Saturday 1 June 2013

Tour de Feminin - O cenu Ceského Švýcarska 2013

04-07.07.2013 Official Site
Czech Republic/Poland, 5-stage Road Race, 424.6km
UCI 2.2

Stage reports and results here

It's been two-and-a-half months since the Gracia Orlova, now the Elite Women's peloton returns to the Czech Republic for the Tour de Feminin, the second of the nation's two big stage races (they've also got the European Under-23 Championships later on in July). The Tour has taken place every year 1988, when it was known as the Tour Krasna Lipa after the town that hosts one start, two finishes and is visited several times during the race. The winner's list from the first edition to 2012 looks like this:

Hanka Kupfernagel (who still
races today, though sadly not
in this event as she now focuses
on cyclo cross) has won the
Tour a record five times - her
first and final victories were an
incredible 11 years apart.
1988 Radka Kynelova
1989 Radka Kynelova
1990 Ildiko Paczova
1991 Ildiko Paczova
1992 Alena Barillová
1993 Sandra Schumacher
1994 Zinaida Stahurskaya
1995 Lenka Ilavska
1996 Hanka Kupfernagel
1997 Hanka Kupfernagel
1998 Svetlana Guiguileva
1999 Hanka Kupfernagel
2000 Hanka Kupfernagel
2001 Sandra Wampfler
2002 Bogumila Matusiak
2003 Valentyna Karpenko
2004 Trixi Worrack
2005 Tina Liebig
2006 Theresa Senff
2007 Hanka Kupfernagel
2008 Angela Brodtka
2009 Alexandra Burchenkova
2010 Trixi Worrack
2011 Amanda Spratt
2012 Larisa Pankova

...and there's very good reason to expect more excellent Czech races in the future, because Czech organisers seem to understand far better than certain other race organisers that if you want your race to grow and be successful in this day and age then you need a top quality, informative, updated website. The Gracia Orlova has one, offering some of the best maps in the sport; the Tour du Feminin, although its maps aren't so good, also has a very good website - whereas many races don't reveal details until a few days before the riders start, just about everything a fan could want to know about the 2013 edition is already online more than a month before race day. That's great: letting fans know what's going on creates a buzz, which in turn creates a following, and more fans following a race means more interest from the all-important sponsors, securing the future of the race and helping to secure the future of women's cycling. So, keep setting a good example, Tour organisers, and here's to another 35 years.

Parcours
They like a complicated route, those Tour de Feminin organisers - with the exception of the Stage 3 individual time trial and the simple circuit of Stage 5, the parcours loops this way and that, then revisits the same stretches of road (sometimes several times) before suddenly veering off in another direction altogether. With that in mind, I'd like to point out that I created the maps below from the text directions on the website before official maps had been published; for that reason, they should be considered to be for illustrative purposes only - refer to official directions if in doubt and, if my maps differ from the official directions, I recommend you assume the organisers are correct and I'm wrong.

There are no big mountains in this race, but there are plenty of challenging hills in all but the time trial. The majority of the roads are of good quality, the Czech equivalent of an English A-road (but not some Welsh or Scottish A-roads), which when combined with the flat or slightly descending final 3km sections of each stage creates an interesting situation similar to that created by the parcours at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda in which neither climbers, rouleurs nor sprinters start the race with an obvious advantage - the Tour will most likely be won not by the rider to whom the route is most suited, but to the rider who performs best overall.

Stage 1 (4.7.2013, 112.2km, Krásná Lípa-Krásná Lípa)

View TdF in a larger map

Stage 2 (5.7.2013, 100.7km, Jiříkov-Jiříkov)
Final lap completed four times.

View TdFSt213 in a larger map

Stage 3 (6.7.2013, 17.8km Time Trial, Bogatynia, Poland)

Stage 4 (6.7.2013, 95.2km, Rumburk-Rumburk)

View TdFSt4, 2013 in a larger map


Stage 5 (7.7.2013, 98.7km, Varnsdorf-Krásná Lípa)
Final lap completed two-and-a-half times.

View TdFSt5, 2013 in a larger map


Start List
Subject to change; for updates check the official website and Women Cycling Fever.

Note that several of the Elite Women teams aren't sending squads to this race and those that are will be sending their less well-known riders in addition to a few big-hitters. Meanwhile, there are a number of team names that aren't so immediately familiar: if you want to see the potential stars of the future, pay attention to the results their riders chalk up - you can guarantee that the more famous teams with their bigger budgets will be looking out for new talent.

NSR
TBA (to be announced)

Endura Lady Force
11. Kloppenburg Margriet
12. Classen Marjolein
13. Klok Ines
14. Van den Stelt Iris
15. Goeghegan Michelle
16. Verstichelen Femke
17. 
18.

Park Hotel Valkenburg
21. Eshuis Aafke
22. Van den Hoek Bianca
23. Klep Inge
24. Markus Riejanne
25. Slik Rozanne
26. Soemantha Lisanne
27.
28.

CTC
31. Boylan Lydia 
32. Juniper Nicola 
33. McKay Helen 
34. Oliver Tamina 
35. Wingler Astrid 
36.
37.
38

Australian National Team
41. Cure Amy 
42. Sulzberger Grace 
43. Roper Emily 
44. McConville Chloe 
45. Ankudinof Ashlee 
46. Baker Georgia 
47. Heather Taryn 
48. Wiasak Rebeca

Peugeot-Start Lublin
51. Wasiuk Olga 
52. Krawczyk Monika 
53. Urbaš Kinga 
54. Tuhai Ksenia 
55. Wasiuk Izabela 
56.
57.
58.

Slovenian National Team
61. Batagelj Polona 
62. Pintar Ursa 
63. Novak Alenka 
64. Opeka Ajda 
65. Kalan Urska 
66. Kern Spela 
67.
68.

NWVG-Bike4Air
TBA

Racing Students-NSR
81. Büchel Andrea 
82. Costa Rute 
83. Hammes Kathrin 
84. Heiny Elen 
85. Lorch Dorothee 
86. Meizer Steffi 
87. Sägesser Jennifer 
88. Stienen Jutta

Pra Tomagno
91. Stolsova Bubnonigova Světlana 
92. Boyarskaya Natalia 
93. Molicheva Irina 
94. Gonez Sandra 
95. Marcelli Emma 
96. Fazeli Niknaz 
97. Drobysmeva Olga 
98. Godart Suzia

Maxx-Solar
101. Beck Luisa 
102. Fischer Lisa 
103. Klein Theres 
104. Lechner Corinna 
105. Trotman Reta 
106. Weigl Magdalena 
107. Wotsch Melanie 
108. Zanner Beata

TKK Pacific Torun
111. Niewiadoma Katarzyna 
112. Brzezna - Bentkowska Paulina
113. Brzezna Monika 
114. Wilkos Katarzyna 
115. Fraczek Natalia 
116. Wasiuk Olga 
117.
118.

Stevens 1A CrossTeam
121. Bachmann Liv-Susanne
122. Scheuch Jannika
123. Dittmann Sabine
124. Buchholtz Michelle
125. Roersch Inge
126. Hoyer Xenia
127. Lambracht Bettina
128. Wesselhoeft Benita

Bigla
131. Graus Andrea 
132. Hranaiová Katarina 
133. Aubry Emilie 
134. Ehrler Désirée 
135. Hanselmann Nicole 
136. Brühwiler Larissa 
137.
138.

RusVelo
141. Bocharnikova Elena 
142. Bezrukova Iana 
143. Dobrynina Olga 
144. Shamanova Tatiana 
145. Dobrynina Kseniia 
146. Zavershinskaya Anna 
147. Nikolaeva Ksenia RUS 19950225
148.

Breast Care
151. Ryan Carla 
152. Barr Jane 
153. Bradley Amy 
154. Ewing Anne 
155. Galloway Claire 
156. Rivera Coryn
157. Shaw Gabriella 
158. Weaver Molly

Squadra Scappatella
TBA

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