Cicloweb have managed to score a really great interview with Marianne Vos. They have got her to describe in lots of detail her preparations for this season, for the Giro in particular, and to go through her day by day plans and preparation. If the Google Gnomes are playing mean games then post their gibberish and I'll try and unravel, but otherwise go and enjoy. A few points:

She lost four to five kilos last winter specifically to help her get up from the mountains. From where I don't know. She tried to do so without losing her power and acceleration.

Her performance in the Emakumeen Bira gavbe her a lot of confidence that she was doing it right. All her previous "mountain" training had been simulated in Holland.

Stage 3 to Ferrmo took a lot out of her, hence I guess the 10th place on the next day. She thought that stage was a key point and believed that Emma Pooley was disappointed by her own performance.

During the last few km of the Mortirolo stage she was thinking a lot about Carly Hibberd.

If you saw that video of her on teh ground after the chrono, well that's how she usually is. She always needs a few minutes to recover.

Next year the Olympics will be her priority and she doesn't expect to be competitive at the Giro. But she'll be back in 2013.

Doing 'cross helps her bike handling and her explosive force.

She is also thinking about taking up mountain biking again. Not in 2012 (Olympics), not in 2013 (Giro) but sometime.

There's loads more in there, so go and enjoy