Blanka Vas, a cyclist ready to win it all

Multidisciplinary riders (those who win in road, cyclocross, MTB, and sometimes track) are in vogue: Van der Poel, Marianne Vos, Tom Pidcock, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot... And, for a few months now, everything indicates that soon another name will have to be added to that list of male and female stars: the Hungarian Kata Blanka Vas, a cyclist who arrives at the elite ready to win it all. If you don't know her yet, take note, because she shows signs of being a champion... and even aspires to the triple crown.

Kata Blanka Vas: young, but with a great track record

Born in Budapest in September 2001 (yes, she is the same age as the attacks on the Twin Towers), Kata Blanka Vas has been racing in road, MTB, and cyclocross since she was 15. And, during this time, she has grown a lot. So much so that, last year, at just 19, she finished fourth in the Road World Championship in Flanders (after Elisa Balsamo, Vos, and Niewiadoma), and in the same position in the Tokyo Olympic Games, in mountain biking (behind the trio of Swiss riders who took the medals).

In this last discipline, she was also second in the U23 World Championship in 2020 (only surpassed by the current elite circuit dominator, Loana Lecomte) and fourth in the U23 World Cup in 2021. And, on the road, in addition to accumulating 3 Hungarian national championships, she has already shown flashes of her quality: after winning a silver medal in the U23 European Championship, she entered the top 10 in the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta.

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But where this young promise has perhaps stood out the most is in cyclocross. She has been winning the Hungarian championship for 4 consecutive years and was second in the U23 World Championship in 2020, and third in 2021. And, this season, she finished second in the European Championship, behind the great Lucinda Brand, and has already won a World Cup event: the one in Overijse (in addition to making the podium in Iowa and Flamanville). However, she has a problem here called Fem Van Empel; the Dutch phenomenon, one year younger than her, is already racking up victories in the elite.

All of this, of course, has caught the attention of scouts and sponsors. Among the latter, she has just signed a contract with Red Bull, and in April of last year we learned about her signing with the Dutch team SD Worx, where she already shares a structure with cyclists of the caliber of Anna van der Breggen, Amy Pieters, or the classics specialist Chantal van den Broek-Blaak. Something that can benefit her greatly in her development, as the team wants to focus her mainly on the spring classics.

Her great ambition: the triple crown

Her coach at SD-Worx is another great multidisciplinary former cyclist: Lars Boom. And his intention is for her to continue competing in all three disciplines. Not for nothing, her role models are all versatile riders: Mathieu Van der Poel, Anna Van der Breggen, Marianne Vos (could the almost coincidence of surnames be a sign?) and, above all, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. "She is my favorite because she is a world champion in all three modalities," she declared last year in an interview with VeloNews.

A challenge that she undoubtedly already has in mind for the future, just like her idol MVdP or Tom Pidcock. For now, her goals for 2022 include facing the Cyclocross World Championship in Fayetteville (United States) on January 29, and then the spring classics. Amstel Gold Race, Fleche Wallonne, or Liège-Bastogne-Liège are on her calendar, and perhaps she can fight for some others, like Strade Bianche or Paris-Roubaix, where her all-terrain character can shine. Will she be the woman who can finally dethrone the (apparently) invincible Dutch riders?