach the peak of that again.”

“It’s so rare to have that longevity in any sport, partly because sometimes motivation wanes or your physical prowess wanes, but close to 250 wins and that’s just on the road,” added Daniel Lloyd as the praise continued to be showered onto Vos. “I’d imagine if you added up the wins of the rest of today’s peloton, they might not come to 250.”