Women's Cycling News 05-12.01.2014

Bronzini's blitz at the Bay Crits - Compton conquers Rome - Joiner and McPhee injured - Team News (Argos-Shimano saved; new bikes for Optum) - Shorts and Interesting Links (Good Riddance!; Teut still involved; Norway gets UCI race; Tour of Qatar)  - Photo of the Week - more to come...

Bronzini's blitz at the Bay Crits

Giorgia Bronzini

Giorgia Bronzini, the World Champion in 2010 and 2011, made cycling history at the first six stages at the Route de France last year - the Italian sprinter conceded only the prologue, to Emma Johansson, and the final Stage 7 to her team leader Linda Villumsen, who won overall. She managed a similar result at the Mitchelton Bay Crits last week by winning three out of a total four stages, and won the General Classification as a result.

Bronzini's team mate Peta Mullens, who spent much of the race attacking anything that moved (especially if it happened to be wearing an Orica jersey; meanwhile, Valentina Scandolara of Orica returned the favour) won the Sprints classification while their team, the British-registered Wiggle-Honda, won the Teams classification.

Chloe Hosking (Roxsolt) was the only other rider to win a stage, forcing Bronzini and Orica's Nettie Edmondson into second and third when she launched a powerful sprint more than 400m from the finish - it was not the first time she's beaten Bronzini and is further evidence that she's destined to win cycling's ultimate accolades in the coming years, but Stages 3 and 4 being much tougher than 1 and 2 it was clear that shifting Bronzini from the lead was going to take a serious effort. Then, strong winds combined with a short and steep climb to make the going even harder; perfect conditions for a rider with Bronzini's strength to gain the upper hand once more. She did so, once again with help from Mullens who wore down the opposition, and crossed the line with a healthy advantage.

Wiggle made sure they had Villumsen keeping control of a break during Stage 4, but explained afterwards that it hadn't been her intention to go for a stage win because she wasn't feeling 100%. With a lead of six points over Edmondson going into the final stage, Bronzini could have played it safe and remained a few places back from the front line, making sure she finished highly enough to keep first place. That's not her style, though, and she was right in the thick of it with Valentina Scandolara (Orica), Tiffany Cromwell (Specialized-Securitor), Hosking and Edmondson as the finish drew near, and once again was the strongest - and finished the race with an advantage of twelve points.

Unfortunately, Stage 4 was not without controversy: Hosking (and many fans) felt that while Bronzini's victory was fully deserved, Wiggle had not acted honourably. "Giorgia Bronzini is a class act but can’t say the same about the way Wiggle Honda and their development team colluded today to ruin the race," she Tweeted, arguing that her team could have used the same tactic but chose to "race fair."

Photos here

Bay Crits Top Ten
1 Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-Honda) 46
2 Nettie Edmondson (Orica-AIS) 34
3 Tiffany Cromwell (Specialized-Securitor) 30
4 Chloe Hosking (Roxsolt) 30
5 Gracie Elvin (Jayco NT) 23
6 Valentina Scandolara (Orica-AIS) 10
7 Lizzie Williams (Specialized-Securitor) 9
8 Sophie Williamson (Vanderkitten) 8
9 Joanne Hogan (Individual) 7
10 Barbara Guarschi (DHB) 6


Compton conquers Rome
Katie Compton has always been an outstanding rider, but over the last couple of seasons she's been steadily getting better and better and now poses a threat to the dominance of cyclo cross by Marianne Vos. At the Rome round of the World Cup on Sunday, she gave a demonstration of just how real that threat is, forcing the Dutch rider to work hard simply to keep up before she cracked halfway through - something we've rarely, if ever, seen Vos do before now.

Katie Compton

Ellen van Loy was quickest off the start and led around the first corner, with Compton not far behind. Then the race seemed to enter a familiar pattern when Vos and Harris upped their pace, overtaking the American before Vos got right behind van Loy. Van Loy, however, wasn't going to give up the lead without a fight, and it took Vos almost all of the first lap to get the better of her.

Vos and Compton now began their own private battle, responding to one another's turns of speed with ever more acceleration so that, going into the last lap, they'd opened a gap of 54" on the chasers. For a brief time, Vos was ahead and many fans will have expected the outcome to have already been decided: after all, she is Vos. But then, Compton found the strength for another burst, and this time Vos could not respond when she just kept going, eventually reaching the finish 24" ahead.

The reign of Vos is far from over, but we're apparently at the start of a new era. Few people will be as happy about that as Vos herself, because Vos relishes a challenge even more than she loves to win.

Helen Wyman was the best British rider, finishing in sixth place; Nikki Harris was ninth.

Rome CX CdM Top Ten
1 Katie Compton (Trek Cyclo Cross Collective)
2 Marianne Vos (Rabobank-Liv/Giant)
3 Eva Lechner (Colnago-Südtirol)
4 Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Rabobank-Liv/Giant)
5 Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP)
6 Helen Wyman (Kona Factory Racing)
7 Ellen Van Loy (Telenet-Fidea)
8 Sophie de Boer (KDL Cycling Team)
9 Nikki Harris (Telenet-Fidea)
10 Lucie Chainel-Lefevre (EC Stephanois)

Compton leads the competition by 101 points, having 350 to second place Harris' 249. Sanne Cant is third with 221, Vos fourth with 210 and Wyman fifth with 164.


Charline Joiner and Kerry McPhee injured
Scots riders Charline Joiner, winner of two medals at the Irish International Track GP last year, and Kerry McPhee required hospital treatment following a pile-up during a training ride in Girona on Saturday. Joiner suffered three minor fractures to the transverse processes of her spine while McPhee was left with concussion and bruising.

Both riders have been Tweting, in Joiner's case from hospital. Follow Joiner here and McPhee here.


Team News
Argos-Shimano saved
The Dutch team, home to Kirsten Wild, Lucy Garner and the ever-popular Marijn De Vris, among others, has been saved for 2014 by Giant. Previous sponsor Argos, a fuel company, had initially agreed to back the team until the end of 2014 with an option in the contract to continue that support in 2015 if it wished, but was later purchased by Russian firm Sistema and the contract was ended early.

Late in 2013 the team announced that an American organisation had signed a three-year contract but this agreement was ended within a week for reasons as yet unknown, casting the future of the team - and especially the women's team, as managers tend to experience greater problems in securing sponsors for their women's squads - into doubt. Fortunately Giant, which also sponsors the Dutch Rabobank-Liv/Giant women's team, has stepped in with an agreement to support the team for the next year.

New bikes for Optum
Meanwhile, Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies have a new bike provider in the form of a company that is so associated with the BMX world that few people even realise they produce road bikes - Diamondback.

""Diamondback has made a significant commitment to our program and is working very closely with our staff and athletes to deliver the most competitive racing machines available," says Jonas Carney, performance director of Optum's men's squad. The men's and women's teams will both be equipped with the manufacturer's Podium Equipe frames.


Shorts and Interesting Links
Good riddance!
The well-trained eyes of "media maven at a major cycling company" Chris Garrison spotted a rather displeasing recent Cycling Weekly interview (5th December) with former Team Sky directeur sportif Dan Hunt, who has recently left the world of cycling behind for a new job in something called "Premier League football" (I've no idea what this "football" is, but it sounds incredibly dull in comparison to cycling)...

"It all happened very quickly. I told Dave [Brailsford] and his reaction was great, as you would expect. I think he was quietly quite proud; after all he was the person who took a punt on me in 2005. I've grown under him, and it's quite incredible to think that people from this little sport of cycling after getting poached by other sports. 

It demonstrates where cycling is; the fact that someone who started off with the women's team and worked their way through the BC and Sky ranks is off to work in football."

Well, that explains why Sky never seemed to have any interest in starting a women's road racing team. Still, it's nice to know that someone who held a powerful and responsible position in cycling, yet held women's cycling (and cycling in general, apparently) in such disregard, is no longer a part of it.

Yoko Teut is "still going to be involved" in team
"...She’s still talking about how “maybe I should be riding.” She doesn’t want to quit! But it’s good timing for her. She might move to New York to work with the Star Track program. It’s a program in Queens on the velodrome for urban kids. And she’ll also direct our team for races in America," team owner Kristy Scrymgeour told Leah Flickinger in an interview published by Bicycling.

Norway gets UCI race
Norway is to host a UCI women's race in August this year. The event, organised by the National Federation, will run from the 15th to the 17th.

"I've had to wait a long time for this - it's a step in the right direction!" said Karl Lima, manager of the Norwegian Hitec Products-UCK team. Hitec rider Emilie Moberg has been involved in the organisation.

Tour of Qatar stages
Race takes similar routes to previous years.
1 2 3 4

Interesting Links
The Tour organisers confirm multi-year commitment to women’s Tour of Britain (VeloNation)
Women's Tour de France within five years, says Rochelle Gilmore (Quaddess)
Astana-BePink launch (Cycling News)
Victoria's Brenton Jones has won the Bay Cycling Classic (Sydney Morning Herald)
Australian road nationals to contain highly competitive field (Cycling News)


Photo of the Week

"Cycling is fun!" says Amber Pierce

(Image credit: Amber and David Pierce)

Women's Cycling News 24.11-01.12.2013

Compton conquers Koksijde - Photo of the Week - Wyman grabs glory at Gieten - Opinions sought on Otley Sportive - Boels confirms commitment - Shorts and Interesting Links - more as it happens

Katie Compton

Compton conquers Koksijde - again
For many fans it's the best round of the World Cyclo Cross Cup, simply because the sand dunes on which it's raced make it so very different to the usual mud and slippery wet grass, so while the weather in Flanders is completely unpredictable at this time of year (and at any other time of year, for that matter, though if you bet "rain" you'll generally get good odds) Koksijde is always guaranteed to get huge crowds. Which is good, because it means a huge number of people got to see a superb victory by Katie Compton.

Compton had won here three times before (2008, 2010, 2012) and, with Marianne Vos (who won in 2009) taking her customary end-of-road-racing-season break, was the easy favourite and started the race with 110 points in the rankings, but if you've ever tried to ride a bike in sand, you'll know it's not at all an easy thing to do and requires constant concentration - fail to get a turn just right and you're pitched headfirst into the terrain and even if you have the bike handling skills of a CX god, there's always the possibility that your tyres will keep sinking in, sucking every scrap of strength out of your legs before you can even finish the first lap. Compton dealt with it using a simple but highly effective tactic of running where others tried to ride and managed to beat her nearest rival by a huge margin of 1'08".

British rider Nikki Harris was just 15 points behind, causing many to wonder if she'd go all out for a win today - she certainly had a good go and for a time looked the strongest of the group of six that chased the American, but once the race neared its end it was clear she'd given too much to challenge: it was Sanne Cant who powered away from the group, presumably well aware that she wasn't going to catch Compton but going after as glorious a second as she could take. Thousands of adoring fans cheering you on does more for a rider's performance than the contents of Willy Voet's glovebox, which meant that Cant - who isn't quite a local, being from Ekeren around 150km away in Antwerp, but is undoubtedly a Flemish national hero - was also expected to do well (she's well-known for her ability on sand, too); she may have been outclassed by the victor, but she'll be happy to have finished 14" ahead of Harris.

Koksijde Top Ten
1 Katie COMPTON 43'32"
2 Sanne CANT 44'40"
3 Nikki HARRIS 44'54"
4 Sabrina STULTIENS 45'27"
5 Sophie DE BOER 45'28"
6 Helen WYMAN 46'03"
7 Pavla HAVLIKOVA 46'14"
8 Martina MIKULASKOVA 46'49"
9 Loes SELS 46'57"
10 Ellen VAN LOY 47'12"


Photo of the Week
Been a while since I last did one of these (sadly, the pressures of life require me to occasionally suspend my otherwise constant monitoring of Twitter in favour of, like, working and stuff), but "cyclist and wannabe photographer/designer" Jon Baines' shot of Gabby Durrin battling the strength-sucking sands of Koksijde deserves to make it into the eyeballs of as many people as possible. Gabby finished 13th at 47'39" (which she wasn't too pleased with, but just finishing on a parcours like Koksijde is an achievement); Jon says this is the only picture he took of the race using his mobile phone instead of his camera - if it's any indication of how good those will be, I think it's safe to say he's a "gonnabe" rather than a "wannabe!"

Koksijde by Jon Baines

(used with the kind permission of the photographer; please do not reuse with approval from him)

Wyman grabs glory at Gieten... with video!

European cyclo cross is looking rather like a battle between three riders at present with the Brits Helen Wyman and Nikki Harris and Belgian Sanne Cant dividing the spoils between them during the absence of Marianne Vos (who takes a short break from competition after the road season) and Katie Compton (who has been busy at home in the USA, but flew in to win Koksijde this week - see above): Harris won at Hamme-Zogge, Cant won Jaarmarktcross the following day, at Hasselt the next week then Gavere a day after that and now Wyman, who recently successfully defended her European CX title, won at Gieten on the 24th.

Wyman used her usual tactic of taking the lead in the first lap but was not, for a change, fastest off the line - Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn literally catapulted herself onto the parcours and had the advantage for a short time before Cant took over, then Wyman powered into the lead and remained out in front for the remainder of the race, eventually coming in 16" ahead of Cant, who was five seconds ahead of 20-year-old Sabrina Stultiens, who fought her all the way in an attempt to grab second place but finally had to concede to the Belgian's greater experience on the tricky sandy parts of the track - but third when riding against athletes of Wyman and Cant's calibre is not a bad result at all for the Dutch rider, especially considering her recent knee problems.

Opinions sought on Otley Sportive

Organisers of the Otley Sportive say they want to "shape the event to be specific to women, provide value for money, encourage individuals into cycling, and benefit our community." To do that, they need to know how much riders would be willing to pay, what they'd like for their money, whether they'd wish to pay extra for a jersey and a few more things. You can help by sharing your opinions here.

Boels confirms commitment
If only every company was like Boels (well, shared its desire to get involved in women's cycling, anyway - you wouldn't want all companies to be exactly like the plant machinery hire firm, because sometimes you want to buy bikes, cakes, fish, duvets and, like, stuff, rather than hire plant machinery), which has just confirmed its outstanding commitment to women's cycling by signing new contracts in which it agrees to sponsor the Holland Hills Classic and the Holland Ladies' Tour until 2016. Boels also sponsors the successful Boels-Dolmans racing team (which also has secure backing until 2016) and provides money to a number of other women's cycling events.

Shorts and Interesting Links
Beryl Burton photo exhibition (Yorkshire Evening Post)

Women's Cycling News 27.10-03.11.2013

LATEST: Wyman Queen of Koppenbergcross, Nikki Harris has big plans - Emma Pooley joins Lotto-Belisol - Euro Cross Champs start list - Manchester World Cup on BBC - UCI angers Binda bosses - Compton top in Tabor - Wyman wins Ruddervoorde - More Women's Tour details - New team for Plymouth, UK - Long-term performance enhancement from steroids, study suggests - Koppenbergcross Starters - Kloppenberg for Koppenberg? - Transfers and Team News: New sponsor for Argos-Shimano, Moves,  Rachel Heal joins UHC as DS, Matrix RA roster revealed, At-A-Glance - more news as it happens...

Latest: Wyman Queen of Koppenbergcross

Helen Wyman, Britain's most-
overlooked sporting hero

Britain's most overlooked sporting hero Helen Wyman - who, with seven National Championships, one European Championship and a whole host of victories in other races on her palmares ought to be a household name - became the only female rider to have twice won the legendary and infamously technical Koppenbergcross race in 2012, having first won it two years previously. Now, following a masterful performance on Friday that left only Belgian National Champion Sanne Cant able to stay anywhere near her, she's the only woman to have won it three times.

Helen's starts are famous and few riders can rival her for a fast getaway from the line, which enabled the 32-year-old from St. Albans to seize control for much of the first lap. Cant, who is from Antwerp, was obviously eager to win on home soil in front of a typically enthusiastic (and intoxicated) Belgian crowd and managed to take the lead a few times, but Wyman fended off the challenge whenever she did. Meanwhile, fellow Briton Nikki Harris rode in a small group with Ellen van Loy, Sophie de Boer and Christel Ferrier-Bruneau some eight seconds back.

Harris, the current British champion, showed real panache when she left the group behind and caught the two leaders, but the more experienced Wyman knew doing so would have taken serious effort and, knowing she'd have been tired by it, ramped up her own efforts - which turned out to be too much for Cant, too, and before long Wyman was 10" ahead of the Belgian and 15" ahead of the Brit. Cant, though, is a very talented rider who excels on slippery descents, which permitted her to halve her disadvantage on the technical slopes of the field next to the feted Koppenberg climb. Then, disaster - Cant had a puncture and saw her disadvantage return to 10" while she got a replacement bike.

Sanne Cant puts her descending skills to good use at
Azencross 2012

That Cant had managed to shave off 6" by the time she began her final lap is testament to just how good she is - and how much skill she has, despite being nine years younger than Wyman. Had Wyman have punctured now, the outcome might have been very different, but it would be wrong to assume that the finishing order was entirely down to fate, that had Cant have not have punctured when she did the Belgians would have been celebrating (not that they didn't celebrate, of course - the Belgians celebrate cyclo cross, rather than individual winners), because it was the way that Wyman rode the final two climbs that really secured her victory - even at such a late stage in proceedings, she had the strength to double her lead and won by 8". This weekend brings the European Championships, and Wyman is evidently in a very good place from which to defend her title.

Cant's second place was deserved, as was Harris' third - the Derbyshire-born 26-year-old may have been 10" slower than Cant, but she was an impressive 40" faster than the next quickest of the group she'd escaped, Sophie de Boer who took fourth. Koppenbergcross is part of the BPost Bank Trofee, formerly the Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee; Harris leads the series with a 29" advantage (note: the series is now decided by times accumulated in the constituent races, rather than by points as was previously the case), Wyman is second and Cant third at +01'01". (Full Trofee standings here.)

It was a tough race, and the parcours was completely different to a few days ago when I was here training," Wyman said afterwards. "I tried to make it count in the places where I knew I could make a difference, and it's great that I could halve my standings [in the BPost Trofee]. Perhaps if I'd sprinted to the finish I could have made up a little more, but I wanted to enjoy this victory."

Cant was upbeat too: "I've had a few difficult weeks but I was Helen's equal today," she said. "On the cobbles and the descent, I was slightly better than her, but on the climbs she was able to gain ground."

Harris has big plans
Following the race, Harris' Telenet-Fidea team announced that she has signed up for two more years - and the rider revealed that she has big plans. "I had other options including one from Specialized," she told Cycling News. "I thought about both options because I wanted to try racing on the road 100%. After a few weeks I realised that I'm a cross rider first and I will remain a cyclo cross racer. I want and hope to become World Champion, that's my main goal. That's why I will stay at Telenet-Fidea - because that's the place to be for that perspective."

Koppenbergcross Top 10
1 Helen Wyman
2 Sanne Cant
3 Nikki Harris
4 Sophie de Boer
5 Ellen van Loy
6 Pavla Havlikova
7 Githia Michiels
8 Gabby Durrin-Day
9 Christel Ferrier-Bruneau
10 Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn
Full result

Emma Pooley joins Lotto-Belisol

Pooley at the Ronde van Vlaanderen, 2012

Emma Pooley, rated one of the finest climbers in cycling and one of only the very few world-class climbers produced by Britain, will ride with the Lotto-Belisol team in 2013. The news was revealed by Lotto-Belisol via their Twitter account on Thursday afternoon.

Team manager Guy Kostermans also Tweeted...

Guy Kostermans ‏@GuyKostermans
@LB_Ladies: Bull's Eye with signing@PooleyEmma ! #proud. 

Pooley, aged 31, is also known to be a very effective time trial rider, becoming British and World Champion in the discipline in 2010 (she was National Road Race Champion that year too, and National TT Champion in 2009). This, combined with her climbing skills, has brought her numerous General Classification victories, including at the last Tour de France Féminin in 2009.


European Cyclo Cross Championships Starters
Official site with parcours and more
Elite
Sanne Cant (Belgium)
Ellen van Loy (Belgium)
Veronika Blahova (Czech Republic)
Pavla Havlikova (Czech Republic)
Margiet Kloppenberg (Denmark)
Lucie Chainel (France)
Lisa Heckmann (Germany)
Gabby Durrin-Day (Great Britain)
Nikki Harris (Great Britain)
Helen Wyman (Great Britain)
Sophie de Boer (Netherlands)
Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn (Netherlands)
Monique van de Ree  (Netherlands)
Livia Hanesova (Slovakia)
Janka Keseg Stevkova (Slovakia)
Zuzana Vojtasova  (Slovakia)

Youth
Laura Verdonschot (Belgium, Junior)
Jana Czeczinkarova (Czech Republic, Junior)
Lenka Krzyzankova (Czech Republic, Junior)
Katerina Mudrikova (Czech Republic, Junior)
Nikola Noskova (Czech Republic, Junior)
Elena Vanickova (Czech Republic, Junior)
Martina Kukulova ((Czech Republic, U-23)
Vedula Kuntova Martina Kukulova ((Czech Republic, U-23)
Martina Mikulaskova Martina Kukulova (Czech Republic, U-23)
Karla Stepanova (Czech Republic, U-23)
Joanna Muller (Germany, Junior)
Jessica Lambracht (Germany, U-23)
Rachele Barbieri (Italy, Junior)
Chiara Galimberti  (Italy, Junior)
Rebecca Gariboldi (Italy, Junior)
Chiara Teocchi (Italy, Junior)
Elena Torcianti (Italy, Junior)
Alice-Maria Arzuffi (Italy, U-23)
Alessia Bulleri (Italy, U-23)
Jasmine Dotti  (Italy, U-23)
Giorgia Fraiegari (Italy, U-23)
Giovanna Michieletto  (Italy, U-23)
Deborah Soligo (Italy, U-23)
Elena Valentini (Italy, U-23)
Jamie Bierens (Netherlands, Junior)
Lotte Eikelenboom (Netherlands, Junior)
Yara Kastelijn (Netherlands, Junior)
Esmee Oosterman (Netherlands, Junior)
Lindy van Anrooij (Netherlands, Junior)
Annefleur Kalvenhaar (Netherlands, U-23)
Evy Kuijpers (Netherlands, U-23)
Sabrina Stultiens (Netherlands, U-23)
Lana Verberne (Netherlands, U-23)
Tereza Medvedova (Slovakia, Junior)

...little but depressing for we Brits that we can field three riders of such strength in the Elite but not a single Junior or Under-23 in the Youth, isn't it?


BBC Red Button to show Manchester Track World Cup
Full coverage will be broadcast via the Red Button digital channel and online, with nearly three hours of coverage on BBC2 on Sunday the 3rd of November. (If you're not in the UK, try Hola.org set to "UK")

Friday November 1 (Women's Team Sprint, Team Pursuit & Scratch 10k)
12.00-17.45 Red button and online
19.00-21.45 Red button and online

Saturday November 2 (Women's Individual Pursuit & Sprint)
18.00-22.43 Red button and online

Sunday November 3 (Women's Omnium Final, Points Race & Keirin)
14.20-17.50 BBC 2

Racing schedule is here.

UCI angers Trofeo Binda organisers

2013 Binda winner Elisa Longo Borghini

Changes carried out by cycling's worldwide governing body the Union Cycliste Internationale have drawn the ire of organisers of one of the top races in women's cycling.

The Trofeo Alfredo Binda, in existence since 1974 and part of the World Cup since 2008, is one of the affected races. In 2014, it will take place as usual at the end of March (30th; it was the 24th in 2013), the same date as the newly-upgraded Gent-Wevelgem women's race, which will be classified as a 1.2 event from 2014. The Trofeo is popular with fans and riders alike for its unusually well-balanced parcours that does not favour any particular speciality, whereas Gent-Wevelgem is known as a sprinter's race - were the world's greatest sprinters to be other engaged in Belgium, the Trofeo would undoubtedly lose some of its attraction. Organisers Cycling Sport Promotion, who accuse the UCI of failing to preserve World Cup races, are sufficiently angered that they're threatening to pull out of the World Cup - or even no longer hold their race.

Meanwhile, organisers of the Thuringen Rundfahrt were displeased at the 21st-27th of July calendar slot they'd been given and threatened to pull the plug. The race has now been moved to the requested 14th-20th of July, following the removal of the Ster Zeeuwsche Eilanden (which did not go ahead in 2013 due to financial problems) from the calendar.

Compton top in Tabor
Tabor would be a horrendously technical race in wet conditions with its grass sections, which would take all a rider's skill when made slippery by rain and then sap her strength as soon as they turned into mud - so the warm, sunny weather during this year's race will have been a much appreciated change to the sort of weather cyclo crossers get used to when competing in the sport's Belgian homeland.

Van Loy at Azencross 2012

For once, Helen Wyman wasn't fastest off the line with Belgian Ellen van Loy's lightning reactions giving her the quickest start. She didn't remain in the lead for long, though - Nikki Harris powered in front and looked like she meant to break away from the pack, but then Wyman got into gear and upped the tempo to close the gap.

Van Loy was on the case once again later in the race when Harris tried to get away once more, but the British rider was just too fast to catch. Before the end of the first lap, only six riders were anywhere near her - but then Katie Compton decided to take matters in hand and did what nobody else had been able to do, overtaking and taking charge of a group also consisting of van Loy, Harris, Cant, Pavla Havlikova and Christel Ferrier-Bruneau. Wyman, only metres behind, was hotly pursued by a second group made up of , Gabby Day, Kaitlin Antonneau and Lucienne Chainel-Lefevre; none of them could rival Compton.

Katie Compton

Then, near-disaster: as she reached the steps on the last lap, Compton ran into mechanical difficulties (gears? She looked to be stuck in a higher than ideal ratio) and looked for a short while as though she was going to have to shoulder her bike all the way to finish - she certainly seemed to think so, running with it once over the steps; but then decided she might as well remount and test her luck. Harris leaped at the chance and slashed the American's advantage to a few seconds, and had Compton's mechanical come only a few seconds earlier, Harris would almost certainly have come out on top. As it was, though, she'd been too close to the line for the outcome to change - Harris simply didn't have the time she needed and, in spite of a spectacularly fast sprint, finished six seconds down; Compton is, therefore, now leading the World Cup rankings.

Compton's victory was well-fought, well-deserved and exciting, but wass it a case of while the cat's (or the Fox, perhaps?) away, the mice will play? She was completely unable to compete with Marianne Vos at Valkenburg last week, but then gave her a real run for her money at Woerden and finished just six seconds down - a very good result when racing Vos off-road, because Vos rules 'cross even more convincingly than the road races, and more than enough to demonstrate that she'll be one of the strongest threats to Vos this season. The question now is, will Compton find the form - or will Vos lose it - over the next couple of months before the Dutch woman returns from a well-earned rest?

Tabor Top Ten
1 Katie COMPTON 43'41"
2 Nikki HARRIS 43'47"
3 Pavla HAVLIKOVA 43'48"
4 Christel FERRIER-BRUNEAU 44'18"
5 Sanne CANT ST
6 Meredith MILLER 44'28"
7 Ellen VAN LOY BEL 44'35"
8 Lucienne CHAINEL-LEFEVRE 44'37"
9 Kaitlin ANTONNEAU 44'46"
10 Sophie DE BOER 44'52"
Full result

Wyman wins Ruddervoorde as Brits take three out of four

Wyman's trademark turn of speed from the line proved unbeatable at the Superprestige Ruddervoorde, where strong rivals were unable to generate sufficient power to catch her on a parcours that always seems to suit the Hertfordshire-born rider - most riders have a type of terrain that they especially favour, but Wyman's ability to take all in her stride and perform well on whatever happens to be passing below her wheels at any point in a varied race such as this gives her a distinct competitive advantage, and she finished a full 27" ahead of fellow Brit and current National Champion Nikki Harris who took second place. Belgium's Sanne Cant was third and another Brit, Gabby Day, was fourth.

Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn was sixth and thus qualified for the European Championships, but will not take up her place due to back problems. "It was a tough decision and I have mixed feelings, but I prefer to concentrate on making a full recovery," said the 46-year-old, who still regularly beats riders two decades younger than herself.

Ruddervoorde Top Ten
1 Helen WYMAN 42'36"
2 Nikki HARRIS 43'03"
3 Sanne CANT 43'24"
4 Gabriella Day 43'24"
5 Ellen VAN LOY 44'25"
6 Reza HORMES-RAVENSTIJN 44'52"
7 Loes SELS 45'14"
8 Yara KASTELIJN 45'31"
9 Joyce VANDERBEKEN 45'48"
10 Laura VERDONSCHOT 46'00"
Full result


More Women's Tour Details
SweetSpot, organisers of the new Women's Tour, have release more details. Stage 1 will start in Oundle, with the remainder of the day's parcours staying within Northamptonshire as previously reported. Stage 2 will start in Hinckley (Leicestershire) and will travel through Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire to end in Bedford. Further details and maps will be published in the New Year.

Meanwhile, Cambridge MP Julian Huppert (who can frequently be seen cycling around the city) seems to be taking an interest in the Women's Tour and has been retweeting news on it. Should Cambridge-based women's cycling fans get excited about this...?


New women's team for Plymouth, UK
South-west England's only professional cycling team Spin Rotor-Primal is to operate a women's team for the first time in 2014. The team, based in Plymouth, launched in 2010; two female riders have reportedly already been signed up and the full rosters will be announced in February.

Long-term performance enhancement from steroids, study suggests
The cycling world has long been split into those who believe that a rider found to have doped should be permitted a second chance once she or he reaches the end of a fitting ban and those who believe a "one strike and you're out" approach is the only way to effectively discourage unscrupulous athletes from turning to drugs for assistance.

Now the second group's argument may be about to be strengthened due to findings from a study carried out by the University of Oslo that seems to show that athletes who have used anabolic steroids may experience permanent performance-enhancing effects.

"Female mice were treated with testosterone propionate for 14 days, inducing a 66% increase in the number of myonuclei and a 77% increase in fibre cross sectional area," explained Professor Kristian Gundersen in a piece published by the Journal of Physiology. "Three weeks after removing the drug, fibre size was decreased to the same level as in sham treated animals, but the number of nuclei remained elevated for at least 3 months (>10% of the mouse lifespan). At this time, when the myonuclei-rich muscles were exposed to overload-exercise for 6 days, the fibre cross sectional area increased by 31% while control muscles did not grow significantly. We suggest that the lasting, elevated number of myonuclei constitutes a cellular memory facilitating subsequent muscle overload hypertrophy. Our findings might have consequences for the exclusion time of doping offenders." (Read the full abstract here; full article requires subscription).

Bans handed out to cyclists have been big news in women's cycling over the last month because of the return to the sport of Hanna Solovey after a two-year suspension. Solovey used steroids at the age of 19, but claims she was pressurised into doing so by a coach - a convincing defence that has been used by other young riders in the past (but not one that has prevented suspicion in the wake of her victory at the Chrono des Nations). If it can be proven that riders like Solovey still benefit from the effects of steroids after two years (far less than 15% of a human life span, and during shich she was presumably not using banned drugs), it would become much easier to construct a convincing argument in favour of life bans.

Koppenberg Starters
This weekend brings Koppenbergcross, the race that as far as many people are concerned is the biggest and best cyclo cross race of them all - you can see the parcours here, and the start list looks like this...

1 Sanne Cant
2 Helen Wyman
3 Nikki Harris
4 Ellen Van Loy
5 Pavla Havlikova 
6 Sabrina Stultiens 
7 Christel Ferrier-Bruneau 
8 Gabby Durrin-Day
9 Joyce Vanderbeken
10 Margriet Kloppenburg 
11 Reza Hormes 
12 Asa Maria Erlandsson 
13 Githa Michiels
14 Sophie de Boer 
15 Karen Verhestraeten
16 Hilde Quintens
17 Christine Vardaros 
18 Katrien Thijs
19 Stephanie De Croock
20 Loes Sels
21 Cindy Bauwens
22 Claire Beaumont 
23 Delia Beddis 
24 Axelle Bellaert
25 Cindy Diericx
26 Katleen Fraeye
27 Anja Geldhof
28 Sophia Joy 
29 Shana Maes
30 Petra Mermans
31 Ilona Meter 
32 Claire Smith 
33 Karine Temporelli 
34 Lindy van Anrooij 
35 Ilse Vandekinderen
36 Aurelie Vermeir
37 Sandie Verriest
38 Gertie Willems
39 Jolien Verschueren

Kloppenberg for Koppenberg?
Koppenbergcross features a highly technical section through the steeply-sloping field just north of the Steengat section of the Koppenberg itself, where the gradient approachs -30% - which is more than steep enough to be a problem in dry conditions, but makes things extremely difficult when the rough, tussocky grass is wet (which it looks like it will be, heavy rain being forecast all day on Friday). Excellent descent skills are, therefore, vital for anyone hoping to stand a chance of winning. According to Stef Wyman, who was there to train with Helen Wyman, the seven-time British champion and to whom he is married, nobody was descending as well as Margriet Kloppenberg on Wednesday.


Transfers and Team News

Karol-Ann Canuel

Argos-Shimano report that the team has a major new sponsor, to replace Argos (a Dutch oil company rather than the British chain of shops, as some people mistakenly believe).

“Very recently, a company expressed interest in taking over the main sponsorship. The new sponsor is a good fit with our ambitious team goals,” said general manager Iwan Spekenbrink via the team's website.

The new sponsor's name will be revealed soon, with further team details and jersey designs also expected.

Reports in the Canadian and Dutch news say Karol-Ann Canuel, riding for Vienne Futuroscope since 2010, will move to Specialized-Lululemon in 2014. It's also rumoured that Chantal Blaak is seeking a move from Tibco-To The Top.

Peta Mullens, who won the 2009 Australian Under-23 Road Race Championships and is currently National Cross Country MTB champion, is joining the British-registered Wiggle-Honda team owned and managed by fellow Australian Rochelle Gilmore. She'll be given the task of acting as lead-out for Giorgia Bronzini, but as one of the fastest sprinters in the peloton she'll undoubtedly have many chances to go for victories for herself too. Another Australian, the current Oceania Individual Time Trial Champion Taryn Heather, has signed a contract with Bigla.

Retired British rider Rachel Heal, who came close to winning the National Championships numerous times during the first half-decade of the 21st Century, won Stage 7 at the 2004 Tour de l'Aude, Stage 1 at the 2007 Tour of the Gila and Stage 4 at the same race a year later, is joining the management team at United HealthCare - which launches its first women's team for 2014. Working as a directeur sportif alongside Mike Tamayo, Hendrik Redant and Roberto Damiani, she will be involved with the development of both the women's and men's squads.

Matrix Racing reveals roster
Closer to home, Louise Borthwick has signed to the Matrix Racing Academy - which will race with a British licence (and a new name, yet to be revealed) in 2014, but will also make an appearance in several UCI events around Europe throughout the season and has its sights firmly set on a place at the Women's Tour. The team has also signed Sigrid Jochems, previously with Water, Land & Dijken, a rider whom manager Stef Wyman describes as "one of the fastest finishers" in women's cycling.

"We have put together a very strong line up of riders as we always aim to do," says Wyman. "We’ve been especially careful about how we have constructed the team this year. We know that a team that can perform in a UCI 2.1 race is very different to a team that can target wins in the many criteriums on the UK race calendar.  If we are going to be one of the lucky few teams to get a wildcard invitation for The Women’s Tour we will need to demonstrate we are not there to make up the numbers."

Matrix's full roster is: Bethany Hayward, Corrine Hall, Lora Turnham (who rides in paracycling tandem events with Hall as pilot), Harriet Owen, Jessie Walker, Jo Tindley, Louise Borthwick, Mel Lowther and Penny Rowson, who is rejoining Matrix after a year away. They are without a doubt the friendliest team in cycling; if you're not doing so already give them a follow on Twitter. (More from Stef on the team)

At a glance
Most of the teams have revealed their line-ups for 2014 now that transfer season is drawing to a close, though are some notable outfits that haven't yet announced full rosters. Here's what has been confirmed so far...

Argos-Shimano
Marijn de Vries
Lucy Garner
Willeke Knol
Floortje Mackaij
Sara Mustonen
Maaike Polspoel
Julia Soek
Kirsten Wild
Kyara Stijns

BePink
Alice Algisi

Bigla
Vera Koedooder
Taryn Heather

Boels-Dolmans
Lizzie Armitstead
Jessie Daams
Demi De Jong
Janneke Ensing
Megan Guarnier
Romy Kasper
Nina Kessler
Emma Trott
Ellen van Dijk
Marieke van Wanroij
Nicky Zijlaard
Christine Majerus
Katarzyna Pawlowska

Faren-Kuota
Rossella Ratto
Erika Varela

Firefighters Upsala CK
Jessica Kihlbom
Christina Siggard
Linnea Sjoblom

Futurumshop.nl-Zannata
Latoya Brulee
Kirsten Coppens
Sofie de Vuyst
Annelies Dom
Karen Elzing
Anouska Helena Koster
Evy Kuijpers
Mascha Pijnenborg
Janine van der Meer
Annelies van Doorslaer
Grace Verbeke

Hitec Products-UCK
Audrey Cordon
Lauren Kitchen
Elisa Longo Borghini
Ashleigh Moolman
Sara Olsson
Aude Biannic

Lotto-Belisol
Amy Cure
Jolien D'Hoore
Liesbeth de Vocht
Lieselot Decroix
Chantal Hoffmann
Molly Meyvisch
Isabelle Soderberg
Celine van Severen
Anisha Vekemans
Sara Verhaest
Valentina Scandolara
Grace Sulzberger
Emma Pooley

Orica-AIS
Carlee Taylor
Annette Edmondson
Gracie Elvin
Shara Gillow
Loes Gunnewijk
Melissa Hoskins
Emma Johansson
Jessie MacLean
Amanda Spratt

Parkhotel
Kim de Baat
Sophie de Boer
Aafke Eshuis
Ilona Hoeksma
Riejanne Markus
Marissa Otten
Kristen Peetoom
Jermaine Post
Rozanne Slik
Lisanne Soemanta
Esra Tromp
Monique van de Ree
Bianca van den Hoek
Natalie van Gogh

People's Trust
Geerike Schreurs
Laura van der Kamp

Rabobank-Liv/Giant
Lucinda Brand
Thalita De Jong
Pauline Ferrand Prevot
Anna Knauer
Roxane Knetemann
Katarzyna Niewiadoma
Iris Slappendel
Sabrina Stultiens
Anna van der Breggen
Annemiek van Vleuten
Marianne Vos

Rytger
Simone Eg
Hanna Helamb
Malin Nystrand
Anna Palsson
Julie Valgren Andersen
Kamilla Sofie Vallin
Amalie Winther Olsen

S.C. Michela Fanini-ROX
Beatrice Bafile
Michela Balducci
Carlotta Brui
Simona Crotti
Azzurra D'Intino
Mireia Epelde
Liisi Rist
Lara Vieceli
Yevgenia Vysotska

Servetto-Zhiraf
Natalia Boyarskaya
Elisabet Bru
Anna Potokina
Svetlana Bubnenknova

Specialized-Lululemon
Elise Delzenne
Kristabel Doebel-Hickok
Jasmin Glaesser
Claudia Hausler
Amanda Miller
Shelley Olds
Samantha Schneider
Lauren Stephens
Anika Todd
Elizabeth Wilborne

Telenet-Fidea
Ellen van Loy

Topsport Vlaanderen-ProDuo-Ridley
Else Belmans
Gilke Croket
Nel de Crits
Nicky Degrendele
Demmy Druyts
Jessy Druyts
Kelly Druyts
Lenny Druyts
Alitcia Eijssen
Lotte Kopecky
Eva Maria Palm
Kelly van den Steen
Saartje Vandenbroucke

United Healthcare
Mara Abbott
Rushlee Buchanan
Alison Powers
Coryn Rivera
Alexis Ryan
Lauren Tamayo
Ruth Winder

Vienne Futuroscope
Sandrine Bideau
Charlotte Bravard
Oriane Chaumet
Fiona Dutriaux
Roxane Fournier
Pascale Jeuland
Lucie Pader
Gabrielle Pilote-Fortin
Amelie Rivat
Sarah Roy
Manon Souyris
Kimberley Wells

Wiggle-Honda
Emilia Fahlin 


Shorts and Interesting Links
Cookson's salary

Cookson - rolling in it, though not
to quite the same extent as McQuaid

New UCI president Brian Cookson will be paid an annual salary of 340,000 Swiss Francs (CHF), which is £235,526.84, 274,887.62 Euros or $378,999.02 as I type these words. That's a whole lot less than predecessor Pat McQuaid, who was on a cool half a million CHF (£346,623; 404,679 Euros; $557,351.50) - and a whole shitload less than an Elite professional female cyclist, since they're not even guaranteed a minimum wage by Cookson's organisation like Elite professional male cyclists are.

Track Cycling World Cup: Winning Olympic gold and fighting crime [with Miriam Welte and Kristina Vogel) (BBC Sport)
Tour de France's rejection of women keeps cycling in the dark ages (The Guardian)
Williamson happy with form ahead of Manchester UCI Track Cycling World Cup (British Cycling)
Oundle In Northamptonshire To Host Opening Stage Of The Women's Tour In May (Sport.co.uk)
Monica Bascio: Paralympic SportsWoman Of The Year (TeamUSA)
Jess Varnish wants to end a troubled year on a high in World Cup (The Guardian)
British Cycling to run its first ever women's-only coaching course (British Cycling)
Chloe McGonville claims yellow jersey in Tour of the Goldfields (The Courier)
Becky James relishing return to Britain next weekend (Wales Online)

UCI CX World Cup Liévin

Still only 24 years old, Vos seems unstoppable
(public domain image)

Marianne Vos proved that the recent swap to a Giant bike after so long on her trusty Stevens creates absolutely no impediment whatsoever to her continuing domination of women's cycling - unless, of course, she's secretly riding a Stevens in Giant's clothing - with another superb win that saw her cross the line a full 48 seconds ahead of 2nd place Daphny Van Den Brand despite a crash that left her on the ground during the race. The 24-year-old Dutch superstar fell hard enough to still feel it late on Monday: "Adrenaline: best painkiller that your body makes itself. Rode smoothly to the finish after my crash yesterday. Today, however, it stopped working," she said.

The USA's Katy Compton took 3rd place followed by Caroline Mani in 4th and British champion Helen Wyman in 5th - a promising indication of a return to firm after her results were badly affected by the virus that has plagued the European cyclo cross world since before Christmas and which kept Sanne van Paassen away from this race. Wyman is a rider who likes to show appreciation for her fans and often pens a race report offering probably the best description available of the events she enters - her Liévin report is available here. Gabriella Day - who was not at Liévin - has also come down with the chest infection, telling fans on Twitter that she is taking antibiotics to combat it.

Cyclocross Magazine has photographs of the Elite Women's and Elite Men's races.


Elite Women
1. Marianne Vos 0:39:30
2. Daphny Van Den Brand 0:48
3. Katie Compton 1:14
4. Caroline Mani 1:19
5. Helen Wyman 1:20
6. Sophie De Boer 1:50
7. Nikki Harris1:51
8. Lucie Chainel-Lefevre 2:21
9. Pavla Havlikova 2:35
10. Sabrina Schweizer 2:41
11. Sanne Cant 2:49
12. Arenda Grimberg 2:50
13. Martina Mikulaskova 2:52
14. Jasmin Achermann 2:58
15. Katerina Nash 3:03
16. Kaitlin Antonneau 3:30
17. Sabrina Stultiens 3:58
18. Christine Majerus 4:01
19. Joyce Vanderbeken 4:02
20. Anne-Fleur Kalvenhaar 4:44
21. Julie Krasniak 4:45
22. Hilde Quintens 5:02
23. Linda van Rijen 5:16
24. Reza Hormes Ravenstijn 5:27
25. Stephanie Vaxillaire-Denuit 5:37
26. Christine Vardaros 5:55
27. Cynthia Huygens 6:06
28. Katrien Thijs 6:37
29. Lise-Marie Henzelin 7:26
30. Kim Van De Steene 7:41
31. Marlene Petitgirard 0:01
32. Nancy Bober ST
33. Githa Michiels ST
34. Ayako Toyooka ST
35. Nicolle de Bie Leyten ST
36. Margriet Kloppenburg 0:02
37. Nikoline Hansen 0:03