Weekly Women's Cycling News 06-12.05.2013

Lucy Garner wins at Chongming -  ITV4's Johnson HealthTech Tour coverage details - New  women's races in the UK - other news - more news to come

Lucy Garner wins Stage 1 at Chongming

Lucy Garner wins Stage 1, Tour of Chongming Island
(image credit: 1t4i)

Sprinter Kirsten Wild was widely expected to dominate on the pancake-flat parcours at Chongming Island until a crash at the Omloop van Borsele left her with a broken shoulder. Wild, who is women's cycling's answer to Mark Cavendish, leaves a gap in the peloton that is very hard to fill - certainly one that few people would have expected an eighteen-year-old in her first year with an Elite team to be able to slot into, even if that eighteen-year-old does have two Junior World Champonships to her name. Argos-Shimano manager Jorn Knops is apparently something of a visionary, then, because he set up the team to support Lucy Garner in the first stage. She repaid his faith with interest, delivering her first professional stage victory.

"The plan was to prepare the sprint for Lucy. In the beginning the team looked after Lucy to keep her toward the front and make sure that she wouldn’t waste any energy," Knops says. "She has already progressed a lot this season, not only physically but also tactically, and it’s remarkable that she could stay so calm in a chaotic sprint like this. I am very pleased with this win."

The stage went smoothly until the final 2km when a crash threw the peloton into a state of flux and prevented several teams from putting their own plans into action, but this in no way detracts from Garner's achievement - her main rival in the dash to the line was none other than Chloe Hosking of Hitec Products-UCK, a rider who has outsprinted Marianne Vos and Giorgia Bronzini in the past and won the General Classification at this race back in 2009. The next 69 riders over the line were awarded the same time (1h47'18") as Garner who, following bonification, has a 1" advantage in the General Classification.

Tour of Chongming Island Stage 1 results

ITV4 Johnson HealthTech Tour coverage details
Round 1 (Stoke-on-Trent) 22:00, Wednesday 22 May
Round 2 (Colchester) 22:00, Friday 30 May
Round 3 (Woking) 22:00, Wednesday 12 June
Round 4 (Aylsham) 22:00, Friday 14 June
Round 5 (Ipswich) 22:00, Monday 17 June

Coverage will be provided as part of ITV4's Pearl Izumi Tour coverage. In 2012, the Johnson HealthTech Tour only got a few minutes in each episode; we'll have to hope that following the enormous popularity of the Women's Road Race at the Olympics the producers will experiment with giving the women a little more airtime (though of course, any women's cycling on TV is a good thing). More details (including coverage of the men's races) here.

New Holme Valley Wheelers and London Velo women's races
"Following the success of the 2012 event Holme Valley Wheelers  will be organising both women’s and men’s events in 2013." More details here.

London Velo race (Essex) details here.

Other News
UK
Victoria Pendleton: women's cycling is big business since Olympics (Daily Telegraph)
Worldwide
Women's Woodstock Cycling Grand Prix to hit streets on Mother's Day (with video) (Daily Freeman, NY, USA)
Ocycler racing: 'Let's Race Bikes' initiative helps draw more women to PIR (Oregon Live, USA)
Award means cyclist Kaarle McCulloch is the best of our best (St. George and Sutherlandshire Leader, Australia)

Tour of Chongming Island 2013 & World Cup

08-10.05.2013/12.05.2013 Official Site
China, Stage Race; One-day World Cup Road Race
UCI 2.1; CDM

So you thought the Energiewacht Tour was flat? Pah - it's positively mountainous when compared with Chongming Island! Held on an alluvial island in the Yangtze Delta, last year's parcours didn't exactly threaten altitude sickness, the highest point at any time during the event being 3.9m above sea level.

There are two races - the three-stage Tour takes place from Wednesday to Friday, then Sunday brings the fifth round (yes, more than halfway through already) of the UCI Elite Women's World Cup.

It is, as you might imagine, strictly for the sprinters with the climbers not even bothering to make the flight over. An incomplete, provisional start list is below.

TV?
Best News US reports that the Tour and World Cup round will be broadcast live by a national Chinese TV station this year, but has no further details and does not say if this coverage will be available elsewhere. Karl Lima, Hitec Products-UCK manager, is likely to be the best bet for Twitter updates.

Stage 1 (08.05.2013)
Chongbei-Chongbei 73.4km

Stage 2 (09.05.2013)
Chong West-Chong West 113.7km

Stage (10.05.2013)
City Criterium 80.8km

No information on this year's race seems to have been made available as of yet; bookmark this page to check for updates. In the meantime, here's the stats from previous editions...

Stage Race
2012
Stage 1 Melissa Hoskins
Stage 2 Monia Baccaille
Stage 3 Melissa Hoskins
General Classification Melissa Hoskins
2011
Stage 1 Lizzie Armitstead
Stage 2 Ina-Yoko Teutenberg
Stage 3 Chloe Hosking
General Classification  Ina-Yoko Teutenberg
2010
Stage 1 Ina-Yoko Teutenberg
Stage 2 Kirsten Wild
Stage 3 Ina-Yoko Teutenberg
General Classification  Ina-Yoko Teutenberg
2009
Stage 1 Chloe Hosking
Stage 2 Marlen Jöhrend
Stage 3 Chloe Hosking
Atage 4 Marlen Jöhrend
General Classification Chloe Hosking
2008
Stage 1 Yun Mei Wu
Stage 2 Meifang Li
Stage 3 Thatsani Wichana
Stage 4 Cherise Taylor
General Classification Meifang Li
2007
Stage 1 Ellen van Dijk
Stage 2 Belinda Goss
Stage 3 Belinda Goss
Stage 4 Meifang Li
Points Classification Belinda Goss
General Classification  Meifang Li

CDM Race
2012 Shelley Olds
2011 Ina-Yoko Teutenberg
2010 Ina-Yoko Teutenberg

Start List

BE PINK

MCIPOLLINI-GIORDANA

RUSVELO

TIBCO-TO THE TOP

BOELS-DOLMANS
BRAS Martine
DE BAAT Kim
KASPER Romy
MARTIN Lucy

FAREN-LET'S GO FINLAND
CECCHINI Elena
VAN BAARLE Ashlynn

HITEC PRODUCTS-UCK
HATTELAND Tone
HOSKING Chloe
JOHNSEN Ceclie Gotaas
LONGO BORGHINI Elisa
MOBERG Emilie
THORSEN Thea

ORICA-AIS
EDMONDSON Annette
GUNNEWIJK Loes
HOSKINS Melissa
JOHANSSON Emma
SUNG EUN Gu

ARGOS-SHIMANO
GARNER Lucy
KANIS Janneke
PIETERS Amy

WIGGLE-HONDA
ROWSELL Joanna
SCHNITZMEIER Anna Bianca