Women's Cycling News 08-15.09.2013

Elite races this week - Riders' strike at Giro Toscana - Boels Ladies Tour - Giro Toscana: Stages 1, 2, 3, riders threaten strike - Garner on GB Worlds team - Le Tour Entier manifesto - Meeuwen's Marianne Monument - Transfer and Team News - Interesting Links - Photo of the Week - more to come...

UCI Elite Women's events this week: Premondiale Giro Toscana Int. Femminile-Memorial Michela Fanini (11-15.09); Chrono Champenois-Trophée Européen (15.09).

Riders' strike at Giro Toscana
Rabobank-Liv/Giant, Hitec Products-UCK, Wiggle-Honda, Orica-AIS, Boels-Dolmans and the USA national team have refused to take part in the final stage of the Giro Toscana in protest at safety issues in the race (see "Riders threaten strike," below).

Rabobank is home to the race leader Marianne Vos, Orica to second place Emma Johansson while Wiggle's Giorgia Bronzini, one of the most popular riders with fans, won Stage 1; making the teams' refusal highly embarrassing to race organisers. It is understood that Rossella Ratto (Hitec-UCK), who is currently in fourth place overall, decided to take part, to the disapproval of team manager Karl Lima. Approximately 40 other riders, mostly Italian, also started and were booed by fans, says journalist Bart Hazen who is at the race. Fans have suggested various reasons that riders might have felt obliged to race, including financial pressure (remember that many "professional" riders have to work in addition to racing simply to make ends meet) and - for the Italians especially - because they felt they owed it to the fans

Lauren Kitchen ‏@LaurenKitchen1 No start today in Toscana. Safety needs to assured before we can race.

Tiffany Jane ‏@tiffanycromwell Well that was an anticlimax to finish Toscana but we took a stand for our safety and 80% of the peloton did not start the final stage.

Emma Johansson ‏@emmaprocyclist Proud of all teams/riders standing up for our safety by not starting in Toscana today! #SafetyFirst #OnMyWayHome

Boels Rental Ladies Tour
Preview
Stages 1-5

Stage 6
The day of Stage 6 began in unusual circumstances - organisers had decided that fourteen climbs (including the infamous Cauberg; you can see the route profile here) wasn't quite enough, so they changed the route slightly and added four more. The fans loved it, because cycling fans love to see riders climb; chances are it wasn't universally popular among the riders.

With every stage up until this one being flat, the race changed character entirely today: whereas there had been little opportunity for breaks to get away from a surging peloton previously (Elke Gebhardt of Argos-Shimano showed she was on the ball when she grabbed just such a rare opporunity and turned it into a stage win), the steep gradients meant attacks were the order of the day. Rabobank-Liv/Giant's Annemiek van Vleuten put in the most impressive performance of the day, coming back from two mechanical failures to chase down the lead group and then jump off the front before staying away for some 30km, putting herself into the lead temporarily by doing so. She was joined by Tatiana Guderzo (MCipollini-Giordana), who was second overall at the Giro Rosa this year, and the pair of them provided one of the highlights of the race - but with Anna van der Breggen (Sengers), Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans), Claudia Hausler (Tibco-To The Top) and Ellen van Dijk (Orica-AIS) joining forces to chase, the two escapees needed would have needed superhuman strength to stay away to the finish.

Tatiana Guderzo takes her first GC
of 2013

So superhuman, apparently, is what they are. The gap decreased steadily, falling from 50" with 10km to go to 15" a kilometre from the line, but they held their pursuers off all the way, losing only another second up the final climb and finished together, with Guderzo taking victory by centimetres.

Trixi Worrack, who had led the race since Stage 2, did not fare well on the stiff gradients and finished in 13th place, 2'52" behind Guderzo - and, more crucially, 2'26" behind Ellen van Dijk (Specialized-Lululemon), who had finished Stage 5 in second place in the General Classification with a disadvantage of only 4". With no rivals finishing anywhere near her, van Dijk therefore leaped into the lead and wins overall with an advantage of 1'05" over van Vleuten and 1'11" over third place Armitstead.

Sarah's huge collection of videos (and more from the Tours de l'Ardeche and Murray River) on Podium Cafe

Stage 6 Top Ten
1 Tatiana GUDERZO (MCipollini-Giordana) 2h53'59"
2 Annemiek VAN VLEUTEN (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) ST
3 Lizzie ARMITSTEAD (Boels-Dolmans) +14"
4 Anna VAN DER BREGGEN (Sengers) +19"
5 Claudia HAUSLER (Tibco-To The Top) ST
6 Ellen VAN DIJK (Specialized-Lululemon) +26"
7 Chantal BLAAK (Tibco-To The Top) +01'27"
8 Jessie DAAMS (Boels-Dolmans) +02'42"
9 Megan GUARNIER (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) ST
10 Marta TAGLIAFERRO (MCipollini-Giordana) +02'44"
Full result

Final General Classification Top Ten
1 Ellen VAN DIJK (Specialized-Lululemon) 15h00'47"
2 Annemiek VAN VLEUTEN (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) +01'05"
3 Lizzie ARMITSTEAD (Boels-Dolmans) +01'11"
4 Tatiana GUDERZO (MCipollini-Giordana) +01'50"
5 Claudia HAUSLER (Tibco-To The Top) +02'17"
6 Trixi WORRACK (Specialized-Lululemon) +02'22"
7 Anna VAN DER BREGGEN (Sengers) +02'28"
8 Chantal BLAAK (Tibco-To The Top) +03'21"
9 Megan GUARNIER (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) +03'59"
10 Katarzyna NIEWIADOMA (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) +04'01"
Full result

Points: 1 Kirsten Wild (Argos-Shimano) 82; 2 Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) 66; 3 Shelley Olds (Tibco-To The Top) 59. Sprints: 1 Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) 20; 2 Annemiek van Vleuten (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) 6; 3 Vera Koedooder (Sengers) 6. Combination: 1 Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) 27; 2 Annemiek van Vleuten (Rabobank-Liv/Giant 23; 3 Ellen van Dijk (Specialized-Lululemon) 17. Youth: 1 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) 15h04'48"; 2 Amy Pieters (Argos-Shimano) +01'01"; 3 Susanna Zorzi (Italy NT) +02'29".

Premondiale Giro Toscana Int. Femminile-Memorial Michela Fanini

Prologue
Marianne Vos has said in the past that time trials aren't her thing and she'll never be much good at them, but she's not the sort of rider to let a little thing like that stand in her way and still wins them - especially when it's a short prologue such as this one, when she can use a combination of her incredible power and ability to keep generating maximum wattage for just a little longer than anyone else.

Rabo team mate Annemiek van Vleuten was second, taking just 3" longer than Vos to get round the 2.22km parcours, while Shelley Olds of Tibco-To The Top was third at +5".

Vos (left) with Bronzini (centre) and Ina-Yoko Teutenberg
at the 2011 World Championships

Prologue Top Ten
1 Marianne VOS (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) 02'53"
2 Annemiek VAN VLEUTEN (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) +03"
3 Shelley OLDS (Tibco-To The Top) +05"
4 Kirsten WILD (Argos-Shimano) ST
5 Tiffany CROMWELL (Orica-AIS) +06"
6 Valentina SCANDOLARA (MCipollini-Giordana) ST
7 Emily COLLINS (Wiggle-Honda) +07"
8 Pauline FERRAND PREVOT (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) +08"
9 Lauren HALL (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) ST
10 Emma JOHANSSON (Orica-AIS) ST
Full result and GC

Stage 1
Sprinters who can hold their own on hilly courses are the rarest of rare breeds in the cycling world, which is the reason that A; Giorgia Bronzini is as successful as she is and B; she was very obviously going to win this stage - with a rolling 33km followed by four laps of a circuit featuring of the Massa e Cozzile climb which, while not an especially high, was steep enough in sections to merit Category 2 status and turned out to be perfectly capable of splitting the race into several distinct groups. Thanks to it, the other sprinters had used up too much energy simply getting to the finish, whereas Bronzini still had the legs to hold off the seven riders who contested the last dash to the line.

Rosella Ratto provided us with more proof of her potential to win big races in the future and of Hitec-UCK manager Karl Lima's unerring talent for spotting promising young riders by following Bronzini all the way - the 20-year-old finished a mere fraction of a second later and recorded the same time for second place but she'll probably be more pleased by knowing that she beat Vos, who took third with the same time.

Bonification seconds saw Vos' overall advantage increase from 3" to 5"; Bronzini is second and Tiffany Cromwell (Orica-AIS) is third at +10".

As has all too often been the case with this race, the stage was not without problems - a number of cars found their way onto the parcours, leading to a group trailing the peloton at around 75km from the start being pulled out of the race when judges decided it was simply too dangerous for them to continue.

Stage 1 Top Ten
1 Giorgia BRONZINI (Wiggle-Honda) 3h21'12"
2 Rossella RATTO (Hitec Products-UCK) ST
3 Marianne VOS (Rabobank-Liv/Giant)
4 Emma JOHANSSON (Orica-AIS) ST
5 Tiffany CROMWELL (Orica-AIS) ST
6 Anna VAN DER BREGGEN (Sengers) ST
7 Claudia HÄUSLER (Tibco-To The Top) ST
8 Tatiana ANTOSHINA (MCipollini-Giordana) +03"
9 Evelyn STEVENS (Specialized-Lululemon) ST
10 Tatiana GUDERZO (MCipollini-Giordana) +05"
Full result and GC

Stage 2
How the riders got through Stage 2 without anyone suffering serious injury is miraculous - but organisers and police are going to have some questions to answer because the teams aren't going to be at all happy about the non-official (ie, not connected to the race) cars that were again permitted access onto the parcours today, and according to eyewitnesses in larger numbers than Stage 1. "Absolutely crazy this bike race," said photojournalist Bart Hazen. "Again traffic all over the place." It's just the latest in a series of incidents, some ridiculous and some gravely dangerous, that have taken place at women's races this season, indication that the sport really does need more support from the UCI if its to become as professional as the consummately professional riders deserve it to be, but in this case another issue is raised - if the cars got onto the parcours due to a failing on the part of the local police, can they be trusted to control traffic at the World Championships, due to take place in this region later this month?

Chloe Hosking

Meanwhile, Hitec-UCK's Chloe Hosking - who once memorably stated publicly that UCI president Pat McQuaid is "a bit of a dick" (she had to apologise; countless supportive fans, who could not be threatened with sanctions, pledged their support for her) - had some choice words regarding a photographer who seemed to have forgotten that objects such as bicycles traveling at high speed are closer than they appear through a view finder: "obviously has reflexes challenging that of a turtle. Fine but a little dumbfounded with the situation," she Tweeted following the crash, which took place after she'd crossed the finish line in tenth place. Hosking received minor injuries; the photographer was reportedly hospitalised.

We frequently hear of races being won by the thickness of a tyre, this one was won by the thickness of a spoke: Marianne Vos (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) was declared winner with Shelley Olds (Tibco-To The Top) taking second by a milimetre, as revealed by a photofinish. Following the awarding of bonification seconds, Vos' lead increased from 5" to 18" over second place Giorgia Bronzini, who is likely to drop away down the General Classification on the much bigger hills to come; Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS), who has been Vos' strongest rival this year, is in fifth place overall at +25".

Stage 2 Top Ten
1 Marianne VOS (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) 2h46'22"
2 Shelley OLDS (Tibco-To The Top) ST
3 Barbara GUARISCHI (Vaiano-Fondriest) ST
4 Valentina SCANDOLARA (MCipollini-Giordana) ST
5 Annalisa CUCINOTTA (Servetto Footon) ST
6 Elena CECCHINI (Faren-Kuota) ST
7 Annemiek van VLEUTEN (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) ST
8 Giorgia BRONZINI (Wiggle-Honda) ST
9 Marta TAGLIAFERRO (MCipollini-Giordana) ST
10 Chloe HOSKING (Hitec Products-UCK)
Full result and GC

Stage 3
The race seemed destined to end in a big bunch sprint when 30 riders got away in a lead group, but were caught on the Valgiano climb - at which point, a six-strong group consisting of Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS), Anna van der Breggen (Sengers), Rossella Ratto (Hitec-UCK), Claudia Hausler (Tibco-To The Top), Tatiana Antoshina (MCipollini-Giordana) and Marianne Vos (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) escaped. Partly due to the sheer strength of its members and partly because with six of the top teams represented out in front the peloton never really organised a chase effort, the break stayed away - another fast group, headed by Valentina Scandolara and Pauline Ferrand Prevot, rode away from the bunch but were 3'30" away from the leaders by the finish.
47

Vos faced repeated attacks on the final climb as the other members of the break tried to do her some damage before the sprint but she took it all in her stride and chased down each and every attempt, then managed to get away - with Johansson and van der Breggen just hanging on - on the descent, though the other three escapees managed to catch them up with a kilometre to go. There was no photo finish today: when the Dutch woman crossed the finish line, she was a bike length ahead of Johansson. Van der Breggen, who will ride for Vos' team next season, was third with all six riders in the lead group sharing Vos' time. Scandolara, at the head of the chase group, was seventh at +3'30. The main group of 70 riders arrived 9'32" after the lead group. Lizzie Armitstead and Adrie Visser (both Boels-Dolmans) were the most prominent riders of seven not to finish; Katie Colclough of Specialized-Lululemon did not start the stage.

With bonification seconds, Vos saw her overall advantage increase from 18" to 32" over second place, now occupied by Emma Johansson; previous second place Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-Honda) dropped to 17th at +10'02" after finishing in 96th place.

Stage 3 Top Ten
1 Marianne VOS (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) 3h18'45"
2 Emma JOHANSSON (Orica-AIS) ST
3 Anna VAN DER BREGGEN (Sengers) ST
4 Rossella RATTO (Hitec Products-UCK) ST
5 Claudia HÄUSLER (Tibco-To The Top) ST
6 Tatiana ANTOSHINA (MCipollini-Giordana) ST
7 Valentina SCANDOLARA (MCipollini-Giordana) +03'30"
8 Pauline FERRAND PREVOT (Rabobank-Liv/Giant) ST
9 Tiffany CROMWELL (Orica-AIS) ST
10 Elena CECCHINI (Faren-Kuota) ST
Full result and GC

Riders threaten strike
According to reports in the Spanish press, the riders in Toscana have stated that they will not race the final stage between Lucca and Florence unless improvements are made to traffic control during the race. In previous stages, the roads had not been cleared of traffic by means of a rolling roadblock for the entire race to pass by, as is typically the case, but only for the lead riders - which leaves the rest of the field riding in traffic.

"We are all agreed that we cannot race in these conditions," says Elisa Longo Borghini. "Over the last few days, we've been lucky and nobody was injured, but it's just too risky. Our representatives have asked [organiser] Brunello Fanini to take action, but the situation has not improved. If a sufficient number of motorcycles to guarantee our safety cannot be provided, we have decided we have no choice but to cancel the [final] stage."

"I fully agree with the Italian strike plans - safety must be a priority," says Marianne Vos, who acts as a riders' representative to the UCI. "For ten years, there have been issues with rider safety at this race and it's time we expressed our discomfort."

Garner makes GB Worlds team

Lucy Garner - the next big thing in
British women's cycling

Lucy Garner, twice Junior World Road Race Champion, has been provisionally included in this year's British World Championship team. Garner, who turns 19 on the 20th of this month, won her first Junior Worlds in 2011, then repeated the achievement in 2012 - when she also became Junior European Champion and won a number of British races, then accepted a place on the Dutch Argos-Shimano trade team - where she rides with some of the top female cyclists in the world, including Kirsten Wild and Charlotte Becker - for the 2013 season.

She will be joined on the GB team by Emma Pooley, Lizzie Armitstead, Nikki Harris, Katie Colclough and Sharon Laws.

Le Tour Entier lauches manifesto
The media has gone a bit quiet with regard to the Le Tour Entier campaign to encourage the Amaury Sport Organisation to introduce a women's Tour de France as soon as possible just lately, though the online petition is still ticking away and gathering signatures - it's not far off 100,000 names now.

Now the campaign, started by Emma Pooley, Marianne Vos, Kathryn Bertine and Chrissie Wellington, has a manifesto - and Le Tour Entier is demanding not just a women's Tour, but the inauguration of three women's Grand Tours (one of which would presumably be a much developed and extended Giro Rosa, the only women's Grand Tour currently in existence) and a complete overhaul of women's cycling.

This month, the UCI will hold an election to select its president. Pat McQuaid, who has been widely criticised for his apparent lack of interest in women's cycling, looks increasingly unlikely to beat his only rival, British Cycling boss Brian Cookson, who is a keen supporter of women's cycling and has indicated his intention to investigate ways in which the sport can be promoted and developed.

The manifesto's six main points

• Le Tour Entier aims to "help create a framework to support the growth of women’s cycling and build a sport with greater consumer, media and commercial appeal – starting with a race at the Tour de France."
• The UCI should examine ways in which women's cycling can be promoted so as to increase coverage in the media, which will attract new sponsors
• The UCI should promote the commercial development of women's cycling
• The UCI should strongly encourage World Tour teams to operate both men's and women's teams, as is currently the case with Orica-AIS, Lotto-Belisol and Argos-Shimano
• Women's World Tour, Continental Tour and Continental Championships be established and races forming part of each series should be encouraged to run men's and women's races, as is the case currently with the Ronde van Vlaanderen and some other events
• Rules regarding the maximum stage length in and overall length of women's races should be revised

"Right now, we need change. We believe that Brian Cookson, in his manifesto, presents an opportunity for women's cycling to move forward," says Bertine. "If Pat McQuaid wins, my biggest fear is that nothing will happen."

"We have been very frank, open and honest in this manifesto - we've taken a long hard look at women's road cycling as a whole, what’s working and what isn't," adds Pooley  "We've been pretty critical of the way in which women's cycling is currently run, which in truth is pretty badly, but we've also come up with some very positive solutions and suggestions. I just think it's high time that the greatest and most inspiring bike race in the world had a women's race! Quite apart from the obvious inequality, it's a missed opportunity for spectators and the sport of cycling as a whole.  I think that when girls take up cycling, they should be able to aspire to race the Tour de France without that being just a crazy dream."

Meeuwen's Marianne Monument

Sometimes, I wonder if I should rename this blog the "Marianne Vos Is The Greatest Person That Ever Lived Blog" - it seems that every week she's either won another race (or a few of them) or done something else that's worthy of note. The people in Meeuwen are, therefore, rightfully proud of her, and to celebrate her remarkable career and the fact that she chose their village in which to make her home they've decided to unveil a monument to her. There's more on the monument, plus details of three more erected to commemorate other famous Meeuwen residents, on Marianne's official website.

Transfer and Team News
Team merger
No new information on transfers this week, but the Futurumshop.nl and CycleLive-Zannata teams have announced that they will merge to form one team for 2014.

The new squad is to be known as Futurumshop.nl-Zannata.de and will be made up of riders selected from both 2012 teams. So far, it looks as though Annelies van Doorslaer, Latoya Brulee, Annelies Dom, Karen Elzing, Janine van der Meer, Mascha Pijnenborg and Anouska Koster are all in, though discussions with other riders are taking place. The team will be registered in the Netherlands.
Interesting Links
Some thoughts on Brian Cookson's latest blog (Unofficial Unsanctioned Women's Cycling)
Lucy Garner makes GB road race world championship squad (Sky Sports)
Why must cycling companies saddle women with pink? (The Guardian)
Cyclist Maddi Campbell looks to impress in Italy (Stuff NZ)
Hollee Simons gets a fitting finale (Western Advocate)

Photo of the Week

Cafe stop with Jessie Walker
(with thanks to Penny Rowson of the Matrix Racing Academy for the photo)

Boels Rental Ladies Tour 2013

03-08.09.2013 Official Site
Netherlands, 6-stage Road Race, 611.3km
UCI 2.2

Inaugurated in 1998, this is a race that has been known by several names. Originally, it was the Holland Ladies Tour and remained so for the first 13 years, but a series of new sponsors has seen name changes every year since: in 2011 it was the Profile Ladies Tour, in 2012 the Brainwash Ladies Tour and now in 2013 it's the Boels Rental Ladies Tour.

Along with Lotto and Belisol (whose Belgium Tour took place late last month), Boels is a name that you'll see again and again in women's cycling: in addition to sponsoring a team (Boels-Dolmans), the DIY and plant machinery company has thrown its full weight into supporting the sport - in addition to the team and this race, it also sponsors the Boels Rental Hills Classic and the Ronde van Drenthe. Why? Well, they've obviously found that women's cycling offers sufficient returns to get approval from the bean counters, but it seems likely that some of the people at the top of the firm must be fans. So, if you happen to live near one of Boels' 300 outlets and find yourself needing to rent some DIY equipment or plant machinery, give them a call - and know that some of the money you pay them will go towards supporting and developing the sport you love.

The Ladies Tour has always been a very popular race that attracts the top riders in the world, as well as large numbers of fans. Oh - and make the most of this race. The end of the season is approaching fast.

Previous Winners
Elsbeth van Rooy-Vink, better known as a mountain biker won the first edition, then two more Dutch riders - Leontien van Moorsel and Mirjam Melchers - won in 1999 and 2000. There would be no further Dutch victories until 2009, when Marianne Vos won; she has won it every year since. However, despite having been favourite this year, she has decided to miss the race after receiving treatment for chronic back pain so that she'll have ideal form to defend her World Champion title later in the month.

1998 Elsbeth Vink
1999 Leontien van Moorsel
2000 Mirjam Melchers
2001 Petra Rossner
2002 Debby Mansveld
2003 Susanne Ljungskog
2004 Mirjam Melchers
2005 Tanja Schmidt-Hennes
2006 Susanne Ljungskog
2007 Kristin Armstrong
2008 Charlotte Becker
2009 Marianne Vos
2010 Marianne Vos
2011 Marianne Vos
2012 Marianne Vos

Parcours
Stage 1 (03.09.2013; Roden-Roden, 109.9km)

View Boels Ladies Tour 2013 Stage 1 in a larger map

At first glance, Stage 1 looks as though it was designed to give the riders a nice and easy start so they could gradually get into the competitive spirit. If you've followed professional cycling for any length of time, you'll know that sort of thing never happens - look more closely at the parcours and, while there are no big climbs (hey, this is the Netherlands), there are several harsh cobbled sections that hurt everyone (and can end your race if you crash, which is all too easy to do on cobbles). Being located along narrow sections of road, these cobbled sections encourage breakaways because riders riding solo or in small groups stay clear of congestion and the majority of crashes (and have more room to avoid any that might take place in the break) whereas those trailing in the main group can topple like dominoes at any moment. So, expect a tough day of very technical racing.

The toughest section of all is the short Kampweg/Kerkpad/Brink stretch in Norg. Though less than 0.4km in length, the first 150m is extremely narrow and extremely rough. The section is ridden three times but, as there are still 22km to be raced after the final visit, it's unlikely to prove decisive; however, it's sufficiently technical, especially in the wet, that a few riders may find their race ends here.

Yes, a major, international bike race will be held on this narrow path!

Stage 2 (04.09.2013; Coevorden-Coevorden, 32.2km Team Time Trial)

View Boels Rental Ladies Tour 2013 Stage 2 in a larger map

The start of Stage 2 is going to feel distinctly familiar to some of the riders - they set off from the marketplace in Coevorden, just as they did back in March at the Novilon Euregio Cup. Then, they had 141km and an ascent of the VAMberg, a turfed-over rubbish dump with a maximum gradient of 16%, ahead of them; today, they'll only cover 32.2km and there are no hills to speak of (the bridge over the Stieltjeskanaal is the most challenging of the very small climbs along the way), but because it's a team time trial they'll be riding at full speed all the way.

The main issue along the parcours is the narrowness of some of the roads: while it'll be easier to negotiate them as individual teams rather than as a peloton, some stretches offer space sufficiently limited as to lead to difficulties when riders try to swap position at the front, and those who have spent the most time practicing their change-overs will benefit from this. Otherwise, Stage 2 ought to be a classic example of a team time trial, where the best tactic is quite simply to go as fast as possible.

Stage 3 (05.09.2013; Leerdam-Leerdam, 121.3km)

View Boels Rental Ladies Tour 2013 Stage 3 in a larger map


With its flat terrain (the greatest deviation between two points anywhere along the route is less than 10m) and lack of tight corners, Stage 3 looks easy enough at first glance. However, the nature of the competition will be decided by the wind: if it's a still day, expect a fast race with the peloton sailing through at high speed preventing breaks as slower riders drop off the back; if it's windy, expect the peloton to be broken up into numerous sub-groups with the stronger riders battling the weather and one another at the front and the rest battling for survival at varying distances back along the road.

One feature that might prove to have a major effect on the outcome is the railway crossings and swingbridges - the UCI rules state that, should a break reach such an obstruction and be held up, they will be given a time advantage equal to the advantage they had before stopping; however, if the break gets through and the peloton is held up, the time that the riders in the peloton have to wait will be added to their overall times. This can make the difference between a break succeeding or failing, and has led in the past to unexpected victories.


Stage 4 (06.09.2013; Papendrecht-Papendrecht, 116km)

View Boels Rental Ladies Tour 2013 Stage 4 in a larger map

Once again, the wind may be a deciding factor today - especially on the long, straight Tolsteeg-Wijngardsesteeg-Wijngardseweg and Abbekesdoel-Oosteinde-Noordzeijde-Dorpstraat-Westeinde sections, where powerful cross- or headwinds would permit a squad of evenly-matched riders to mount a team time trial-style assault on their rivals by working closely together and maintaining the maxium speed possible, thus gaining a big advantage over weaker teams.

It's another very flat stage: the highest point along the parcours, roughly halfway through the neutral zone, is just 4.8m above sea level; the lowest is 5.1, below sea level and comes around 9km later - there are many little dips and ramps all the way to the finish, but none of them are big enough to play a part in determining the stage winner.

Stage 5 (07.09.2013; Zaltbommel-Veen, 120.2km)

View Boels Rental Ladies Tour 2013 Stage 5 in a larger map

Marianne Vos, as already mentioned, isn't taking part in the Tour this year so that she can give her back a chance to recover fully in time for the World Championships - but there's a good chance she'll put in an appearance at some point today, because the route passes within a kilometre of her home village Meeuwen. Some of the roads featured in the second and third parts of the stage (one 52.2km loop and four 11.4km laps) will be familiar to the riders and fans from May's Omloop vanAalburg - in fact, the 11.4km circuit is identical to the finishing circuit that was completed three times in the Omloop.

As was the case in the Omloop (and the Rabobank 7-Dorpenomloop van Aalburg, which also takes place in the area), wind can be a deciding factor in this race - the terrain is pancake flat, permitting the wind to howl in from the North Sea, and there are few hedges or trees to impede it.

Being so flat and with a long, straight run to the finish, it seems highly likely that the race will finish with a bunch sprint today. How many riders are in that sprint - a few, or all of them - depends on what happens on the long sections on very narrow roads, especially during the 52.2km circuit: the combined length of the four final laps is 45.6km, offering plenty of time for riders who got stuck near the back on the narrow stretches earlier on to get to the front of the peloton, but some of those stretches are so narrow that a small,  strong break could potentially flee the pack at a point where it's impossible for chasers to get up to the front and begin pursuit. If so, the peloton will need to make sure it brings them back before it's too late.

Stage 6 (07.09.2013; Bunde-Berg Terblijt, 111.7km)

View Boels Ladies Tour 2013 Stage 6 in a larger map

Boels may be the main sponsor of this race, but team-sponsoring partner Dolmans Landscaping are involved too - and Stage 6 starts right outside their premises on Pasweg in Bunde. In this stage, the race changes character completely - the pancake-flat polders where the sprinters had it all their own way are no more now that the Tour enters Limburg, home to the highest hills in the Netherlands which, though not very high, are sometimes sufficiently steep to make things difficult for all but the pure climbers. It doesn't matter what the General Classification looks like at the start line, because it could be very, very different by the finish.

The two most daunting are the chalky hill known as Bemelerberg, usually seen from the Krekelenberg during the Amstel Gold Race, and the infamous Cauberg. Starting just as the race arrives at Bemelen, Bemelerberg climbs 39m in 1.26km; the average gradient is therefore 3%, but the maximum of 6% is enough for the pure sprinters to drop behind. Cauberg is something else entirely: its average gradient is 5.8% and its maximum 12%, sufficient to decide races - including the 2012 World Championships, which took place in this region. It's likely that it'll have some effect on the outcome of this race, too, because the riders will be going up it twice in the final 25km - once at 87.5km and then again at 107.4km. Bemelerberg is climbed early in the race at 6.9km, then again at 100.9km. There are numerous smaller climbs, some with similarly steep sections, along the way.

Start List

Women's Cycling News 18-25.08.2013

UCI races this week - Lululemon and Vos win Vårgårda, Vos will miss Boels Tour - De Vocht is Belgian ITT Champ -  Martine Bras retires - Annie Simpson's laptop stolen - Shorts & Interesting Links - Photo(s) of the Week - more to come...

UCI events this week: Open de Suède Vårgårda Road Race (CDM; 18.08); Lotto-Belisol Belgium Tour (23-26.08); Trophee d'Or (24-28.08)

Lululemon win Vårgårda TTT, Vos wins Road Race but will miss Boels Tour

Some cycling fans say that team time trials are boring, but if you enjoy seeing a highly-trained squad of riders working closely together as a cohesive unit a race against the clock is one of the most thrilling, spectacular sights that the sport has to offer (personally, I think TTTs are great).

If you want to see a really highly-trained squad working as precisely and efficiently as the inner mechanisms of the sort of Swiss watch that the likes of you and I will never own unless we team up and rob Audemars Piguet (which is where all the football team-owning Russian gangst... I mean, businessmen get their watches), then Specialized-Lululemon can be relied upon to deliver the goods every time - while Orica-AIS, Rabobank-Liv/Giant and several others know what they're doing, none of them can hold a light to Lululemon on a good day. Which is probably why they've now won the Open de Suède Vårgårda three years running - once as HTC-Highroad in 2010 and every since under their current name.

The team, consisting of Lisa Brennauer, Carmen Small, Lauren Rowney, Evelyn Stevens, Trixi Worrack and Ellen van Dijk, hared around the hilly 43km to finish in 53'59", beating closest rivals Rabobank by 38". The team make-up is noteworthy because the same riders will be representing Lululemon in the World Championships.

Marianne Vos, by her own admission, doesn't excel in time trials. However, with the help of her team mates Annemiek van Vleuten, Roxane Knetemann, Thalita de Jong, Pauline Ferrand Prevot and Lucinda Brand, she got the result she needed - their second place served to strengthen her overall lead in the World Cup, extending her lead by five points, from 249 to Emma Johansson's 177 after the Tour of Chongming Island to 279 to 202. Johansson's team, Orica-AIS, might have fared better had it not been for Loes Gunnewijk's extremely unfortunate puncture within 10km of the line.

Result
1 Specialized-Lululemon 53'59"
2 Rabobank-Liv/Giant +38
3 Orica-AIS +01'26"
4 Sengers +02'38" 
5 Wiggle-Honda +02'45"  
6 RusVelo +02'48" 
7 Australia NT +02'57" 
8 Boels-Dolmans +03'06"  
9 Hitec Products-UCK +03'26"  
10 Tibco-To The Top +03'36"  
11 Argos-Shimano +04'22"  
12 Faren-Kuota +05'18" 
13 Cramo-Go:Green +05'54" 
14 Norway NT +07'07"  
15 Servetto Footon +10'23"
World Cup Standings

Vos wins the Road Race

Vos might not be the best rider in a time trial, but she's widely acknowledged as the the best in the world at mass-start road racing and was always a favourite for the Vårgårda World Cup Road Race, which took place two days after the time trial and consisted of eleven laps of a circuit that followed the latter part of the TTT parcours but omitted the journey out to Herrljunga and back, but after a season in which she has ridden mountain bike as well as road and apparently felt the pressure of doing so, she wasn't quite so much the favourite as would usually be the case and the fact that she was undergoing treatment for chronic backpain just a week ago also helped convince many that Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS), who is perhaps Vos' strongest rival these days, was going to take the honours - which the Swedish fans would have welcomed, since although Emma rides for an Australian team she was born in the Swedish town Sollefteå. When the day turned out wet and windy, though, it was obvious that Vos' supreme bike-handling skills were going to make her a force to be reckoned with even if she hadn't regained her typical form.

Competition was high right from the start with numerous attacks despite the weather. Trixi Worrack (Specialised-Lululemon) especially impressed with a solo break that lasted for an admirable 15km and, later,  Rabo's Roxane Knetemann worked with Orica's Loes Gunnewijk in a two-strong break that left the next group trailing by a minute and a half. Former elite football player Cecilie Gotaas Johnson (Hitec-UCK) tried to bridge and very nearly did so without assistance but the group behind her stepped up its efforts and caught her before swamping Knetemann and Gunnewijk, forming a new group that led the peloton by 3' with 35km of the race still to go. Gradually, as domestiques who'd given all they could to support their leaders dropped away and returned to the pack, the lead group began to diminish in size and by the 25km to go point it had shrunk down to serious contenders. With the weather worsening, it looked like there'd be no further attacks and the group rode the next 20km all together.

Vårgårda victory gives Vos an
unbeatable lead in the CDM

Then, apparent disaster for Vos: she punctured near that start of the final lap, and right at a point when the Rabo team car was too far back to attend. Choosing not to rely on the neutral support vehicle, she elected to continue - which will have meant she needed to produce more power in order to keep up to speed as her tyre softened and drag increased. Finally, the car got to her; once the mechanic had switched wheels she gave a fine demonstration of just what she can do by chasing down and rejoining the leaders in virtually no time at all, then got herself to the head of the group so as to be in perfect position ready for the final corner - and then, once the road straightened out, she started her sprint. That she could overpower Johansson and the lightning-quick young sprinter Amy Pieters (Argos-Shimano) with just enough time to raise her arms in celebration is testament to the fact that it'll take a lot more than a bad back to keep Vos from victory.

Following her win, Vos' advantage in the World Cup rankings rises from 72 to 102, 354 points to Johansson's 252 - with only 75 points on offer to the winner of the World Cup's one remaining round, Vos is therefore now guaranteed a fifth Cup. Meanwhile, Specialized-Lululemon's Ellen van Dijk (who equaled Vos' time to take fourth) is in third place overall and trails Johansson by only 28 points; competition for second place therefore remains open and we can expect an epic final battle between Orica and Lululemon at the GP de Plouay. No other riders remain in contention.

Top Ten
1 Marianne VOS (Rabobank-LLiv/Giant) 3h26'41"
2 Emma JOHANSSON (Orica-AIS) ST
3 Amy PIETERS (Argos-Shimano) ST
4 Ellen VAN DIJK (Specialized-Lululemon) ST
5 Anna VAN DER BREGGEN (Sengers) +25"
6 Evelyn STEVENS (Specialized-Lululemon) +48"
7 Roxane KNETEMANN (Rabobank-LLiv/Giant) +01'22"
8 Rossella RATTO (Hitec Products-UCK) ST
9 Loes GUNNEWIJK (Orica-AIS) ST
10 Giorgia BRONZINI (Wiggle-Honda) +02'03"
Full result and Standings

Vos will miss Boels Tour
Despite appearing fully recovered at the Vårgårda Road Race, following consultation with team doctors Vos has decided to miss this year's Boels Rental Ladies Tour (previously known as the Holland Ladies Tour).

Vos underwent treatment for chronic back pain a short while ago and the decision was taken as a precautionary measure to ensure she's fully recovered in time for the upcoming World Championships: "It's a tough season, partly due to the addition of mountain biking to her calendar" explains manager Koos Moerenhout. "We've just got back from Sweden, this week we have the Trophee d'Or, a French stage race; then the classic GP de Plouay and two days after that it's the Tour of Tuscany - her back is well now, but it could all prove to be too much and we need to build up carefully."

Liesbet de Vocht

At the Worlds, Vos will seek to defend the title she won last year are several unsuccessful attempts. However, as the Ladies Tour is considered to be one of her home nation's most important races and she's won it for the last four years consecutively, the decision to miss it this year cannot have been an easy one to take.

De Vocht is Belgian ITT Champion
Liesbet de Vocht (Rabobank-Liv-Giant), who won the Belgian National Road Race Championships back in June, added the National Individual Time Trial title after completing the parcours in 41'26" - 24" faster than Maaike Polspoel (Sengers) and 25" faster than Annelies Dom (CycleLive Plus-Zannata).

Full result here.

Martine Bras retires
Following an incredible 24 years in the sport, Marine Bras has announced her immediate retirement. Bras, who has ridden for Boels-Dolmans in 2013, had indicated her intention to retire at the end of the season but opted instead to retire now.

Schoonrewoerd-born Martine started cycling in 1988, began her professional career with The Greenery ten years later and has been at cycling's top level ever since. Among many highlights were the bronze medal she won at the National Road Race Championships, third place in the Points Competition of the 2009 Tour of Qatar, Stage 2 victory at the 2010 Holland Ladies Tour, Stage 3 victory in the 2011 Tour en Limousin and fourth in the 2012 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

However, in 2012, she suffered a serious crash, hitting her head hard; thereafter she suffered frequent headaches and a loss of confidence: "I was afraid of crashing; whenever I head brakes, it struck terror into my heart," she explained to cyclingonline.nl.

"I am proud of what I have achieved and experienced in this sport," she adds, "now it's time for another life." In October, she will marry; Janneke Vos (with whom she rode in her first year with The Greenery), Giorgia Bronzini, Annemiek van Vleuten and numerous other friends from the world of cycling will attend.

Annie Simpson's laptop stolen
If you live in West Yorkshire and anyone offers you a cheap laptop, don't be tempted and get on the phone to the police by phoning 101 - there's a chance that it belongs to 2012 Johnson HealthTech Series winner Annie Simpson. The computer, which was stolen from her car, isn't worth much but it contains a dissertation and four years of coursework.

Shorts
Trott does not endorse Women's TdF petition
"I think we should slowly build it in and not just go 'bam' with three weeks over the same course and same length of time as the men's," the Olympian told The Independent.

Broughton is GB U-16 Sprint Champ
Charlotte Broughton (MG Decor) beat Lucy Shaw (Solihull CC) with a time of 2'33.668" to 2'34.444" to earn the title. More at Track Cycling News.

Lisa Jacobs is first ever Australian CX Champ
...but will continue to race only for fun, she says. More at Cycling Weekly.

Meet Emma Cumming
New Zealand's next great track star (Southland Times).

Interesting Links
How much does it really cost to run a women's team? (Cycling Weekly)
Breaking the Paradox: Womens Racing (Spokeydokeyblog)
Top skier proves herself as a cyclist, too (Cape Breton Post)

Photo(s) of the Week

Rabobank-Liv/Giant, Wiggle-Honda and Boels-Dolmans on a friendly recovery ride together.

"Sorry not great quality," says World Road Race Champion Marianne Vos, who took it. The quality doesn't matter: it's the way that it depicts the friendliness between rival teams, which for me is one of the most likable aspects of women's cycling, that matters. (With very special thanks to Marianne Vos)

While Marianne's photo was a sure-fire Photo of the Week the moment I saw it, there was no way I could leave out Velofocus' picture of a little message for the UCI, spotted at the Open de Suède Vårgårda...

Boels Rental Hills Classic 2013

24.05.2013 Official Site
Netherlands, One-day Road Race, 120km
UCI 1.2

DIY and plant machinery rental companies aren't especially well known for their connections to the cycling world - in fact, they're not really well known for anything much and, upon finding themselves in need of the services of one, most people probably exhibit little brand loyalty and go to whichever one is closest or, if they have a choice, cheapest. So the fact that one such company - Boels, which has some 300 outlets in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as a few more in other nations - has decided to invest in women's cycling by sponsoring a team (Boels-Dolmans) and a selection of races (this one - hence the change from its previous name, the Valkenburg Hills Classic or, as it was before that, the Holland Hills Classic; the Holland Ladies' Tour, which was the Brainwash Ladies' Tour last year and will be the Boels Ladies' Tour this year; the Ronde van Drenthe) is a very promising indication that, in those countries at least, the sport is increasing in popularity. There'll be some cycling-obsessed executive who liked the idea in the head office at Sittard (where, incidentally, the race will both start and finish), but what really counts is that the bean-counters decided women's cycling offered a good enough chance of a return and gave the go-ahead.

So thank you, Boels; if I'm ever asked to recommend a plant hire firm by anyone from one of the countries in which you operate, I'll immediately recommend you. There, you see, other companies? Sponsoring women's cycling works. That's why Parkhotel Valkenburg, who are sponsoring the Mountains classification, is still involved too. Give it a try.

The Dutch have won most editions of this one with Mirjam Melchers-van Poppel taking the honours in first edition back in 2004. Anita Valen de Vries became the first Norwegian winner a year later and German Theresa Senff won in 2006. Dutch Marianne Vos of course gets her name onto the list and, having won in 2007 and 2009, she's the only rider to have won twice. Larissa Kleinman, another German, won in 2008 and the Belgian Grace Verbeke won in 2010. In 2011 the race wasn't held, it reappeared in 2012 when Vos was widely expected to take a third victory; however, an official motorbike on the parcours turned out to be too slow to get out of her path and caused a crash. Completing the race in very obvious pain, she was "only" able to manage second place with the same time as the winner, her team mate Annemiek van Vleuten; x-rays later revealed Vos had fractured her collarbone.

Parcours
Neither a map nor altimetry has yet been made available; however, since we know that the race is 120km long, where it starts and finishes and that it will in all likelihood pay a visit to Valkenburg and the Cauberg, it doesn't seem implausible that the riders will face either three laps around a circuit of approximately 40km or four around one of 30km, beginning at Sittard before heading south to Valkenburg, up and over Cauberg and then north back to Sittard again. A good 40km route would be easy to create, going Sittard-Munstergeleen-Puth-Schinnen-Hegge-Nuth-Hulsberg-Emmaberg-Valkenburg/Cauberg-Broekhem-Groot Haasdal-Schimmert-SBeek-Sittard; or vice-versa. Two possible routes are shown below, the official map will be added here as soon as it becomes available.

Start List
No start list has yet been published.

How To Follow The Race
In years gone by, the Holland Hills stood out among Dutch races in being really rather difficult to follow with little information on the official website, virtually no coverage elsewhere even days after the event and nothing at all on Twitter other than an occasional snippet from a fan at the race. Boels have set up a brand spanking new website; since their commercial webpages are clear, concise and very informative, this is hopefully a sign that things will change this year.

Hitec-UCK manager Karl Lima, Boels-Dolmans mechanic Richie Steege (being from Beek, Richie will be good for all sorts of info) and journalists Bart Hazen and Anton Vos are all, as always, the safest bets for accurate Twitter updates.

Weather
More information closer to race day.

Women's Cycling News 02.04.12

GP de Dottignies

The big women's cycling event of the day was the Grand Prix de Dottignies, a 133.25km race taking place in the French-speaking Walloon region of Belgium. The race consisted of one 77.25km parcours with a couple of interesting climbs halfway through and one in the latter half, followed by four passes of a flat 14km circuit. Maps here: 77.25km / 14km; profiles here: 77.25km / 14km.

Monia Baccaille
(image credit: ghirolfo CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

With the 14km circuit being flat, the peloton played cat and mouse games with various riders feigning attacks and then mounting real attacks as the entire pack slowed down and then sped up repeatedly and apparently at random as they dared one another to make an early break. The 23-year-old Belarusian Alena Amialiusik (BePink) did extraordinarily well to maintain her lead once the riders down the road began to pick up the pace as the finish line drew near (especially considering she was 10th at the Ronde van Vlaanderen and must have been feeling it), but she was eventually caught with 2km to go.

There was no surprise when it all ended with a bunch sprint but with several of the top riders also still feeling the effects of the Ronde in their legs, it was a sprint that could have gone anywhere right up until the last second and a number of less-well-known riders were battling it out with the big guns right to the line. In the end, a group of thirteen crossed the line as a group, but nobody could top the sheer power of Monia Baccaille (MCipollini) when she launched herself from the group and crossed the line like a luminous green rocket to take a stunning victory. Emma Johansson (Hitec-Mistral) was just behind her for second place, followed by Alona Andruk (Diadora-Pasta Zara) for third.  (Full results)

  1.  Monia Baccaile MCipollini-Giambenini-Gauss 03:29:49
  2.  Emma Johansson Hitec Products-Mistral Home zt.
  3.  Alona Andruk Diadora-Pasta Zara zt.
  4.  Christine Majerus Team GSD Gestion zt. 
  5.  Rasa Leleivyte Vaiana-Tepso zt.  
  6.  Valentina Scandolara S.C. Michela Fanini Rox zt. 
  7.  Carmen Mcnellis Small zt. 
  8.  Isabelle Soderberg AA Drink - Leontien.nl zt. 
  9.  Nathalie Lamborelle Kleo Ladies Team zt. 
  10.  Nicole Cooke Faren-Honda Team zt. 

GP de Dottignies photographs and video by Sebastien Tytgat: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / video

Irene van den Broek out of competition
Dolmans-Boels' Irene van den Broek - who finished in second place at the Dutch National Championships last year - has been forced to bring a temporary halt to her racing due to a lung complaint. The 31-year-old suffered painful breathing throughout the Trofeo Binda and Ronde van Vlaandered, leaving her unable to finish in both cases. She'll now undergo medical tests to find out what's wrong.