Abbott wins Giro Rosa - Cure wins CZ Tour de Feminin - Tour de Bretagne (Stage 1) - Riders petition UCI for women's Tour de France - UCI hopeful Cookson on plans for women's cycling - Cycling Victoria's Club Toolkit: A Guide to Attracting and Retaining Women and Girls - more to come...
Abbott wins Giro Rosa
Stages 1-7
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| Mara Abbott, pictured here in 2011, wins the Giro Rosa |
Dutch national time trial champion
Ellen van Dijk (Specialized-Lululemon) was always the favourite to win the race against the clock in the final stage of this year's Giro Rosa, but going into the stage with a deficit of 21'16" to race leader
Mara Abbott (USA NT) there was no chance she'd be able to steal overall victory. However, with several other good time trial riders - including Italian TT champion
Tatiana Guderzo (MCipollini-Giordana) in second place at 2'28" - Abbott's eventual win was far from carved in stone.
Lululemon team mate
Tayler Wiles was the thirtieth rider to go from the 128 left in the race and set the first benchmark time at 22'22", which made her the rider to beat for more than an hour and was sufficient to give her sixth place for the stage. French TT champion Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Rabo) was first to beat her time, taking 12" from it, but when van Dijk went shortly afterwards and completed almost a minute faster it was clear that the remaining riders were going to be fighting for second and third place.
Abbott started the day with an advantage of 2'28" and, going up against the time trial specialists, had no choice but to see a big chunk taken away from her overall time today - she finished 38th fastest, 2'13" slower than van Dijk. Her stunning performances in the mountains earlier in the race, though, were enough; by the end of the day she still led by 1'33". The last time she won this race was three years and an eating disorder away - nobody can say that her victory is not an inspiration.
Marianne Vos (Rabo), who many expected to win a third consecutive General Classification victory, took the Points competition for her three stage wins. Abbott's two mountain stages, which she won solo, netted her the Mountains jersey alongside the General Classification while
Francesca Cauz (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo), one of this year's revelations with her incredibly climbing skills, is the best rider in the Youth category.
Stage 8 Top Ten
1 Eleonora VAN DIJK (Specialized-Lululemon) 21'12"
2 Evelyn STEVENS (Specialized-Lululemon) +35"
3 Shara GILLOW (Orica-AIS) +52"
4 Pauline FERRAND PREVOT (Rabobank) +57"
5 Linda Melanie VILLUMSEN (Wiggle-Honda) +01'02"
6 Tayler WILES (Specialized-Lululemon) +01'10"
7 Loes GUNNEWIJK (Orica-AIS) +01'11"
8 Anna VAN DER BREGGEN (Netherlands NT) +01'13"
9 Alexandra BURCHENKOVA (RusVelo) +01'15"
10 Carmen SMALL (Specialized-Lululemon) +01'17"
Full stage result
General Classification Top Ten
1 Mara ABBOTT (USA NT) 20h30'15"
2 Tatiana GUDERZO (MCipollini-Giordana) +01'33"
3 Claudia HÄUSLER (Tibco-To The Top) +02'18"
4 Shara GILLOW (Orica-AIS) +03'29"
5 Evelyn STEVENS (Specialized-Lululemon) +03'39"
6 Marianne VOS (Rabo) +04'08"
7 Francesca CAUZ (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) +04'25"
8 Ashleigh MOOLMAN (Lotto-Belisol) +05'23"
9 Eivgenia VYSOTSKA (S.C. Michela Fanini-ROX) +06'48"
10 Alena AMIALIUSIK (BePink) +07'25"
Full General Classification
Points: 1. Marianne Vos (Rabo) 74pts; 2. Claudia Hausler (Tibco-To The Top) 35 pts; 3. Evelyn Stevens (Specialized-Lululemon) 35pts.
Mountains: 1. Mara Abbott (USA NT) 30pts; 2. Tiffany Cromwell (Orica-AIS) 23pts; 3. Valentina Scandolara (MCipollini Giordana) 22pts.
Youth: 1. Francesca Caus (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) 20h34'40"; 2. Rossella Ratto (Hitec Products-UCK) +03'34"; 3. Georgia Williams (BePink) +06'46".
Cure wins Tour de Feminin - O cenu Ceského Švýcarska (Tour Krasna Lipa)
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| Amy Cure in Glasgow, 2013 |
Stage results here
Final General Classification
1 Amy CURE 11h11'29"
2 Emma POOLEY +01'00"
3 Martina RITTER +02'47"
4 Esther FENNEL +02'57"
5 Paulina BRZEZNA +03'10"
6 Taryn HEATHER +03'14"
7 Katarzyna NIEWIADOMA +03'18"
8 Svetlana STOLBOVA +03'25"
9 Rebecca WISIAK ST
10 Natalia BOYARSKAYA +03'44"
Full General Classification
Points: 1. Amy Cure 86pts; 2. Emma Pooley 47pts; 3. Lisanne Soemanta 42pts.
Mountains: 1. Pauline Brzezna 34pts; 2. Lisanne Soemanta 30pts; 3. Emma Pooley 24pts.
Youth: 1. Amy Cure 11h11'29"; 2. Katarzyna Niewiadoma +03'18"; 3. Lelizaveta Oshurkova +04'18".
Tour de Bretagne
Race preview here. Gwena is at the race and is uploading photos
here.
Stage 1 (Pledran-Yffiniac)
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Oxana Kozochuk at the
Thuringen-Rundfahrt 2012 |
RusVelo's Oxana Kozonchuk wins first stage in nine-rider sprint.
Stage 1 Result
1 Oxana KOZONCHUK (RusVelo) 3h21'58"
2 Svetlana STOLBOVA (Russian NT) ST
3 Alessandra D'ETTORRE (Vaiano-Fondriest) ST
4 Audrey CORDON (Vienne Futuroscope) ST
5 Sofie DE VUYST (Sengers) ST
6 Céline VAN SEVEREN (Lotto-Belisol) ST
7 Elena KUCHINSKAYA (RusVelo) ST
8 Natalia BOYARSKAYA (Russian NT) ST
9 Thalita DE JONG (Dura Vermeer) ST
10 Claire THOMAS (GSD Gestion-Kallisto) +05"
Full result and General Classification
Stage 2 (ITT, Mohon-Mohon)
Vera Koedooder @Vera_Koedooder
Yesss! TimeTrial victory! Were really painful 12,5km on the hilly, windy, hard course! But very happy I made it! #Stage2 #TourdeBretagne
Stage 2 Result
1 Vera KOEDOODER (Sengers) 00:17:04
2 Katarzyna PAWLOWSKA(GSD Gestion-Kallisto) +02"
3 Aude BIANNIC (Equipe DN Bretagne) +03"
4 Audrey CORDON (Vienne Futuroscope) +10"
5 Elena UTROBINA (Lointek) +15"
6 Ruth CORSET (Sengers) +16"
7 Thalita DE JONG (Dura Vermeer) +17"
8 Karol-Ann CANUEL (Vienne Futuroscope) ST
9 Natalie VAN GOGH (Dura Vermeer) +22"
10 Natalia BOYARSKAYA (Russia NT) +27"
Full stage result and General Classification (when available)
Stage 3 (Pipriac-La Chapelle Bouexic)
Kataztyna Pawlowska (GSD Gestion-Kallisto) wins the intermediate sprints, the GPM climbs
and the stage!
Stage 3 Result
1 Katarzyna PAWLOWSKA (GSD Gestion-Kallisto)
2 Oxana KOZONCHUK (RusVelo)
3 Roxane FOURNIER (BigMat-Auber'93)
4 Barbara GUARISCHI (Vaiano-Fondriest)
Full stage result, time splits and General Classification (when available)
Riders petition UCI for a new Women's Tour de France
There was, of course, a Tour de France Feminin that ran from 1984 to 2009 (which is why women's cycling fans will argue that Bradley Wiggins was not the first British rider to win the Tour de France, Nicole Cooke - who won in 2006, and again in 2007 - was); but, after many years in which the race suffered because of a lack of funds (through no fault of the organisers, who fought hard for everything they could get), it vanished. Being forced to change its name to the Grand Boucle when Tour owners the ASO threatened legal action over the use of their trademarked "Tour de France" name didn't help.
Since then, it's been shown that if a women's race is run in conjunction with a men's race, both sports benefit: the men's race gets even more spectators (there are far more people who'll make the extra effort to get to a women's race than TV stations and magazines realise), whereas the women's race gets a ready-made infrastructure (and hence saves money) and, since the TV crews are already there and might as well point the cameras at something while waiting for the men to start, even gets some much-needed coverage, which is pretty much precisely what women's cycling needs if more people are to realise it's every bit as worthwhile as men's cycling and not just the poor cousin (or sister, perhaps).
Three riders - Kathryn Bertine, Emma Pooley (who won the last women's Tour in 2009) and Marianne Vos - and Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington have started a petition to the ASO, asking them to organise a women's Tour to be run on the same parcours and days as the men's Tour; there can be very few cycling fans who would not agree that this would be worthwhile. They ask that the race be inaugurated by next year,
The ASO have given indication that they are in principle favourable to a women's race - they already own La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and, in tennis, the Women's Open de France, and were keen to involve women in the Paris-Dakar some decades ago. Several of the Classics do it (though not yet Paris-Roubaix, despite many riders saying they'd love to ride a women's Hell of the North) and it's worked out very well for them; a new Tour de France Feminin could very well be the big push that women's cycling needs in order to get the recognition it's deserved for so long.
The petition's target is 10,000 names. At the time of writing, it has 8,576.
Add yours here.
UCI hopeful Cookson details plans for women's cycling
Brian Cookson, the current president of British Cycling and one of only two candidates standing in the forthcoming UCI presidential election, has given an outline of what he plans to do in order to develop women's cycling if his bid to replace current president Pat McQuaid is successful - replicate the methods used by British Cycling.
The national federation has certainly turned out a respectable selection of world-class female riders over the last few years, though most of them and their fans will agree that it could be doing more to develop the sport and support riders (and many will remember BC's highly unpopular
attempt to get the Women's Criterium at the Smithfield Nocturne cancelled last year). However, Cookson's wish to do something for women's cycling, and his appreciation of the sport, appears to be genuine - which alone makes him a far more promising prospect than McQuaid.
Cookson's comments on women's cycling, made at the Otley Cycling Races, can be read on
Road.cc.
Cycling Victoria's Club Toolkit: A Guide to Attracting and Retaining Women and Girls
Are you involved with a club that seeks to attract more female members - and then, once they've joined up, provide them with what they want so that they'll stick around?
Cycling Victoria has produced a guide to help. The authors say that it will enable clubs to:
1. Better understand why they should try to attract and retain female members
2. Provide tips and tools to help attract more women to their Club
3. Provide examples and templates of successful initiatives from Clubs across Victoria.
It's obviously been prepared with Australian clubs in mind, but will no doubt have much of interest for clubs from around the world -
and it's a free download, so you may as well take a look.
Interesting Links
United Kingdom
"Men's cycling gets all the glamour," says Pendleton (Daily Telegraph)
Pendleton pleased with Cycletta progress (Give Me Sport)
"We now want to use the high profile to build women’s racing and show that this is a great sport for women to get involved with," say Otley organisers (Yorkshire Evening Post)
Worldwide
NZ club awarded trophy for women's tour (Piako Post, New Zealand)
Fran Millar "I'll never stop winning the Tour de France - but the cycling world should do more for women" (Management Today)
Niluka Shyamali and Sriyalatha Wickramasinghe win gold and silver at National Sports Festival (The Island, Sri Lanka)
Kaitlin Antonneau's Felt ZW1 (Bike Radar)
Cyclist Lesley takes on the world (Wairarapu Times-Age, New Zealand)
