Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio 2013

UCI Trofeo Binda highlights

24.03.2013 Official Site
Italy, One-day World Cup Road Race, 120.5km
UCI CDM

Binda wins Stage 1, Giro d'Italia 1927

Born on the 11th of August in 1902, Alfredo Binda combined excellence in one-day classics and the mountains of the stage races to become the Giro d'Italia's first star; his record of 41 stage wins not being beaten until 2003, some seventeen years after his death at the age of 83 and almost seven decades since his professional career came to an end. This race is named in his honour because he was born in Cittiglio and died there, on the 19th of July 1986.

The Trofeo Binda is one of the oldest women's races on the calendar, having first been held in 1974 when the Italian Giuseppina Micheloni was victorious; Belgian Nicole van den Broek won the following year, then Italians won every year through until 1996 after which the race was not held for two years. Frenchwoman Fany Lecourtois won in 1999, then Fabiania Luperini (who had also won in 1994) became the last Italian to win with her victory in 2000. Since then, it's been won by riders from a wide range of nations with the British doing especially well - Nicole Cooke won in 2005 and 2007, Emma Pooley in 2008 and 2011. However, as is the case in so many races, the Dutch superstar Marianne Vos has been enormously successful in recent years, dominating in much the same way that Binda dominated the Giro - she won in 2009, 2010 and 2012, now sharing the record for most wins with Maria Canins (1984, 1990, 1992). Canins, who enjoyed an extraordinarily long career (and not only in cycling; she was also National Cross Country Skiing Champion fifteen times), was 42 when she won for the final time; Vos will be near her 26th birthday when the race was run this year and there is every reason to expect her to break the record sooner or later - but it wasn't to be in 2013.

Altimetry profile - click to enlarge

We've had some Belgian and Dutch races with their typically short but painfully steep climbs already this season, but the Trofeo is the first of the mountainous European races - in it, riders face a long climb to the tiny and extremely beautiful mountain village Brinzio at 510m above sea level during the initial 62km, then four ascents of the 450m climb to Orino, the birthplace in 1905 of Battista Visconti who was third behind winner Binda on Stage 11 at the 1928 Giro, in the four 17.3km laps that finish the race. The road climbs still higher on the way out of Brinzio; the total climbing in the race is therefore greater than 2,310m - equal, give or take a few metres, to the famous Livigno Pass in Switzerland. However, the parcours includes a little bit of everything and doesn't favour any one type of rider, making it the perfect territory for an epic battle in which the outcome is far from certain.

The Parcours

Parcours map - click to enlarge

The main section/circuits format is increasingly popular in women's cycling as it both saves expenses for organisers (which can then be spent on advertising, website coverage and so on) and makes it easier for fans to see the race: rather than having to wait for a few moments' excitement as the peloton goes by - not such a problem in men's cycling, which attracts large numbers of devoted fans - spectators can pick a spot on the circuit and see the race go by several times, which is exactly what sponsors want to happen if they're going to put money into an event. This race is split into a main section of 62km and four circuits of 17.3km, all of them starting and ending at Cittiglio.

As the race set out from the Piazzale Alfredo Binda, nothing was certain except one thing - the cold, windy, wet and slippery conditions were likely to ensure a large number of riders abandoned or failed to finish in the permitted time.  The riders first took in a neutralised 6km stretch to Laveno-Mombello on the banks of Lago Maggiore where the racing got underway on the Via XXV Aprile. Much of this section was downhill, causing speeds sufficiently high to spread the peloton along the road in a long, thin ribbon and prevent early breaks as the race headed for the small climbs in the first 13.8km to Cuveglio.

After Cuveglio, the parcours headed mostly downhill for 14.6km and onto the first intermediate sprint at Luino, 28.4km into the race. The following 8.1km to Grantola is mostly flat, not really favouring any one type of rider and ending at the second intermediate sprint - thus far, the terrain had been an evenly-balanced mixture, meaning that neither climbers, sprinters nor all-rounders had yet had opportunity to gain an upper hand, with the pack still sailing along at a rate too high for breaks. It wasn't until the beginning of the first climb, 37km from the start, that a group got away - Shara Gillow (Orica-AIS), Ashleigh Moolman (Lotto-Belisol), Karol-Ann Canuel (Vienne Futuroscope) and Jessie Daams (Boels-Dolmans) put 50" between themselves and the peloton before rival teams decided they were too strong to be allowed to control the race and sent out chasers.

The road continued to climb for 9.6km after Cunardo, taking in a narrow cobbled road at Bedero Valcuvia after 43.9km, then reached the highest point of the race at Castello Cabiaglio 50.8km from the start and 507m above sea level; it's downhill for the next 11.2km to Cittiglio and the end of the main section. Now the riders headed east from Cittiglio, instead of west as they did earlier on the main section, and immediately began climbing the 0.6km to Brenta and on for the next 1.6km to Casalzuigno. The chasers had worked hard and successfully brought back the break by the time the the race turned right for the SP45 to Cuvio, begiining the climbs of 64m in 0.8km to Commachio (average gradient 8%) and then 106m in 2.2km to Orino (average gradient 4.8%) where the first riders to arrive collected GPM points. It had been expected that the climbers would attempt to take control here, but instead they stayed with the group and preserved energy for the last section of the race; then another group escaped. Elisa Longo Borghini (Hitec-UCK) went off after them, caught them and then rode straight past on her own, making a solo break. Amanda Spratt (Orica-AIS) gave chase, but the Italian had found a reserve of strength the other riders lacked and extended her lead as the finish line approached, even proving too fast for Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) and Ellen van Dijk (Specialized-Lululemon). The 21-year-old, winner of the Youth category at the Giro Donne in 2012, was alone with a comfortable advantage of 1'44" as she crossed the line to become the first Italian since 2000 to win this race, much to the delight of local fans - a splendid victory in what promises to become a glittering career.

A superb win for Elisa Longo Borghini

Johannson and van Dijk took second and third, crossing the line together 1'44" after Longo Borghini. Spratt had persisted in her efforts and took a very respectable fourth place at 1'51" before the main group led by Chantal Blaak (+2'21") arrived with Marianne Vos (Rabo) looking rather out of place in sixth - but the World Champion retains overall lead in the World Cup standings with 99 points after two competitions. Johansson is second with 85 points, van Dijk is third, also with 85 points. Longo Borghini moves into fourth place with 75 points.

Out of 160 starters, 94 did not finish.

Results

1 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Hitec Products-UCK 3h12'16" 
2 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica-AIS +01'44" 
3 Eleonora Van Dijk (Ned) Specialized-Lululemon  
4 Amanda Spratt (Aus) Orica-AIS +01'51" 
5 Chantal Blaak (Ned) TIBCO-To The Top +02'21" 
6 Marianne Vos (Ned) Rabobank Liv/Giant  
7 Annemiek Van Vleuten (Ned) Rabobank Liv/Giant  
8 Rossella Ratto (Ita) Hitec Products-UCK  
9 Anna Van Der Breggen (Ned) Sengers    
10 Carmen Small (USA) Specialized-Lululemon  
11 Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) Orica-AIS  
12 Lisa Brennauer (Ger) Specialized-Lululemon  
13 Lauren Kitchen (Aus) Wiggle-Honda  
14 Marijn De Vries (Ned) Lotto-Belisol  
15 Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Fra) Faren-Let's Go Finland Team  
16 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Orica-AIS  
17 Alena Amialiusik (Blr) BePink  
18 Adrie Visser (Ned) Boels-Dolmans    
19 Lucie Pader (Fra) France  
20 Inga Cilvinaite (Ltu) Pasta Zara-Cogeas  
21 Ana Bianca Schnitzmeier (Ger) Wiggle-Honda  
22 Jessie Daams (Bel) Boels-Dolmans    
23 Ashleigh Moolman (RSA) Lotto Belisol  
24 Tatiana Antoshina (Rus) MCipollini-Giordana  
25 Megan Guarnier (USA) Rabobank Liv/Giant  
26 Alexandra Burchenkova (Rus) RusVelo  
27 Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) MCipollini Giordana  
28 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized-Lululemon  
29 Karol-Ann Canuel (Can) Vienne Futuroscope  
30 Tetyana Ryabchenko (Ukr) Chirio Forno d'Asolo +02'28" 
31 Georgia Williams (NZl) BePink  
32 Claudia Hausler (Ger) TIBCO-To The Top  
33 Alizee Brien (Can) GSD Gestion-Kallisto  
34 Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Faren-Let's Go Finland +02'32"  
35 Maaike Polspoel (Bel) Sengers   +03'08"  
36 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Poland  
37 Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Fra) Rabobank Liv/Giant +03'12"  
38 Shara Gillow (Aus) Orica-AIS +03'38" 
39 Katarzyna Wilkos (Pol) Poland +04'07"  
40 Monika Brzezna (Pol) Poland  
41 Paulina Brzezna-Bentkowska (Pol) Poland  
42 Francesca Cauz (Ita) Top Girls Fassa Bortolo +04'18"  
43 Emily Collins (NZl) Wiggle-Honda +05'07" 
44 Mayuko Hagiwara (Jpn) Wiggle-Honda  
45 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Vaiano Fondriest +05'17" 
46 Agne Silinyte (Ltu) Pasta Zara-Cogeas  
47 Rozanne Slik (Ned) Netherlands  
48 Liisi Rist (Est) S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox  
49 Ursa Pintar (Slo) Slovenia  
50 Katazina Sosna (Ltu) Vaiano Fondriest  
51 Joanne Hogan (Aus) Bizkaia-Durango +05'22"  
52 Alexia Muffat (Fra) France +05'23"
53 Rossella Callovi (Ita) Pasta Zara-Cogeas +05'29" 
54 Martina Ruzickova (Cze) Pasta Zara-Cogeas  
55 Willeke Knol (Ned) Argos-Shimano  
56 Christine Majerus (Lux) Sengers  
57 Elodie Hegoburu (Fra) France +05'37"  
58 Amelie Rivat (Fra) Vienne Futuroscope  
59 Sophie De Baer (Ned) Netherlands  
60 Valentina Carretta (Ita) MCipollini-Giordana +05'40"  
61 Anna Sanchis Chafer (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango  
62 Simona Frapporti (Ita) BePink  
63 Gracie Elvin (Aus) Orica-AIS  
64 Julia Soek (Ned) Sengers +05'59"  
65 Noemi Cantele (Ita) BePink +06'08"  
66 Aizhan Zhaparova (Rus) RusVelo +06'20" 
DNF Lucinda Brand (Ned) Rabobank Liv/Giant  
DNF Roxane Knetemann (Ned) Rabobank Liv/Giant  
DNF Katie Colclough (GBr) Specialized-Lululemon  
DNF Cecilie Gotaas Johnsen (Nor) Hitec Products-UCK  
DNF Rachel Neylan (Aus) Hitec Products-UCK  
DNF Emilia Fahlin (Swe) Hitec Products-UCK  
DNF Giada Borgato (Ita) Pasta Zara-Cogeas  
DNF Silvija Latozaite (Ltu) Pasta Zara-Cogeas  
DNF Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels-Dolmans  
DNF Martine Bras (Ned) Boels-Dolmans    
DNF Marieke Van Wanroij (Ned) Boels-Dolmans  
DNF Emma Trott (GBr) Boels-Dolmans  
DNF Elena Kuchinskaya (Rus) RusVelo  
DNF Maria Mishina (Rus) RusVelo  
DNF Elena Bocharnikova (Rus) RusVelo  
DNF Kozonchuk Oxana (Rus) RusVelo  
DNF Sara Grifi (Ita) MCipollini-Giordana  
DNF Valentina Scandolara (Ita) MCipollini-Giordana  
DNF Marta Tagliaferro (Ita) MCipollini-Giordana  
DNF Silvia Valsecchi (Ita) BePink  
DNF Dalia Muccioli (Ita) BePink  
DNF Ella Michal (Isr) Lotto-Belisol  
DNF Carlee Taylor (Aus) Lotto-Belisol  
DNF Celine Van Severen (Bel) Lotto-Belisol  
DNF Charlotte Becker (Ger) Argos-Shimano  
DNF Lucy Gerner (GBr) Argos-Shimano  
DNF Elke Gebhardt (Ger) Argos-Shimano  
DNF Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Wiggle-Honda  
DNF Beatrice Bartelloni (Ita) Wiggle-Honda  
DNF Evelyn Arys (Bel) Sengers  
DNF Sofie De Vuyst (Bel) Sengers  
DNF Jasmin Glaesser (Can) TIBCO-To The Top  
DNF Rushlee Buchanan (NZl) TIBCO-To The Top  
DNF Shelley Olds (USA) TIBCO-To The Top  
DNF Samantha Schneider (USA) TIBCO-To The Top  
DNF Marta Bastianelli (Ita) Faren-Let's Go Finland  
DNF Elena Cecchini (Ita) Faren-Let's Go Finland  
DNF Sara Mustonen (Swe) Faren-Let's Go Finland    
DNF Patricia Schwager (Swi) Faren-Let's Go Finland  
DNF Edwige Pitel (Fra) S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox  
DNF Katsiaryna Barazna (Blr) S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox  
DNF Mireia Epelde Bikendi (Spa) S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox  
DNF Gloria Boldrini (Ita) S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox  
DNF Azzurra D'Intino (Ita) S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox  
DNF Anna Trevisi (Ita) Vaiano Fondriest  
DNF Valentina Bastianelli (Ita) Vaiano Fondriest  
DNF Alessandra D'Ettore (Ita) Vaiano Fondriest  
DNF Aleksandra Sosenko (Ltu) Vaiano Fondriest  
DNF Sarah Lena Hofmann (Ger) Team Polaris  
DNF Mascha Pijnenborg (Ned) Team Polaris  
DNF Janine Van Der Meer (Ned) Team Polaris  
DNF Aurore Verhoeven (Fra) Team Polaris  
DNF Katarzyna Pawlowska (Pol) GSD Gestion-Kallisto  
DNF Mayra Del Rocio Rocha (Mex) GSD Gestion-Kallisto  
DNF Lina Kristin Schink (Ger) GSD Gestion-Kallisto  
DNF Charlene Delev (Ger) GSD Gestion-Kallisto  
DNF Jessica Allen (Aus) Vienne Futuroscope  
DNF Oriane Chaumet (Fra) Vienne Futuroscope  
DNF Audrey Cordon (Fra) Vienne Futuroscope  
DNF Manon Souyris (Fra) Vienne Futuroscope  
DNF Lilibeth Chacon Garcia (Ven) Bizkaia-Durango  
DNF Dorleta Eskamendi Gil (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango  
DNF Mayalen Noriega (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango  
DNF Ane Santesteban Gozales (Spa) Bizkaia-Durango  
DNF Daniela Gass (Ger) Squadra Scappatella  
DNF Larissa Ratkic (Aut) Squadra Scappatella  
DNF Christina Perchtold (Aut) Squadra Scappatella  
DNF Julia Hilber (Aut) Squadra Scappatella  
DNF Elena Berlato (Ita) Top Girls Fassa Bortolo  
DNF Jennifer Fiori (Ita) Top Girls Fassa Bortolo  
DNF Irene Bitto (Ita) Top Girls Fassa Bortolo  
DNF Francesca Stefani (Ita) Top Girls Fassa Bortolo  
DNF Elena Valentini - Top Girls Fassa Bortolo  
DNF Marina Lari (Ita) Servetto Footon  
DNF Maria Cristina Nisi (Ita) Servetto Footon  
DNF Corinna Defile' (Ita) Servetto Footon  
DNF Veronica Cornolti (Ita) Servetto Footon  
DNF Simona Bortolotti (Ita) Servetto Footon  
DNF Roberta Tasca (Ita) Servetto Footon  
DNF Uenia Fernandes Da Souza (Bra) Chirio Forno d'Asolo  
DNF Egle Zablockyte (Ltu) Chirio Forno d'Asolo  
DNF Elena Sitsko (Blr) Chirio Forno d'Asolo  
DNF Julia Martisova (Rus) Chirio Forno d'Asolo  
DNF Jessica Uebelhart (Swi) Chirio Forno d'Asolo  
DNF Charlotte Lenting (Ned) Netherlands  
DNF Winanda Spoor (Ned) Netherlands  
DNF Melanie Bravard (Fra) France  
DNF Eva Mottet (Fra) France  
DNF Ludivine Loze (Fra) France  
DNF Polona Batagelj (Slo) Slovenia  
DNF Alenka Novak (Slo) Slovenia  
DNF Ajda Opeka (Slo) Slovenia  
DNF Spela Kern (Slo) Slovenia  
DNF Urska Kalan (Slo) Slovenia

Cholet Payes de Loire 2013

17.03.2013 Official Site
France, One-day Road Race, 116km
Coupe de France Dames (French Women's Cup)
UCI 1.2

Cycling in the sport's heartlands - Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy - is now well under way, each nation having had at least one race to start off the new season. However, as far as many people are concerned cycling's spiritual home will always be France, and the season cannot truly be said to have begun until the French racing scene emerges from hibernation. That happens now, and the first race is the Cholet Payes de Loire.

2012 winner Audrey Cordon returns with her
Vienne Futuroscope team

The race is given added importance by being the first round of the Coupe de France Dames (the others are the Prix de la Ville du Mont Pujols in April, the GP Feminin'Ain D'Yzernore and the GP de Plumelec-Morbihan in June and the Classic Feminine Vienne Poitou-Charentes in June) and, as such, is hotly contested by French riders who have won seven of the eight editions; though it's open to foreign riders too with Scandinavians doing especially well in recent years - in 2011, Swedish Emma Johansson (participating this year as part of a Swedish national team rather than with her trade team Orica-AIS) became the first foreigner to win while Sara Mustonen (also Swedish and also on the Swedish national team this year) was third, and Emilie Moberg of Norway was third behind French first and second Audrey Cordon and Pascale Jeuland in 2012.

Click to enlarge

The Parcours

The race uses a road circuit, a format that suits women's cycling as it offers fans a chance to see the peloton go by four times - men's cycling has a sufficiently devoted following for fans to wait along the parcours for only one glimpse; women's cycling unfortunately does not at present and so organisers use this format to attract more spectators, making the race better value for money as far as the all-important sponsors are concerned.

Cholet, an attractive city of around 55,000 people, has been inhabited for a very long time, as is made evident by the numerous Neolithic menhirs and megaliths (standing stones) to be found nearby, one of which - the Menhir de la Garde, taking its name from La Garde where it originally stood - now stands in the Jardin du Mail where it can easily be visited. Like other megaliths in Brittany, Great Britain and elsewhere, nobody yet knows what it was for, with archaelogists' theories ranging from cattle-scratching posts to tribal territory markers to ceremonial objects and non-academic theories ranging from sensible to the bizarre. The city grew rich due to its weaving industry from the 16th century onwards and thus has a large number of grand monuments from that time onwards. It would experience tough times as a result of the textile industry's decline and from geographical isolation in the 1950s, causing many young people to move away in search of employment and the population remains older than average to this day; fortunately tourism and other new industries have begun to bring back wealth and Cholet is in better shape today than it has been for some time. It was declared French City of Sport in 1972 and 2007 and several roads have been named after prominent athletes, among them 1947 Tour de France winner Jean Robic and tragic local hero Jacques Champion, killed in an accident just as he began to attract the attention of professional teams.

The race begins at the Pont De Lattre De Tassigny with a 0.5km neutralised start ending at the where the route crosses the Bd. de la Victoire and becomes the Av. Anatole Manceau, a wide and straight road likely to encourage a fast start; it then continues south to a large roundabout and straight on to become the Av. de la Toussalle/D258 leading out of the city and over the A87 motorway to Les Loges. Once out of the city, the riders are immediately at the mercy of wind and rain blowing in from the Atlantic - the region experiences around 170 days of rain every year, and the wind can be harsh. If so, the peloton may split up, in which case riders may try to take advantage of the disarray by launching early attacks.

Altimetry profile - click to enlarge

At Les Loges, the D258 continues south-west through the rolling countryside towards La Tessoualle. o.5km from Les Loges, the roads begins to climb, imperceptibly at first but then more steeply once La Tessoualle is reached. Just past the first houses on the right, the riders turn right onto the Rue du Côteau where the road becomes much steeper for the first 0.5km past the little bungalows on the left. The average gradient before the crossing with the Rue Saint-Joseph, where the road becomes the Rue du Président Pompidou, is around 4% but for a very short section it rises to 14% - just enough for an attack and, perhaps, a break. The terrain continues to rise, less steeply, to a right turn opposite a sports field. This turn leads onto the D157 heading west, meaning that any side winds from the right experienced thus far now become head winds - the unsheltered road continues to climb through open countryside for 2.55km and precisely the sort of route that many cyclists hate most in wind and rain. It ends, after another right turn, at Le Puy-St-Bonnet; just before the final stretch into the village stands a little chapel, Notre-Dame du Chêne-Rond, on the right of the road, then the last few hundred metres turn steeply downhill. Any riders who dropped off the back of the peloton on the climb or in the wind have an opportunity to build up speed and reduce their disadvantage here, but the road is smooth enough to become slippery in rain - not a good place at all to lose control due to a puncture.

The race enters le Puy along the Rue Notre-Dame through a residential area; large numbers of parked cars mean that oil and fuel spillages are an extra hazard especially on the bends. Having now ridden 9.5km from the start, the riders turn right at a roundabout onto the Rue Nationale/D752 and head north for 0.44km to a tight left onto the much narrower Rue Jeanne d'Arc, passing between two little roadside shrines on the corner. The one on the left is heavily influenced by those menhirs, being made of rather pagan-looking slabs of granite with a little bit of more church-like carving stuck on top - it makes for an attractive effect, but the riders won't be looking at it because they'll need to give their full attention to readjusting positions as the peloton squeezes itself into the narrower road.

Rue Jeanne d'Arc carries the race to the western edge of Le Puy, then becomes first the Imp. du Bosquet and then the Rue des Ruisseaux as it heads downhill over the A87 motorway and on through open country to La Renardiere, where it crosses the D160 just before arriving at St-Christophe-du-Bois 14.4km from the start. Just before reaching the town itself, the route reaches an industrial area on the south-east, where the riders turn right onto the Rue du Parc. This is another hazardous spot, being a wider road into a narrower road as well as being susceptible to oil and diesel spillages from trucks and vans entering and exiting the industrial area. After 0.63km, the road ends at a left turn onto the wider Rue de la Liberation/D202, leading almost immediately to a level crossing over railway tracks prior to a right turn onto the Rue de la Promenade. This is rapidly followed by a right onto the Rue Saint Maurille, another difficult corner with a poor-quality road surface, then the road heads north into the countryside.

Cholet

The route immediately after St-Christophe climbs gently until 18km from the start, then begins to descend on the approach to La Senguiniere where, at a roundabout, the race turns left onto the Rue du Bocage and passes one small roundabout, then a large one before turning right onto the Av. de Nantes/D753 which continues for 0.66km to a tight left turn by a bar onto the Rue de la Paix. After passing round a right-hand bend, the road becomes the Rue de Paradis; then, after a fork, the Rue Louis et Alcine Brouillet which climbs north-east past a sports ground to a roundabout, maximum gradient approximately 5.7%. At the roundabout the riders continue straight ahead on a bridge over the E62 motorway to join the Rue Eiffel. They pass one roundabout, then turn right at the next to head east through countryside on the D158, turning right again onto a much narrower country road 1.6km from the last roundabout. This road leads south to a left turn onto the wide Av. des Trois Provinces which, after 25.1km from the beginning of the race, arrives back at Cholet.

At another roundabout on the western edge of Cholet, the race continues straight ahead onto the Av. de Nantes, then turns right after 0.5km for the Rue Saint-Rémy. 0.12km later they turn right again onto the Rue Saint-Eloi, a corner made technical by the down hill slope and poor road surface, followed by a left onto the Rue Saint-Roch 0.32km later - this should be less hazardous than the last corner but, being in a residential area, there's a risk of oily patches left on the road by parked cars. It leads almost immediately to a roundabout; riders continue ahead on the Rue de Saint-Melanie for 0.77km, then turn right onto the Av. Francis Bouet and arrive seconds later at a much larger roundabout known as the Place Mauriac. They go straight ahead once more, finding themselves on the Av. des Cordeliers as it leads east along the northern bank of the river to the Av. de l'Abreuvoir for a short distance before the road forks. The riders keep right, now heading south on the Av. Maudet (called the Place du 8 May 1945 on the organisers' map) to arrive 0.32km later at the start line, where the begin a new lap.

During the final three laps, there will be GPM points on offer for the first riders to the top of the Rue du Côteau climb in la Toussalle and the Rue Louis et Alcine Brouillet climb in La Senguiniere; these points will be awarded according to the standard UCI procedure with five points for the first rider, three for the second and one for the third. There will also be intermediate sprints on the Rue Nationale at Le Puy-Saint-Bonnet and on the Rue du Parc at Saint-Christophe-du-Bois; points will again be awarded according to standard procedure with five points for the winner, three points for second and one for third. Points in both categories will be added up at the end of the race to decide the Climbing and Sprint Classification winners, with General Classification position being taken into account in the event of a tie.


Start List

Subject to change


VIENNE FUTUROSCOPE
1 Karol-Ann CANUEL
2 Audrey CORDON
3 Jessica ALLEN
4 Sandrine BIDEAU
5 Pascale JEULAND
6 Manon SOUYRIS

HITEC PRODUCTS-UCK
8 Emilie MOBERG
9 Miriam BJORNSRUD
10 Elisa LONGO-BORGHINI
11 Tone Hatteland LIME
12 Chloe HOSKING
13 Thea THORSEN
14 Siri MINGE

RUSVELO
15 Elana KUCHINSKAYA
16 Aleksandra BURCHENKOVA
17 Maria MISHINA
18 Elena BOCHARNIKOVA
19 Hanka KUPFERNAGEL
20 Oksana KOZONCHUK
21 Yulia BLINDUK

LOTTO-BELISOL
22 Marijn DE VRIES
23 Jolien D'HOORE
24 Sophie-Ann DUYCK
25 Kaat HANNES
26 Marion ROUSSE
27 Kim SCHOONBAERT
28 Celine VAN SEVEREN

TIBCO-TO THE TOP
29 Chantal BLAAK
30 Rushlee BUCHANAN
31 Jasmin GLAESSER
32 Claudia HAUSSLER
33 Shelley OLDS
34 Samantha SCHEIDER

SENGERS
36 Inge ROGGEMAN
37 Vera KOEDOODER
38 Kimberly BUYL
39 Birgit LAVRIJSSEN
40 Gabriele JANKUTE
41 Geerike SCHREURS

TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN-BIORACER
43 Nel DE CRITS
44 Jessy DRUYTS
45 Kelly DRUYTS
46 Anisha VEKEMANS
47 Eline DE ROOVER
48 Else BELMANS
49 Gilke CROKET

BISKAIA-DURANGO
50 Lilibeth CHACON
51 DorletA ESKAMENDI 
52 Joanne HOGAN
53 Elena LIORET
54 Amaia MARTIODA
55 Mayalen NORIEGA
56 Lourdes OYARBIDE

SWEDEN
57 Emma JOHANSSON
58 Hanna HELAMB
59 Sara MUSTONEN
60 Alexandra NESSMAR
61 Madelene OLSSON
62 Isabelle SODERBERG
63 Martina THOMASSON

LOINTEK
71 Emma CRUM
72 Sheyla RUIZ GUTIERREZ
73 Julya ILINYKH
74 Alexia MUFFAT
75 Anna POTOKINA
76 Fanny RIBEROT
77 Ana BALERDI USABIAGA

French Teams

BIGMAT AUBER 93
78 Alna BURATO
79 Noeline DELBOVE
80 Roxane FOURNIER
81 Elodie HEGOBURU
82 Steffi JAMONEAU
83 Melodie LESUEUR

COMITE BRETAGNE
Not yet announced

CSM EPINAY
92 Pauline ABAUTRET
93 Audrey ARTAUD
94 Alessia BUGEIA
95 Isabel CAETANO
96 Joy DELAPORTE
97 Veronique LABONTE
98 Amelie VIVION

CSM VILLENEUVE LA GARENNE
99 Kelly GAMBIER
100 Camille ROBERT
101 Ophelie FENARD
102 Harmony LESOILLE
103 Tifany GOUPY
104 Ludivine CARRE
105 Audrey ARNOUX

CSM PUTEAUX
Not yet announced

TEAM REGION CENTRE
113 Segolene LEBERON
114 Berengere STAELENS
115 Marie TONDEREAU
116 Daniele PAROT
117 Julie BOUCHER
118 Melanie GUEDON

COMITE DE NORMANDIE
120 Marine LEMARIE
121 Eugenie DUVAL
122 Tatiana BLIN
123 Justine HAVE
124 Elise RAULLINE

COMITE PAYS DE LOIRE
Not yet announced

CHAMBERY CYCLISME COMPETITION
148 Sophie CREUX
149 Eva MOTTET
150 Celin SCHULLER
151 Marjolaine BAZIN
152 Christelle CHAPUT

Weather

More information nearer to the race