Cant beats Vos at Krawatencross; Helen Wyman third

Beating the World Champion must feel great. When that World Champion is Marianne Vos, and you also beat the European Champion Helen Wyman, it must feel absolutely fantastic - which explains Belgian Champion Sanne Cant's delight as she took the top step of the podium following Saturday's BPost Bank Trofee Krawatencross race at Lille. The victory was sweetened yet further due to the Belgian having been fourth  at last weekend's World Championships where Vos won and Wyman was third - and by the fact that Vos won this very race for the last two years, beating Cant (3rd 2012, 2nd 2013) on both occasions. Wyman, who is British Champion for the eighth time this season as well as European Champion for the second time, seemed unable to match Cant and Vos as the race progressed and left the pair fighting a private battle all of their own, each rider refusing to back down all the way to the final approach to the finish. With the race looking certain to end in a sprint the majority of fans will have been expecting Vos to add yet another victory to her spectacular palmares despite Cant's skill on a sandy parcours such as this, but then the Dutch superstar's foot slipped from the pedal. She probably lost no more than a fraction of a second, but it was enough: Cant noticed and attacked hard, taking the tiny advantage that was she needed to triumph. Wyman will also be pleased with her result: she's never stood on the podium at this race before. The only other British rider was Nikki Harris, who took fourth place. Although Wyman still leads the series overall, her advantage is now just 31" to Cant (Harris is third at +1'11"). The final round, taking place at Oostmalle on the 23rd of February, promises therefore to be one of the season highlights. Helen Wyman's race report Video: Cant wins Krawatencross Krawatencross Full Result 1  Sanne Cant (Enertherm - Bkcp)  BEL 2  Marianne Vos (Rabobank Women Team)  NED 3  Helen Wyman (Kona)  GBR 4  Nikki Harris (Telenet Fidea Cycling Team Young NPI)  GBR 5  Loes Sels (Young Telenet Fidea)  BEL 6  Sophie De Boer (Kdl Cycling Team)  NED 7  Yara Kastelijn (Rtc Buitenlust)  NED 8  Ellen Van Loy (Young Telenet-Fidea)  BEL 9  Pavla Havlikova (Young Telenet - Fidea)  CZE 10  Githa Michiels (Toka Print Mtb Team)  BEL 11 Karen Verhestraeten (Sengers Ladies Cycling Team) BEL 12 Reza Ravenstijn-Hormes NED 13 Jolien Verschueren (Dncs/pro 2012 Cycling Team) BEL 14 Esmee Oosterman (Wrv DE Peddelaars) NED 15 Laura Verdonschot (Vzw Lotto - Ladiescycling) BEL 16 Maud Kaptheyns NED 17 Katrien Thijs (UP Cycling Team) BEL 18 Hilde Quintens BEL 19 Lotte Eikelenboom (Drc De Mol) NED 20 Kim Banga NED 21 Christine Vardaros (Baboco - Revor Cycling Team) USA 22 Shana Maes BEL 23 Ilona Meter (Rcp Stevens) NED 24 Nele Van Maldeghem BEL 25 Suzie Godart LUX 26 Suzanne Verhoeven NED 27 Gertie Willems BEL 28 Meg De Bruyne BEL 29 Lena Bischoff-Stein 30 Nathalie Nijns BEL 31 Tine Verdeyen BEL 32 Lene Vrijsen BEL 33 Mara Schwager GER 34 Caren Commissaris (UP Cycling Team) BEL 35 Valerie Boonen BEL 36 Laura Krans NED 37 Anja Geldhof BEL 38 Brenda Kaczmarczyk BEL 39 Yenthe Boons BEL 40 Jessika Timmermans BEL 41 Cindy Diericx BEL 42 Britta Werners GER 43 Caitlyn La Haye BEL 44 Sandra Sintobin BEL

More News...Shorts and Links

Tour of Qatar Stage 3

With Stage 3 staying close to the eastern coastline for much of its 93.5km, teams expected yet more crosswinds today and were entirely correct in doing so: the bunch was split up early on once again as riders battled to make progress - Chloe Hosking (Hitec Products) later described it as "seriously one of the hardest races I have done." A group of 28, including all those who went into the race with a reasonable chance of winning, got away and led for most of the day.

In the final kilometres the lead group had been whittled down to a dozen, and as the finish drew near it looked as though Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans), who is the only British rider in the race, would also be the only rider able to challenge the mighty Kirsten Wild, despite the Dutch rider's Giant-Shimano squad having kept tight reins on the race all the way. However, Wild's famously powerful sprint proved too much and she had little difficulty in retaining her lead across the finish line to win a third stage for the team. Armitstead was right behind her, taking second place and an identical time, while Hosking was third.

Following bonification, Wild takes back the overall lead from team mate Amy Pieters (winner of Stage 2) and now has an advantage of 9" - and seems a safe bet for anyone wanting to predict tomorrow's results, too.


Stage 3 Top Ten
1 Kirsten WILD (Giant-Shimano) 2h27'34"
2 Elizabeth ARMITSTEAD (Boels-Dolmans) ST
3 Chloe HOSKING (Hitec Products) ST
4 Shelley OLDS (Ale-Cipollini) ST
5 Emma JOHANSSON (Orica-AIS) ST
6 Barbara GUARISCHI (Ale-Cipollini) ST
7 Trixi WORRACK (Specialized-Lululemon) ST
8 Elena CECCHINI (Italy NT) ST
9 Amy PIETERS (Giant-Shimano) ST
10 Loes GUNNEWIJK (Orica-AIS) ST
Full result: stage / GC

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

Weekly Women's Cycling News 29.04-05.05.2013

Karla Boddy wins Cheshire Classic - Wiggle-Honda at Nocturne - UK women-only MTB marathon - Sheffield GP secure women's race sponsor - Kaarle McCulloch wins Sportstar award - other news - Tweets - Photo of the Week

Karla Boddy wins Cheshire Classic

Karla Boddy

She only had two team mates to back her up (other riders had seven) and was far from a favourite to win, but Karla Boddy (MG Maxifuel) knows that clever tactics will frequently prove mightier than brute strength. After she'd spent the Cheshire Classic (28th April)  biding her time in the peloton, preserving her strength while attention was drawn away by the more crowd-pleasing, theatrical attacks of Penny Rowson (Breast Cancer Care) and Amy Roberts (Wiggle-Honda), most of those riders who were favourites had probably forgotten that she was even there; or if they knew they didn't pay any notice. Until, that is, she launched her sprint some 300m from the finish line during the tenth and final lap of the 7.7km circuit, catching the peloton by surprise. Matrix Racing Academy's Emma Grant responded quickest and went after her - but had she been quick enough? Even the two riders weren't sure at first, with joyous fans taking great pleasure in being able to reassure Boddy that she'd won. More here.

Cheshire Classic Top Ten
1 Karla Boddy (MG-Maxifuel)
2 Emma Grant (Matrix Racing Academy)
3 Emily Kay (Scott Contessa Epic)
4 Amy Roberts (Wiggle-Honda)
5 Gabriella Shaw (Breast Cancer)
6 Charline Joiner (MG-Maxifuel)
7 Hannah Walker (Matrix Racing Academy)
8 Louise Mahe (Team Mulebar Girl-Sigma Sport)
9 Amy Hill (Abergavenny RC)
10 Kayleigh Brogan (Breast Cancer Care)

Rowsell, Trott and King

Wiggle-Honda to race at London Nocturne
The Women's Criterium at the IG Markets London Nocturne has, within just a few years, become one of the most prestigious women's cycling events in the UK, able to attract the top names in the sport - to take part in the race and to support its future, as became necessary last year when pressure from British Cycling (who were concerned that the riders might be too tired to take part in a BC event the following day) very nearly led to the women's race being cancelled. This year, it's pulled in none other than the best-known women's team in the country: Rochelle Gilmore's British-registered Wiggle-Honda are sending Olympic stars Jo Rowsell, Dani King and Laura Trott to make the team's British racing debut at the event, which takes place at Smithfield Market on the 8th of June. More details here.

Britain's first women-only MTB marathon
I don't usually cover mountain biking on this site (the excellent Mountain Biking UK magazine and others began reporting on female riders and races right from the start of their existence, at a time when the road cycling mags didn't seem aware that women's road cycling even existed), but news that Wales is about to host Britain's very first women-only MTB marathon is well worth spreading.

The non-competitive event takes place near Builth Wells and features 20 and 40km off-road routes with something suitable for everyone; there is camping available and plenty of stuff to amuse children and dads whilst the mums are busy riding. For more information, see British Cycling.

Sheffield GP secure women's race sponsorship

Sheffield Grand Prix ‏@SheffGrandPrix
More big news. We are proud to announce that we have secured a headline sponsor for the Women's Grand Prix. All set for a fantastic race!!

McCulloch and Meares, 2011

Kaarle McCulloch is Tynan-Honda Sportstar of the Year
Chances are that, as the Olympic glow fades with every passing month since August last year, before too long the majority of the world's population will have once again forgotten that women's cycling exists as a sport. In the meantime, however, we can all enjoy seeing the athletes receive the attention they so rightfully deserve - as was the case with Australia's Kaarle McCulloch when she was named Tynan-Honda Sportstar of the Year this week. McCulloch, born in New South Wales, became Elite National 500m Champion for the fifth time in January this year.

McCulloch received the award for her bronze-winning Team Pursuit performance alongside Anna Meares - Australia's first track cycling medal at the Games.

Other News
UK
Cheshire Classic (Northwich Guardian)
An insight into cycle racing by Karla Boddy (ThameNews)
Jess Varnish: Pendleton left a void (Track Cycling News)
Chris Newton is new British Cycling women's Team Pursuit coach (Eurosport)
Worldwide
Grey Ghost Bicycles will host a Women’s Cycling Series event featuring Megan Guarnier (PostStar, NY, USA)
Tunisia to host third Arab Women's Cycling Championship (Magharebia)
Women-only cyclocross team races onto the Bay Area cycling scene (Bay Area Living)
Putting on a show in the Norwegian Cup (Tone Hattland, Cycling News)
Celebrate women in cycling on Women's Ride Day (CatWalkChatt, North Georgia, USA)
Cyclists get hearts racing at Spartanburg's Spring Fling (GoUpstate, USA)
All-women bike rides around the globe (Canoe Travel)
Bangladesh Ansar won two gold medals in the 8th Bangladesh Games (Financial Express)
Wiasak 'stoked' with hard-fought time-trial win (Canberra Times)

Tweets
Ashleigh Moolman ‏@ashleighcycling
"@TheDailyPeloton: Giro Rosa unveils participating teams and stages http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=20520 … #womenscycling @GiroRosa2013" looking forward :-)

Marianne Vos ‏@marianne_vos
Meet the riders of my team @RaboLivGiant: http://youtu.be/kqsTNstYHsQ 
Proud to be part of this motivated group!

CyclingFlash ‏@CyclingFlash
VIDEO Women Cyclingfever: G. Bronzini (@GiorgiaBronzini, @WiggleHonda) wins 1st stage #ElsyJacobs 2013 - http://women.cyclingfever.com/stage.html?etappe_idd=MjkxMzQ=&_ap=video …

Photo of the Week

From the Gracia Orlova
Photo by Bell X One; do not use without owner's
permission

Weekly Women's Cycling News 22-28.04.2013

Broken shoulder for Wild - All over at Orlova for RusVelo - English Op de Troon on the way - Afghan National Women's Team aiming for Rio - Johnson HealthTech GP details announced - UK and Worldwide

(Issue 1 of what I'm going to try to make a regular feature on Les Déesses - a weekly digest of women's cycling news stories, anecdotes and links that you might not have seen elsewhere)

Broken shoulder for Wild

Kirsten Wild

Kirsten Wild, Dutch powerhouse sprinter for Argos-Shimano, crashed early on in the Omloop van Borsele on the 20th and finished the race in 20th place, taking 10'23" longer than winner Vera Koedooder (Sengers) to complete the parcours. Initial investigation after the race failed to show any serious injury; subsequent examinations and x-rays have revealed that she has fractured her shoulder and has fluid on the joint and a partially torn tendon, meaning that she'll be unable to compete at next month's Tour of Chongming Island - where the flat parcours guarantees the sort of no-holds-barred bunch sprints at which she excels.

"The pain is bearable but it is just impossible to lift my arm," the 30-year-old says on her team's website. She'll now undergo physiotherapy and hopes to attend a training camp beginning in the latter half of May. Argos-Shimano report here.

RusVelo: All over at Orlova

The Gracia Orlova (taking place in the Czech Republic until the 28th) ended early and in rather embarrassing circumstances for RusVelo- on Friday Natalia Boyarskaya finished Stage 3 in fourth place, Alexandra Burchenkova was in ninth place overall at +1'33" and the team was fourth in the teams classification. Then, on Saturday morning, they arrived at Lichnov ready to start the stage and discovered... that they were in a different Lichnov, some 70km from the one hosting the stage start. The same mistake has been made by other teams in the past; this year RusVelo were the only victims.

Marianne's book will be
published in English

English language Vos autobiography to be published

World Champion and Officially The Best Cyclist In The World Marianne Vos' Op de Troon (which translates every so slightly unfortunately into English as On The Throne; which for the benefit of non-British readers is slang for "having a crap") was published recently, much to the delight of those womens' cycling fans who possess the necessary Dutch language vaardigheden to read it. Geweldig nieuws, then, that an English version is in the pijpleiding - more details here and on Twitter just as soon as I know more*.

*PS: I can't really speak Dutch, and apologise to the Dutch people if Google's just tricked me into saying something awful about your grandmothers.

Afghan women aiming for Rio

Female pro cyclists face certain issues that male cyclists don't - issues such as the fact that they don't get a guaranteed minimum wage (the men do), the ridiculous prize money at races ("Just won the Ronde van Vlaanderen? Chapeau - here's €1,128, quite a bit less than you'd get paid of you gave up cycling and put in a full week behind the counter in McDonald's instead"), the uncertainty over whether your sponsors will still be around next season or decide out of the blue that they're going to back a men's team instead and the uncertainty over whether or not the entire Elite Women series will still exist next season or vanish into a huge abyss of debt and National Federation apathy. On the bright side, riders can generally go out on training rides without worrying that they might be shot at or kidnapped and executed by a load of fundamentalist nutters who think that God doesn't like women to ride bikes for some reason - very, very real possibilities for the new Afghan National Women's Team. Read more about them and their dreams of Rio here.

Johnson HealthTech details announced

Seven-time British CX champion and
2011 GP winner HelenWyman (who is
also super-friendly and very much
worth a follow on Twitter) returns to
the Johnson HealthTech GP

After only two years, the Johnson HealthTech GP - a series of races in which Britain's best female riders compete on tight, fast, challenging urban circuits - is already one of the most popular competitive cycling events in the UK. Stoke-on-Trent will host the first round, taking place on the 21st of May - and if you can't make it to the race, highlights will be broadcast on ITV4 the following day.

Round 1 - 21.05.2013
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire
Round 2 - 0.05.2013
Colchester, Essex
Round 3 - 11.06.2013
Woking, Surrey
Round 4 - 13.06.2013
Aylsham, Norfolk
Round 5 - 14.06.2013
Ipswich, Suffolk

Other News
UK
Laura Trott to race Elveden Estate Cycle Series, 11.05.2013 (Eastern Daily Press)
Sophie Faulkner wins Tudor Grange No Frills Racing (Solihull Observer)
Brailsford hails rising Welsh female talents (Wales Online)
Worldwide
Samantha de Riter leads Mersey Valley Tour (The Mercury, Australia)
Moolman-Pasio realises dreams in Belgium (SuperSport)

Tweets

Matrix Fitness RA ‏@onthedrops
Great 'Introducing' article with @jesiwak thanks to @TourSeries - http://thetour.co.uk/news/1542.php#.UXwUdrWce7T … - #ClickThruThurs @JHTUK

Lauren Kitchen ‏@LaurenKitchen1
Yay! Best news when u realize all that suffering was worth it when u get to the finish line to hear that @GiorgiaBronzini wins!


TeamCrescent D.A.R.E ‏@TeamCrescent
@EmmaAhlstrand gives the team our first victory of this season! 1st place on the criterium in Hammarö 3-dagars. Big congratulations!

Bridie O'Donnell ‏@Bridie_OD
83 women across 3 grades will race #TOSW this w/e in Warrnambool, 40 of whom are 1st timers. Pretty fantastic to see #womenscycling growing!


Roger H. ‏@rogerha
All today's winners & jersey holders on the podium of #ElsyJacobs #womenscycling race in Garnich, Luxembourg pic.twitter.com/UWuxgOOBYi


Competitive Cyclist ‏@CompCyclist
Crush it, ladies! RT: @DNA_Plan7_K4: Beautiful day at the depot! @CompCyclist  #TourofTheDepot pic.twitter.com/DT0otfGbsN”


Wiggle Honda ‏@WiggleHonda
The amazing @GiorgiaBronzini wins GP Elsy Jacobs in Luxembourg! @Wigglebikeshop @Honda_Uk @honda_australia  pic.twitter.com/EBxmYJtiG8 #Champion

La Flèche Wallonne 2013

17.04.2013 Official Site
Belgium, One-day World Cup Road Race
UCI CDM

Sportwereld photostream

 Marianne Vos becomes the only rider to
 win La Flèche five times

Last year, as tends to be the case with every race she enters, Marianne Vos (Rabobank) was favourite to win La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and, had she have done so, she'd have set a new record as the only rider to have won five times. The World Champion is already the only rider to have won three consecutive editions and the only rider to have won four editions in total. (For comparison, the record holders in the men's race - Marcel Kint, Eddy Merckx, Moreno Argentin and Davide Rebellin won a total of three editions each. Only one rider, Welsh World Champion Nicole Cooke, comes close to Vos' achievement with three wins and two second places, while Italian Fabiana Luperini won three including the first edition in 1998).

It was not to be. Vos - who is as clever a rider as she is strong - made a rare mistake, expending too much energy in chasing down a break before launching a savage attack on the Mur de Huy, the final climb, allowing Evelyn Stevens (Specialized-Lululemon) to power past her with only metres left and become the first American winner in the history of the race.

Marianne is well-known for being one of the nicest riders in cycling, as well as the most successful of her generation, but she freely admits that she doesn't like to lose. This year, many riders were at La Flèche both to collect World Cup points and, if at all possible, prove themselves her equal, and they've had all winter to train hard (while she was busy dominating cyclo cross again, as well as preparing to make her return to mountain biking) in an effort to match her. She'll have known at the start of the season that she wasn't going to have things quite as easy this year as last - but her rivals, now they've had a few years in which to understand just how phenomenally, remarkably, perhaps even uniquely talented Vos actually is, will also have been aware that their efforts simply might not have been enough.

Ashleigh Moolman becomes the
first South African rider to stand
on a World Cup podium

Nothing comes easy in La Flèche, with difficult roads and a series of very difficult climbs, the most difficult of them being the legendary Mur de Huy with its average gradient of 9.3% and one corner reaching 26%. Then there were the five climbs en route to it, ranging from 3.9 to 7.6% average gradient - all of them, like the Mur, climbed twice. This is a race that can't be won, nor even completed, without a good deal of suffering.

The first 50km were livened up by numerous attempts to break away, but none succeeded in gaining more than 20" before being caught until a group of eight managed to find 42" on the fourth climb. The first ascent of the Mur broke up the peloton once more, but it reconvened (minus several abandons) on the other side, setting the stage for more attacks courtesy of Britain's Katie Colclough (Specialized-Lululemon), Alena Amialiusik (BePink) and Tatiana Guderzo (MCipollini-Giordana), but with so teams out to win, piling the pressure onto their rivals in an attempt to make sure their riders were in the best positions, each attack was swiftly put down and the race was very much undecided until the last ascent.

In the end, it came down to three riders: Hitec Products-UCK's Elisa Longo Borghini who has attained the best form of her career so far this season, Lotto-Belisol's superb climber Ashleigh Moolman, and Vos. Then, when the steepest part of the Mur had taken its toll, the 25-year-old Dutch rider pulled off a characteristic move, finding strength deep down that nobody else could match - when she attacked, Moolman and Longo Borghini could only watch her go and fight one another for second and third. She won with enough time to sit up and cross the line with arms held aloft as she became the only rider, male or female, to have won La Flèche five times.

(Results below)

Parcours

Results

Elisa Longo Borghini has really come
into form this season and took a
hard-fought second place

Top Ten
1 Marianne VOS (Rabobank) 3h34'32"
2 Elisa LONGO BORGHINI (Hitec Products-UCK) ST
3 Ashleigh MOOLMAN (Lotto-Belisol) ST
4 Anna VAN DER BREGGEN (Sengers) +06"
5 Emma JOHANSSON (Orica-AIS) ST
6 Eleonora VAN DIJK (Specialized-Lululemon) +19"
7 Alena AMIALIUSIK (BePink) +25"
8 Amber NEBEN (Pasta Zara-Congeas) +28"
9 Tiffany CROMWELL (Orica-AIS) +33"
10 Jessie DAAMS (Boels-Dolmans) ST
Full result here

New World Cup Standings
1 Marianne VOS (Netherlands/Rabobank) 249
2 Ellen VAN DIJK (Netherlands/Specialized-Lululemon) 159
3 Elisa LONGO BORGHINI (Italy/Hitec Products-UCK) 155
4 Emma JOHANSSON Sweden/Orica-AIS) 147
5 Anna VAN DER BREGGEN (Netherlands/Sengers) 76
6 Annemiek VAN VLEUTEN Netherlands/Rabobank) 56
7 Elizabeth ARMITSTEAD (Great Britain/Boels-Dolmans) 45
8 Tiffany CROMWELL (Australia/Orica-AIS) 42
9 Kirsten WILD (Netherlands/Argos-Shimano) 38
10 Ashleigh MOOLMAN (South Africa/Lotto-Belisol) 35
Full standings here

Ronde van Gelderland 2013

14.04.2013 Official Site
Netherlands, One-day Road Race, 139km
UCI 1.2

The Ronde van Gelderland is perhaps unique in that it started as a race for men in 1957 and was then held almost annually (except 1975-1981 and 2001) until 2003 when a women's race was added, then continued from that date to the present as a women's race only. For the first five years of the women's competition it was dominated by Dutch riders - Yvonne Troost-Brunens won in 2003, Leontien van Moorsel in 2004, Suzanne de Goede in 2005, Bertine Spijkerman in 2006 and then Marianne Vos in her second professional year in 2007. Canadian Anne Samplonius became the first (and so far the only) non-European rider to win with her 2008 victory, then German Ina-Yoko Teutenberg won in 2009 before Kirsten Wild took the honours back for the Netherlands a year later. Teutenberg became the first rider to have won twice with another victory in 2011 and de Goede repeated her feat 2012. In the last few years, the Australian flag has also been a regular on the podium lists courtesy of Rochelle Gilmore; the owner, manager and rider of the British-registered Wiggle-Honda team was second in 2009 and 2010 and third in 2011.

The Parcours

Click to enlarge

The race always starts and finishes at Apeldoorn, home to the famous Omnisport Velodrome that hosted the 2011 World Track Cycling Championships. Each year, it also hosts the Six Days of Apeldoorn.

Very much a race of two halves, the first 41km in the forested Veluwe features several climbs whereas the remaining 98km are almost entirely flat. The altimetry profile as printed in the official race book is somewhat unintentionally misleading, being "squashed up" so that the climbs appear far steeper than they in fact are: the first climb is Terlet, gaining some 75m in 4km to reach 90m above sea level 9km after the start line, has an average gradient of only 1.8%, but the first half climbs more rapidly before it levels out approaching the top; Kemperbergweg reaches 80m at 20.4km and features 40m of climbing in 2km, an average gradient of 2%; Moonikensteeg rises to 75m at 28.1km, doing so in 0.9km gives an average gradient of 4.4%; the pleasingly-named Emmapyramide reaches 82m at 32.8km with 40m of climbing in 1.4km for an average of 2.9%; Zijpenberg is the highest hill in the race, climbing to 107m at 34.8km with an average gradient of 2.3% on the 3.3km ascent; final climb Posbank tops out at 95m 40.9km from the start, the 75m gained in 2.2km giving it an average gradient of 3.1% - the highest in the race.

Even coming within the same 41km, those are not altitudes and gradients that would be especially taxing to a professional cyclist. However, Gelderland has further trials for them: the remainder of the race following the IJssel river valley may be flat but it's subject to strong winds that blow in off the North Sea from the north-west - the direction in which the riders will be traveling for most of the way back to Apeldoorn. The sprinters will have used up more energy than the climbers in the Veluwe, whereas the climbers don't have the strength to fight the wind - if it's windy, therefore, nobody has an obvious advantage as the finish line draws near.

Click to enlarge

Setting out from the Omnisport Velodrome, the riders complete a 7km neutralised zone ending on Arnhemseweg, where the official start is located 100m south from the roundabout at the end of Laan van Malkenschoten. The road narrows after 1.7km, riders then continie south via Beekbergen for 5.5km to Woeste Hoeve where, after a wide left-hand bend, the road crosses a bridge over the A50 motorway and becomes the Groenendaalseweg; 107m after the bridge a right turn takes them onto the Oude Arnhemseweg, a forest road much narrower than those that come before and a potential hazard if the entire peloton tries to get onto it at the same time - and, if any riders who don't have much chance of winning have successfully formed a break by this point, for them to increase their advantage for some sponsor-pleasing time out in front before chasers from rival teams can find a way through the pack to bring them back. Following the road south leads to Groenendaal and then, after 9km, to Terlet.

Having completed the climb, there are 7.2km to the right turn onto Koningsweg and then 4.2km past Noordoostelijk van Schaarsbergen to a left at a roundabout onto Kempberweg for the second climb leading to Arnhem at 23.7km. At the end of the road they turn left onto Schelmeseweg and proceed for 1.4km to a right turn onto the wide Cattepoelseweg, taking it for 1.2km until they reach a left and progress along Wagnerlaan - the junction is complicated, but the "lane" is a wide, smooth dual carriageway road and can be taken at high speed. After passing underneath Apeldoornweg, the road becomes the Bosweg; 1.27km the route turns left onto Rosendaalseweg, then left again 156m later to begin the third climb on Monnikensteeg. After passing a sportsground on the right, a right turn at traffic lights carries the race back onto the Schelmeseweg leading into Rosendaal. A bridge over the E45 motorway takes the road into forest, then left at a roundabout 32.3km from the start takes the riders onto Kerklaan. 0.5km later, at a pretty cottage surrounded by trees, they continue straight ahead on Beekhuizenweg and ride through the forest to a junction with Boerenallee, which climbs for 0.5km to the top of Emmapyramide at a right/left S-bend (with trees growing right on the edges of the road, conditions may be slippery and punctures are likely) after which the road becomes known as the Bovenallee. A short way ahead, the riders reach a T-junction and turn left to rejoin Beekhuizenweg which climbs to the top of Zijpenberg.

2.5km further on, a right turn follows the edge of the forest along Snippendaalseweg; the road surface along this section is formed of regular, flat, brick-like cobbles, smooth enough not to slow things down as the riders battle to find places on the much narrower road. The route soon heads back into the forest, leading for 2.5km to Rheden, a fast and potentially dangerous descent to a left turn at 39.8km onto Arnhemsestraatweg and, 1.1km later, another left at another roundabout for Schietbergseweg and the Posbank climb. At 43.1km, with all the climbing over, a right turn by a picnic area with a viewpoint takes the race to the Beekhuizenweg, along the forest edge to another right at 44.4km for the Holleweg. The Holleweg becomes the Rozenbos, then a right followed by a left at a T-junction leads onto the Hoofdstraat at De Steeg. A short way ahead, the IJssel can be seen to the right, marking the change in the character of the race - from now on, with all the climbs over, the race passes through stereotypically flat Dutch countryside.

Final circuit - click to enlarge

After 122.km, the race reaches a road called De Voorwarts at Apeldoorn and enters the final circuit of 16.7km. A right turn leads onto the Laan van Erica, then a left 0.1km later finds De Groene Voorwarts leading for a flat and straight 1.1km to a T-junction and right turn onto Barnewinkel. 0.3km later, riders turn left onto Woudheizermark, then crosses Zutphensestraat to become the much narrower Grote Woudhuis - arriving at high speed, there may be clashes at the front of the pack as it squeezes into the reduced space. If any riders are still out in front, chasers will be setting out here to catch them and bring them back so that team leaders can get into good positions for the final sections leading to the finish. A left at Ecofactorij is followed by a right onto Energiweg, then a left at a T-junction leads onto the Ijsseldijk before a right onto Zutphensistraat; at De Kaar the road forks and the riders take the Oude Apeldoornseweg at a point marking 10km to the finish. 0.4km further on, a left finds the Ardeweg, then another left leads onto the very narrow Leemsteeg heading south-west until it reaches a sharp right-hand bend, then it travels north to a left turn onto Heeringstraat.

Heeringstraat travels south before turning sharply right onto Nieuw Schuilenberg, then a left leads back to Ecofactorij where the riders reverse the route taken earlier along Grote Woodhuis and Woudhuizermark into the final 3km, then back along Barnewinkel, De Groene Voorwarts and Laan van Erica to reach the final left turn onto De Voorwarts. The route encircles the Omnisport Velodrome, then enters the last 800m along De Voorwarts. With this section being flat and straight,  the race looks set to finish with a high-speed bunch sprint unless a break has succeeded in staying away.

The Race

Willeke Knol

As expected, the sprinters took control of the race as soon as the climbs were over and done. Shara Gillow (Orica-AIS) had been out in front for some time until, 30km before the finish line, the teams decided it was time to bring her back. Annemiek van Vleuten (Rabobank) managed to bridge the gap once it'd been reduced to 30"; a potentially dangerous situation as the two riders working together might have been able to maintain, even increase, their lead and finish the race with a duel.

Argos-Shimano weren't having any of it and understandably so because in Kirsten Wild they have a sprinter who, if there was any justice in the cycling world, would be as much a household name as Mark Cavendish; if they could bring the two leaders back and thus make sure the race ended in a bunch sprint, they'd virtually guarantee themselves a victory. Two of Wild's team mates,  Under-23 European Pursuit Champion Amy Pieters and Most Aggressive rider from the 2012 Holland Ladies' Tour Willeke Knol, laid down a fine example of what domestiques are employed to do when they found new reserves of strength to bring down the two more experienced leaders, ensuring that the rest of the Argos team could put Wild where she needed to be. The plan worked splendidly - 38 riders approached the finish together, but none of them was able to overpower Dutch powerhouse Wild.

Amy Pieters

Top Ten

1. Kirsten WILD (Argos-Shimano) 3h31'04"
2. Giorgia BRONZINI (Wiggle Honda) ST
3. Chloe HOSKING (Hitek Products-UCK) ST
4. Carmen SMALL (Specialized-Lululemon) ST
5. Katarzyna PAWLOWSKA (GSD Gestion-Kallisto) ST
6. Elisa LONGO BORGHINI (Hitek Products-UCK) ST
7. Lisa BRENNAUER (Specialized-Lululemon) ST
8. Emma JOHANSSON (Orica-AIS) ST
9. Jolien D’HOORE (Lotto-Belisol) ST
10. Annemiek VAN VLEUTEN (Rabobank) ST
Full results

The Princess Maha Chackri Sirindhon's Cup 2013

08-10.04.2013
Thailand, Road Race, 3 stages, 276.7km
UCI 2.2

Also known - fortunately - as the Women's Tour of Thailand, The Princess Maha Chackri Sirindhon's Cup was first held in 2012 when it was contested largely by riders from the Far East. China's Lin Xiu, riding for Chongming-Giant, won with an overall time of 8h58'43"; Japan's Mayuko Hagiwara, who then rode for Cycle Base Asahi but has since signed to Rochelle Gilmore's British-registered Wiggle-Honda team, was ten seconds slower for second place while Korean Sun Ae Choi was third at +1'29". There appears to be no official website for the race.

Though it lasts for three days, the race bears obvious similarities to a Flanders Classic - there are no mountains with the highest points attaining just 50-60m above sea level, but the climbs are steep and sufficiently numerous for the cumulative effect to prove decisive.

Parcours

Stage 1 (08.04.13)

Stage 1

Taking the form of a 71.4km loop, Stage 1 started at Phuket City before heading north and into a circuit, then took the same roads back to Phuket. There were no big climbs along the way, the highest points (approximately 35km and 56km) being just 50m above sea level while the final three kilometres are largely downhill (though there's a sharp climb followed by a short descent in the last 430m). While small, the hills threw a cat among the sprinters and pruned a bunch sprint that could have been equal in number to the entire peloton down to just five breakaway riders. Huang Ting Ying (Taipei), winner of the silver medals for the Team Sprint and 500m at the 2007 Junior World Track Championships, led the race over the line with Thuy Dung Nguyen (Vietnam) and Wilaiwan Kunlapha taking second and third. After bonification, Ting Ying leads the General Classification by 1"

Stage 1 Top Ten
1 Huang TING YING (Taipei) 1h53'10"

Stage 1 profile

2 Thuy Dung NGUYEN (Vietnam) ST
3 Wilaiwan KUNLAPHA (Thailand) ST
4 Bo Yee LEUNG (Hong Kong) ST
5 Minami UENO (Japan) ST
6 Mei Yu HSIAO (Taipei) +3'11"
7 Zhao Juan MENG (Hong Kong) ST
8 Panawaraporn BOONSAWAT (Thailand) ST
9 Xiao Juan DIAO (Hong Kong) ST
10 Supaksorn NUNTANA (Thailand) ST
Full result and GC here


Stage 2 (09.04.2013)

Stage 2

Running for 83.3km north from Phuket to Phang Nga, the parcours had more small climbs with none gaining much more than 20m; however, they were steep - but not steep enough to cause any large splits in the bunch, most of whom finished together. A couple of little climbs of around 5m at the beginning of the final 3km followed by a 2km descent to the finish enabled Jaruan Somrat (Thailand) to finish with an 8" lead over second and third place Jariya Chumlae (Thailand) and Wan Yiu Jamie Wong (Hong Kong).

Huang Ting Ying (Taipei) finished in fourth place 14" down, losing her General Classification lead to Thuy Dung Nguyen, who was seventh with the same time as Ting Ying and now leads overall by 2".

Stage 2 Top Ten
1 Jaruwan SOMRAT (Thailand) 2h16'54"
2 Jariya CHUMLUAE (Thailand) +08"
3 Wan Yiu Jamie WONG (Hong Kong) ST

Stage 2 profile

4 Huang TING YING (Taipei) +14"
5 Xiao Juan DIAO (Hong Kong) ST
6 Mei Yu HSIAO (Taipei) ST
7 Thuy Dung NGUYEN (Vietnam) ST
8 Phan Ngoc Trang (Vietnam) ST
9 Wilaiwan KUNLAPHA (Thailand) ST
10 Minami UENO (Japan) ST
Full result and GC here
Stage 3 (10.04.2013)

Stage 3

Starting where Stage 2 left off at Phang Nga, the parcours led back to Phuket but followed the same route only over the first part of the race, then deviated to give a total of 122km. The highest points were once again around 50m above sea level, but there were plenty more steep climbs to get to them and, as was the case yesterday, they served to split the bunch with a group of four riders getting away before making good use of the final 3km: mostly downhill with one sort section at 119.8km looking steep enough to give those riders that don't enjoy descents some problems. This section allowed Mei Yu Hsaio (Taipei), Zhao Juan Meng (Hong Kong), Panawaraporn Boonsawat (Thailand), Hiromi Kaneko (Japan) and Ho Hsiung Huang (Taipei) to preserve their lead of over a minute and a half going into the last few hundred metres where a 12m climb led to a very slightly downhill run to the final 300m. Huang dropped off on the final approach, finishing 3" behind the other leaders who shared Hsaio's winning time of 3h08'23".

Thuy Dung Nguyen of Vietnam came in 2'42" after the stage winner, taking ninth place, but having started the day 3'21" ahead of Hsaio and with all her nearest rivals finishing the stage well down in the standings her General Classification was never in any doubt; she finishes the race with an advantage of 2".

Stage 3 profile

Stage 3 Top Ten
1 Mei Yu HSIAO (Taipei) 3h08'23"
2 Zhao Juan MENG (Hong Kong) ST
3 Panawaraporn BOONSAWAT (Thailand) ST
4 Hiromi KANEKO (Japan) ST
5 Ho Hsiung HUANG (Taipei) +03"
6 Wan Yiu Jamie WONG (Hong Kong) +1'35"
7 Hsiao Chia TSENG (Taipei) +2'39"
8 Huang TING YING (Taipei) +2'42"
9 Thuy Dung NGUYEN (Vietnam) ST
10 Xiao Juan DIAO (Hong Kong) +2'48"
Full results here

General Classification Top Ten 
1 Thuy Dung NGUYEN (Vietnam) 4h10'06"
2 Huang TING YING (Taipei) +02"
3 Wilaiwan KUNLAPHA (Thailand) +06"
4 Bo Yee LEUNG (Hong Kong) +11"
5 Minami UENO (Japan) +12"
6 Jaruwan SOMRAT (Thailand) +2'59"
7 Jariya CHUMLUAE (Thailand) +3'11"
8 Wan Yiu Jamie WONG (Hong Kong) +3'13"
9 Mei Yu HSIAO (Taipei) +3'21"
10 Xiao Juan DIAO (Hong Kong) +3'22"
Full GC result here

(Map and altimetry details via Procycling Stats)

Women's Tour of Britain for 2014?

Organisers of the Tour of Britain SweetSpot say that they are investigating the possibility of holding a five-stage women's version of the race as early as Spring 2014. Details remain sketchy, but race director Mike Bennett says that he has spoken to riders and teams and the plan has been met with enthusiasm.

Emma Pooley, along with several other
British female riders, have been calling
for  a women's Tour for some time

In 2012, the women's road race at the Olympics proved to be enormously popular with viewing figures suggesting that large numbers of people without a previous interest in the sport tuned in to see the epic battle between Britain's Lizzie Armitstead and Dutch star Marianne Vos. Many later said that it had been a more exciting race than the men's event.

Running the race in Spring, separate from the men's race, seems an unusual choice - in Belgium, where women's cycling is more popular than elsewhere, several organisers run women's races alongside men's races in order to save on costs and guarantee that larger numbers of fans will show up. Emma Pooley, winner of the last Tour de France Féminin in 2009, has long called for the Tour of Britain to do the same.

With cycling's popularity currently on the up in Britain, presenting women's races as stand-alone events that do not need to be run in conjunction with men's races may help to send out a message to new fans that the sport is every bit as exciting and competitive as men's cycling, rather than suggesting that it can only exist "off the back" of men's races.

"It seems an obvious and logical step forward given the strength of women's cycling in this country and the enthusiasm for the sport generally," says Bennett.

In December it was revealed that British Cycling was considering putting the contract to run the race out to tender; news emerged hours after SweetSpot's announcement that Tour de France organisers the Amaury Sports Organisation was interested in bidding for the race - "It's something we're looking into, but I can't say too much," ASO president Jean-Etienne Amaury told the BBC. "But if we can make it something more compelling for TV and spectators, then we'd go for it," he added.

In addition to the Tour de France, the ASO also runs seventeen other cycling events including the Vuelta a Espana, Tours of Qatar, Oman and Beijing, the Criterium International and Paris-Roubaix. Only two of them - La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and the Ladies' Tour of Qatar - are women's events; but with the Women's Tour of Britain being a separate race to the men's race, it seems likely that SweetSpot would retain the right to organise and run it.

Whenever it's held, a women's Tour is clearly excellent news for the sport, in this country and abroad, and it's far more likely to take place if fans let organisers know how enthusiastic we are about the plan. Feel free to copy and paste the following, and send it to info@thetour.co.uk

As a passionate fan of women's cycling, I'm overjoyed and excited to hear that there could be a women's Tour of Britain as early as 2014. I would definitely travel to see at least one stage and would follow the race from start to finish - and with all the success enjoyed by Britain's female cyclists over the last few years, I'm sure that large numbers of people who are already fans and those who have discovered the sport since the Olympics would do the same. I'm hoping, therefore, that plenty of people will send emails similar to this one so that you can show potential sponsors that there really is a potentially massive audience out here who will watch the race.

Many thanks for getting the ball rolling - there are a lot of us out here who will support the race!

Yours,

<your name>