Dutch star drawcard for Breakaway Tour

Dutch cycling superstar Marianne Vos will headline the Breakaway WA tour, which starts in Albany next month.

Vos, 29, will join Australian cycling great and three-time Tour de France green jersey winner Robbie McEwen as the major draw cards for the five-day event, a precursor to the Satalyst Tour of Margaret River.

Vos is considered the best rider of her generation, having won the Giro d’Italie Femminile general classification three times, including 20 individual stage wins.

She has also been named the UCI Women’s Road World Cup winner five times and has a swag of other prestigious one-day race titles to her name.

Vos also has two gold medals in the Women’s Road Race from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Games.

Her stunning career and dominance have drawn comparisons with Belgian rider and five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx, leading to the pair sharing the nickname Cannibal.

McEwen won 12 individual stages of both the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia before retiring from professional competition in 2012.

He was the first Australian rider to claim the points classification in the French race, considered the most prestigious cycling tour in the world. The race, from Sunday, November 6, to Thursday, November 10, takes in some of the south coast’s most scenic locations, including Frenchman Bay, Discovery Bay, Salmon Holes and The Gap.

The 100km first stage begins and ends in Middleton Beach.

Stage two runs for 85km around Denmark, while the remaining three stages link between Denmark, Pemberton, Manjimup and the Ferguson Valley.

Albany Cycling Club will also host a team time trial on Saturday, November 5.

World-renowned former cyclist and director Scott Sunderland will return as race director for the Margaret River tour.