Marianne Vos contracts Covid as she looks to focus on 2024 season

In an Instagram update posted on Wednesday 3 January, Visma-Lease a Bike's Marianne Vos has revealed that a recent bout of COVID-19 has disrupted her winter training, as she looks to make her comeback to racing in the coming months.

Vos last raced her bike in August of last year at the UCI Gravel World Series in Sweden, but more fool those who are quick to write off the Visma-Lease a Bike rider in the latter stages of her career.

Widely known as the greatest women's cyclist of all time, Vos' absence has been a result of iliac artery surgery, which much like COVID, has long plagued the Dutchwoman.

The 36-year-old was one of the firm favourites for Paris-Roubaix Femmes in 2022 - having finished runner-up to Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek) in the inaugural edition one year earlier - but a positive COVID test brought those hopes to an end just hours before the race.

Following Visma-Lease a Bike's December training camp in Tenerife, Vos has faced another bout of COVID, but the three-time world road race champion is now back on her bike and training in the team's new bright-yellow kit in Valencia.

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Vos' comeback is one of the most hotly-anticipated stories of the 2024 Women's WorldTour season, with fans hopeful of seeing the 36-year-old back to her flying best. The Dutchwoman has a palmarès that is simply unrivalled, but she will be keen to add more Grand Tour stage wins to her tally, not to mention a possible Paris-Roubaix Femmes title to avenge her 2022 withdrawal.

With a staggering 248 professional victories to her name, Vos has been at the top of the sport since the mid-2000s, but 2023 saw her struggle for form and consistency as she suffered from iliac endofibrosis.

Read more: Marianne Vos rules out cyclo-cross programme in 2023 after iliac artery surgery

The condition is often found amongst cyclists and saw Vos facing pain, a lack of power and ultimately the abrupt end to her season. Iliac artery surgery is nothing new to the Dutchwoman, who also sought to address the issue with surgery in 2020 and February 2023, but Vos is hopeful that the latest round of operations will address the issue for good.

Regardless of her recent spell with COVID, the eight-time cyclo-cross world champion had no intention of returning to the muddy fields of Belgium this winter, and had instead chosen to dedicate her entire winter towards preparing for a road return in 2024.

Visma-Lease a Bike, meanwhile, struggled in her absence over the final months of the road season and with Vos contracted to the team until the end of 2025, they will no doubt eagerly anticipate her return to winning ways.

Read more: Jumbo-Visma Team Talk: Lack of clear plan B as Marianne Vos’ powers wane

With iliac artery surgery and COVID now in Vos' rearview mirror, the 32-time Giro d'Italia Women stage winner is hard at work in Spain once more and her return will be a welcome sight in the coming months. Her first race targets of 2024 have yet to be revealed.