Marianne Vos has signed a landmark indefinite contract with Visma-Lease a Bike that will see her race for the Dutch team until she decides to retire, she announced on Saturday.
Often dubbed the "Greatest of All Time", Vos will see out the twilight of her illustrious career on her home Dutch team, having been a leader there since Jumbo-Visma formed its women's squad back in 2021 and turned pro in 2006.
The team announced the news in a video looking back at Vos' biggest moments on the team, which she described as feeling "like home." There had been speculation that Vos may be announcing her retirement, but the iconic champion of cycling from this century confirmed that she still has no intention of slowing down anytime soon.
"Surprise, no, it's the other news," said Vos in a press conference to media, including Cyclingnews. "I'm very happy to bring out the news that we have this agreement until eternity, well, at least until the end of my active career.
"That gives me the opportunity to indeed look year by year, but I'm not thinking about the end. There are many possibilities after my active career, but that's not something I'm thinking about now.
"I didn't think about quitting, and I didn't want to think about an end date, so this was the perfect agreement to just focus on now and continue with this. It also gives me rest because you don't have to think about when or what, just trying to be at your best."
It's a relatively unique contract, certainly, but not one that is too unknown to Visma-Lease a Bike, with men's rider Wout van Aert signing a similar deal for "forever" in September of 2024. It is fitting, however, that it's Vos who has signed a deal of this nature, given all she's done for the sport already.
"Actually, it's not something new in the team, we know Wout has also this kind of contract, and it was something from both sides we thought about," said Vos.
"We haven't spoken specifically about the contract, but he is around too for Amstel Gold Race. We see each other sometimes at the races or training camp, and he did just congratulate me on the agreement, so I'm very happy with it like Wout."
With no eye on retirement, even at 37 and 19 years after claiming her first road world title in Salzburg, Vos didn't want to signpost any specific races that she desperately wanted to win before she hangs up her wheel, with her focus all these years later still just on improving.
"As a team, we have some really big goals, and it's great to be a part of that," said Vos.
"I don't want to put specific winning goals or whatever, the nice thing within this team is that we look for the best opportunities and try to get the best out of ourselves - that's the main focus.
"I just want to get the best out of myself and look for where there is still room for improvement, which might sound weird, but training-wise, nutrition-wise, all these things that have developed and you see growing during the years. There are so many things you can work on."
Vos has continued to score huge wins during her time at Visma, including stages at the Giro d'Italia Women, Vuelta Femenina and Tour de France Femmes, alongside one-day successes at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Amstel Gold Race and the Gravel World Championships.
She has long campaigned for better equality in women's cycling and has been a pioneer for the multi-discipline superstars of today to follow, with 14 world titles, two Olympic gold medals, and more than 250 professional victories among her impressive achievements.
But with all eyes still on the present and near-future, Vos hasn't taken much time to look back yet at the trail she's blazed for women's cyclists of today. After all, they are the people she'll still be trying to beat until that decision finally comes to stop racing.
"I think mainly I'm not looking back so much, and of course I have fantastic memories from the past and from this team, and you take that with you," said Vos.
"But it's not something I'm thinking about a lot; mainly, I'm focusing on today and tomorrow.
"I'm very happy the team have this sort of trust and confidence in me and the relationship we have together, that's definitely more than nice."
