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

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 10-17.11.2013

Harris wins Hamme-Zogge - more as it happens

Harris wins Hamme-Zogge

Harris in her incarnation as road racer

Despite the widespread unawareness of cyclo cross among the general public back in their home nation, the British women continued the domination of the new season at Hamme (birthplace of Ferdinand Bracke and home to Greg van Avermaet of BMC, fact fans!) in Belgium on Sunday when Derbyshire-born Nikki Harris beat four-time Belgian National Champion Sanne Cant and star Dutch rider Sophie de Boer (Harris' Telenet-Fidea team mate) to the podium's top step.

Following heavy rain in the locale over the last few days, the parcours had classically Flanders feel: thick, deep, sticky mud that coated everyone and everything, and sucked the strength right out of the riders' legs - conditions that might have suited European Champion and fellow Brit Helen Wyman, going by her recent performances, had she have been there. In fact, Harris nearly wasn't either as the exhaust pipe fell off her car en route to the race - "Now I sound like some boy racer in my little Peugeot," she said.

Harris and De Boer led the race through the first half. Cant, who worked supremely hard in her efforts to catch them, made contact with De Boer just as they began the last half - but, moments before, Harris had powered off on her own. A combination of strength through the most difficult bits and a knack of spotting the best lines enabled her to stay out in front for the remainder, and she crossed the finish line alone with an advantage of six seconds.

"This is my least favorite race," Harris explained afterwards. "I really thought I was going to finish second or third but I won. I am really happy with how things go at the moment and hope to continue my good form in the next two weeks."

Top Ten
1 Nikki HARRIS 44'40"
2 Sanne CANT 44'46"
3 Sophie DE BOER 44'46"
4 Ellen VAN LOY 46'33 
5 Pavla HAVLIKOVA 46'49"
6 Annefleur KALVENHAAR 48'38"
7 Monique VAN DE REE 48'43"
8 Loes SELS 49'47"
9 Margriet KLOPPENBURG 50'11"
10 Reza HORMES-RAVENSTIJN 50'19"
Full result

Women's Cycling News 15-22.09.2013

UCI events this week - Riders' strike at Giro Toscana, Tibco press release, Toscana organiser calls strike "disgraceful" - Chrono Champenois - It's 'Cross season and the Brits mean business - Cheap bike kit at Aldi - Interesting Links - more to come...

UCI Elite Women's races this week: Chrono Champenois (15.09.2013); Team Time Trial World Championships (22.09.2013).

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

Riders' representatives Elisa Longo Borghini (Hitec Products-UCK), Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-Honda) and Noemi Cantele (BePink) and team directors had met with organisers and commissaires prior to the stage to discuss their concerns - the race has taken place on what are effectively open roads, with only the lead riders given a police escort while the rest of the pack have been racing in traffic. However, commissaires ruled that the final stage, which was to finish in Florence, would go ahead as organisers wished.

Claudia Hausler was the fastest of
 the 49 riders to remain in the race

In all, 63 riders took part in the strike, including most of the top stars in the race: Rabobank is home to Marianne Vos, the most successful rider in the world today and the leader of the race since the first stage, Orica to Emma Johansson, who has been Vos' biggest rival this year and was in second place overall, while Wiggle's Giorgia Bronzini, one of the most popular riders with fans, won Stage 1; making the teams' refusal highly embarrassing to race organisers. 49 riders, mostly Italian, started and were booed by fans, says journalist Bart Hazen who was at the race; fans are now split into two groups - those who feel that all the riders should have taken part in the protest and those who feel that there are various reasons that some riders might have felt obliged to race, including financial pressure (remember that many "professional" riders have to work in addition to racing simply to make ends meet) and - for the Italians especially - because they felt they owed it to the fans. There are also those who have wondered aloud if any of the teams that remained in the race decided to do so only after rival squads decided not to, the lure of relatively easy UCI points being too great.

The entire S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox team, which is owned by race organiser Brunello Fanini, started the stage; their Aude Biannic was first over the finish line, recording a time of 2h28'28". Her team mates Liisi Rist and Jutatip Maneephan were second and third with the same time. Claudia Hausler (Tibco-To The Top) recorded the fastest overall time of the 49 riders that finished the race, clocking in at 11h57'54". Tatiana Antoshina (MCipollini-Giordana) was second at +1", Francesca Cauz (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) was third at +5'47".

Tibco founder issues press release
While Tibco-To The Top, for whom Claudia Hausler rides, elected to remain in the race, their decision was not taken lightly - and the team's founder Linda Jackson issued a press release on Tuesday stating that Tibco "will not accept any benefit" other than what they had earned by the end of Stage 3, before the protest.

Jackson began the release by expressing her support for all the riders, whether they took part in the protest or carried on, pointing out that everyone had the right to decided for themselves what they considered the best option.

"What I don't support, and I let the UCI know this," she added, "is any rider gaining any advantage, financial or points, based on racing the reduced final stage." The release can be read in full here.

Strike "disgraceful and self-serving," says Toscana organiser
In an outburst that won't win him any friends among riders or fans and may very well spell the end of his race, Giro Toscana organiser Brunello Fanini has termed the riders' strike "disgraceful and self-serving."

The stage went ahead "without problems," in the words of Fanini, the father of Michela Fanini in whose memory the race is held. "The losers today are the so-called big names in women's cycling and women's cycling in general," he added.

Fanini also hinted that the race may not go ahead in future - while the loss of another women's race is rarely a good thing, in this case it's unlikely to be missed by any of the riders: it has a reputation for bad organisation and putting riders in serious risk of injury going back years, and this is not the first time it's been disrupted by a riders' protest.

"No amount of reassurances by the organizers or the police was going to re-establish the confidence lost during the previous days (and years, as far as this particular race is concerned)," said Orica-AIS directeur sportif Martin Barras.

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

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

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

Results
Stage 4 Top Ten
1 Aude BIANNIC (S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox) 2h28'28"
2 Liisi RIST (S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox) ST
3 Jutatip MANEEPHAN (S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox) ST
4 Eivgenia VYSOTSKA (S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox) ST
5 Edwige PITEL (S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox) ST
6 Lara VIECELI (S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox) ST
7 Lisa FISCHER (Germany NT) ST
8 Stephanie POHL (Germany NT) ST
9 Edita JANELIUNAITE (Pasta Zara-Cogeas) ST
10 Uenia FERNANDES DA SOUZA (Chirio Forno d'Asolo) ST
Full result

Overall General Classification Top Ten
1 Claudia HÄUSLER (Tibco-To The Top) 11h57'54"
2 Tatiana ANTOSHINA (MCipollini-Giordana) +01"
3 Francesca CAUZ (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) +05'47"
4 Valentina SCANDOLARA (MCipollini-Giordana) +05'59"
5 Shelley OLDS (Tibco-To The Top) +09'45"
6 Tetyana RIABCHENKO (Chirio Forno d'Asolo) +13'25"
7 Asja PALADIN (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) +14'31"
8 Inga CILVINAITE (Pasta Zara-Cogeas) +15'26"
9 Eivgenia VYSOTSKA (S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox) +15'36"
10 Aude BIANNIC (S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox) +17'17"
Full result

Points: 1 Shelley Olds (Tibco-To The Top) 25; 2 Valentina Scandolara (MCipollini-Giordana) 19; 3 Aude Biannic (S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox) 15. Mountains: 1 Francesca Cauz (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) 22; 2 Malgorzata Jasinska (MCipollini-Giordana) 17; 3 Tatiana Antoshina (MCipollini-Giordana) 9. Sprints: 1 Edita Janeliunaite (Pasta Zara-Cogeas) 19; 2 Liisi Rist (S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox) 6; 3 Francesca Cauz (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) 5; Youth: 1 Francesca Cauz (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) 12h03'41"; 2 Asja Paladin (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) +08'44"; 3 Aude Biannic (S.C. Michela Fanini-Rox) +11'30".

Chrono Champenois

Ellen van Dijk at the 2012 Olympics

As has been the case at so many time trials this year, the Chrono Champenois became two entirely separate races - one between Specialized-Lululemon and Orica-AIS for first and second place, and one between all the other teams for other places. Once again, it was Lululemon that came out on top - Ellen van Dijk, favourite for this race and for next week's Individual Time Trial World Championships, took first place when she got around the 33.4km Betheny parcours in a lightning-quick 43'49"; her team mate Carmen Small was 1'43" slower but took second place while Orica's Shara Gillow was third at +2'07".

Top Ten
1 Ellen VAN DIJK (Specialized-Lululemon) 43'49"
2 Carmen SMALL (Specialized-Lululemon) +01'43"
3 Shara GILLOW (Orica-AIS) +02'07"
4 Lisa BRENNAUER (Specialized-Lululemon) +02'23"
5 Olga ZABELINSKAYA (RusVelo) +02'46"
6 Alexandra BURCHENKOVA (RusVelo) +03'01"
7 Taryn HEATHER (Australia NT) +03'10"
8 Malin RYDLUND (Sweden NT) +03'32"
9 Martina RITTER (Austria NT) +03'41"
10 Oxana KOZONCHUK (RusVelo) +03'46"
Full result

It's 'Cross season - and the Brits mean business!
The road racing season is winding down, but for many cycling fans that's not entirely a bad thing - because it means cyclo cross season is starting up. There were two prestigious cross races in the USA in the last couple of days, StarCrossed and Catamount, and British women won them both.

Gabby Day won StarCrossed after crossing the line 23" ahead of the USA's Courtenay McFadden, taking a time of 44'44", while Mical Dyck of Canada was third at +29".

Helen Wyman

Current European Champion Helen Wyman's victory at Catamount was won by an even larger margin of 47", taking 36'31" to finish - however, at just 20 years old, Canadian second place Maghalie Rochette's time was more than enough to turn heads. Crystal Anthony of the USA was third at 37'43.

The Catamount women's race was sponsored by engineering firm ENGVT, which put up extra cash to make the prizes on offer to the riders equal to those in the men's race. This, Wyman pointed out, made it important to race hard. Take note, sponsors - back women's cycling and the riders will make sure you get value for money!

Meanwhile, 'cross is waking up on the other side of the Atlantic, too: Süpercross Baden in Switzerland was the first big European meet of the year. Belgian 'cross star Sanne Cant showed off the skills that have earned her seven Belgian championships and recorded a winning time of 45'13", having finally got away from the Netherlands' Sophie De Boer who was right on her wheel for much of the race before tiring and taking second place at 45'27". Switzerland's Nicole Koller was third at 45'52", a remarkable result for a 16-year-old: "I even surprised myself with that result," said Koller. "It's really good for me, that I could do that," she added, before going on to explain that while she may decide to concentrate on mountain biking in the future she hasn't ruled out racing in the Swiss National Championships in January.

Cant praised the event on Twitter, congratulating the race committee on the "nice track and perfect organisation."

StarCrossed Top Ten
1 Gabby DAY 44'44"
2 Courtenay MCFADDEN 45'07"
3 Mical DYCK 45'13"
4 Susan BUTLER 45'14"
5 Jessica CUTLER 45'33"
6 Beth Ann ORTON 45'47"
7 Caroline MANI 46'19"
8 Jean Ann BERKENPAS 46'28"
9 Rebecca GROSS 46'30"
10 Marsa DANIEL ST
Full result

Catamount Top Ten
1 Helen WYMAN 36'31"
2 Maghalie ROCHETTE 37'18"
3 Crystal ANTHONY 37'43"
4 Maureen BRUNO ROY 37'48"
5 Natasha ELLIOTT 38'23"
6 Lyne BESSETTE 38'33"
7 Katerine NORTHCOTT 38'53"
8 Arley KEMMERER 38'57"
9 Kathleen LYSAKOWSKI 38'58"
10 Emma WHITE 39'14"
Full result

Süpercross Baden Top Ten
1 Sanne CANT 45'13"
2 Sophie DE BOER 45'27"
3 Nicole KOLLER 45'52"
4 Ellen VAN LOY 46'20"
5 Pavla HAVLIKOVA 46'23"
6 Nicole HANSELMANN 47'40"
7 Marlène MOREL PETITGIRARD 48'18"
8 Sina FREI 48'29"
9 Martina ZWICK 48'50"
10 Lise-Marie HENZELIN 49'19"
Full result

Not an advertising feature! Need a winter jacket but on a tight budget?
Aldi have a new range of bargain cycling gear going on sale on the 26th of September. In addition to the jacket, they'll also have a triathlon suit and a jersey - all of them available in women-specific cut and sizes as well as men's.

The prices aren't up on the website yet, but the winter jacket looks like it'll probably be a decent addition to anyone's cycling kit - of course, it'll never compare to a £300 jacket, but the quality to price ratio of cycling kit sold by the supermarket chain in the past has been pretty reasonable. Probably well worth a look if you need new kit at a good price - just keep away from all that cheap-but-delicious German hazelnut chocolate they sell in there.

Interesting Links
Guardian interview with Brian Cookson (go to the 13th paragraph for the women's cycling bit!)
Female professional cycling in decline (The Scotsman) 
Nicole Cooke fights to close cycling's divide as Tour of Britain starts (The Guardian)
Hong Kong’s women cyclists fall short at National Games (South China Morning Post)
Meet Shirin Gerami, Iran's first female triathlete (The Guardian)
Chrissie Wellington's return to politics (BBC)

Vio Cyclo Cross Masters

Vos dominates women's cycling. Tonight,
we get to see how she fares against the men

The final round of the GVA Trofee last weekend has been widely called Daphny Van Den Brand's last CX race, as she plans to retire after an incredible quarter-century of racing. However, she has one race left: it takes place this evening in Hasselt and it's the Vio Cyclo Cross Masters, unique in that it takes place indoors.

The premise of the event is simple: take all the greatest 'cross stars of the closing season and then have them battle one another for supremacy on a parcours designed to represent the most challenging obstacles found in the year's races with sand, ladders, beams and washboards all making an appearance along the 1km track. It is, according to the official website, "A rock 'n' roll event where cyclo cross is promoted as a true sporting spectacle."

The races differ somewhat to standard 'cross events. There's an individual time trial over a single lap, then the women race for twenty minutes and the men for thirty. Best of all, and for the very first time this year, there's a Battle of the Sexes - in it, the top three World Cup women and their male counterparts will compete against one another, the women getting an advantage of two laps. Plenty of us have been wondering how current World Champion Marianne Vos might fare if she raced against men, and since she'll be taking part this is our chance to find out.

British National Champion Helen Wyman will be racing, Gabby Day - despite inclusion on the start list - apparently will not.

Starters: 

1 Marianne Vos Rabobank
2 Daphny Van den Brand AA drink
3 Sanne Cant BKCP Powerplus
4 Helen Wyman Kona
5 Sabrina Stultiens Brainwash
6 Joyce Vanderbeken Style and Concept
7 Ellen Van Loy Kriekel Cycling team
8 Christine Vardaros Baboco cycling team
9 Gabriella Day The Chain Stay
10 Nicole De Bie-Leyten Telenet Fidea

Van Den Brand wins Oostmalle

Winning the last race of your career is always going to be good - but if all your competitors pay tribute to you and you beat the current Word Champion, it must be absolutely fantastic.

Daphny Van Den Brand: a great race, a great season and a spectacular career
(image credit: Thomas Ducroquet CC BY-SA 3.0)

Daphny Van Den Brand will therefore be celebrating tonight, because this is precisely what happened to her today at Oostmalle, the final round of the GVA Trofee. First, all the riders wore their hair in pigtails (see Helen Wyman here), as she has always done in races, to show tribute; and then she beat none other than Marianne Vos (who was in this race, despite the dodgy start list we'd seen which said she wasn't!). The home-made pie baked for her by the Telenet-Fidea team will have been welcome too, looking as delicious as it did.

"Afterwards, I asked Marianne if she let me win," says Daphny, who will now retire from cyclo cross, "but she said I was the better rider."

Congratulations, Daphny, on a great race, a great season and a spectacular career. The cyclo cross world will miss you.

Things didn't go so well for Gabby Day - the British rider crashed early in the race and was taken to hospital. Get well soon, Gabby!

"@Gabby_Day
Nasty crash at the very start of todays race, taken to hospital & have had stitches in my face. Battered and bruised all over, very sore :-("

(More pigtails!)

Results:

  1.  Daphny Van Den Brand
  2.  Marianne Vos
  3.  Sanne Van Paassen
  4.  Sanne Cant  
  5.  Nikki Harris  
  6.  Sabrina Stultiens 
  7.  Arenda Grimberg  
  8.  Helen Wyman  
  9.  Pavla Havlikova  
  10.  Joyce Vanderbeken  
  11.  Amy Dombroski  
  12.  Sophie De Boer  
  13.  Nicolle De Bie Leyten  
  14.  Nikoline Hansen  
  15.  Evy Kuijpers  
  16.  Iris Ockeloen  
  17.  Ellen Van Loy  
  18.  Lana Verberne  
  19.  Karen Verhestraeten    
  20.  Nancy Bober  
  21.  Katrien Thijs  
  22.  Anja Geldhof  
  23.  Margriet Kloppenburg  
  24.  Christine Vardaros  
  25.  Katrien Vermeiren  
  26.  Nele Van Maldeghem  
  27.  Madara Furmane  
  28.  Janice Geyskens  
  29.  Marijke De Pauw  
  30.  Tine Verdeyen 
  31.  Sandie Verriest 
  32.  Caitlyn La Haye 
  33.  Maaike Lanssens 

GVA Trofee: Oostmalle

Click to enlarge
(image credit:  WSC Oostmalle)

Bad news - Sunday the 19th of February brings the last big cyclo cross meet of the season. However, the upset is slightly lessened by the fact that it's the GVA Trofee at Oostmalle; one of the most twisty, turny, technical tracks to have ever felt the rough touch of a pair of Rhinos. There are some similarities between this parcours and the legendary Koksijde with some sections on runway and some on sand; but the terrain that characterises this race is woodland. The highest points just reach 29m, but with the lowest at 17m on a parcours 3km in length there are some steep ramps with a maximum gradient of around 6.7% in places.

From the start line (51°16'36.78"N 4°45'35.66"E) the riders have a 390m blast along the runway to start off, a state of affairs that will suit Helen Wyman after she's been demonstrating how fast she is in an opening sprint recently,  then it ends abruptly with a sharp left onto sand, potentially shattering the lead of any rider who was fastest from the line and passing over the reins to those riders who can best handle the technical sections. After 200m (look here for an old oak tree which, with its roots half exposed, looks as though it's trying to crawl away), the parcours again turns left and follows a track for a few metres , then turns left to travel past the "Publiekstent" (which is probably where you need to go if you want beer), through a tight V-shaped bend and onward to the pits. After turning right, riders dip briefly into woodland and negotiate a couple of tight left-hand turns, then emerge back onto the sand and follow the edge of the woods back past the runway.

Having followed the perimeter of the woods for 110mm, the riders duck back into the trees for a relatively uncomplicated and straight 100m back through to the sand on the other side and then turn left before the path leads into the woods again 20m later. The following section, just under half a kilometre in length, is entirely in the woods and features some tight bends, sharp corners and all the usual puncture risks that lurk within a forest environment. It comes out back onto sand, then after 23m it's left and back into the woods again. This section has fewer bends than the last, but climbs fairly steeply and then descends fast just before it spits the riders back out onto the sand and into some hairpins. Once through, they make a second pass of the pits and remain on sand as they follow the path around the north-western banks of the lake to a track.

After just a few metres on the track, the parcours leads back onto the sand in the opposite direction it came for around 45m, then turns sharply right into the woods once more. This final 475m is entirely forested and features several technical sections, including sharp corners hairpins and the always-amusing beams over which most riders will shoulder their bikes but those with the skills (or desire to show off) will bunnyhop (51°16'37.51"N 4°45'46.09"E). It emerges at the runway next to the VIP tent near the start line, where another lap begins. On the final lap, riders will sprint along the runway to the finish line located just before the first corner (51°16'28.03"N 4°45'47.98"E).

Altimetry (click for enlargement)

Les Déesses de la Route Choices: Daphny Van Den Brand is the most obvious - she's been on fire over the past month and this, the last race of this year's Trofee, would be a fantastic way to end her 'cross career - she plans to retire once the season ends. Both the Sannes, Van Paassen and Cant, could also do well here and will be looking for a chance to end the season on a high note, as will British riders Nikki Harris, Helen Wyman and Gabby Day. Harris has ridden exceptionally well in her last two or three races and there's no reason she won't do so again here. As mentioned earlier, that long sprint from the start and up to the finish line will suit Wyman very well; however, she says she's been suffering with a stomach bug this week - best wishes for a speedy recovery Helen. Then, there's Marianne Vos, of course - the seemingly unbeatable World Champion. Finally, Christine Vardoros will no doubt also want to do well after her chances at Heerlen last week were ruined by an asthma attack. That she kept going and finished the race on that occasion proves she certainly has the determination!


Programme: 10:00 Novices, 11:00 Juniors, 12:00 Under-23, 13:45 Elite Women, 15:00 Elite Men (CET)
Streams: Cycling Fans are showing the Elite Men. If anyone manages to locate a stream for the Elite Women, please let us know either by email, Tweet or in the messages after this article.

GP Heuts Heerlen CX results

Daphny Van Den Brand
(image credit: Thomas Ducroquet CC BY-SA 3.0)

"Here in Heerlen, I could tell the others were tiring so I took a bit of a risk. When I came to the last corner, I knew the victory was mine." (Daphny Van Den Brand)

It's been an excellent weekend for Dutch cyclo crosser Daphny Van Den Brand - yesterday, she won the Superprestige Middelkerke race and today she repeated that success on the frozen parcours at Heerlen after giving Sanne Van Paassen and Nikki Harris the slip as the three of them raced to the end of the final lap.

A last sprint along the tarmac gave her a ten second advantage as she crossed the finish line, with Van Paassen crossing eight seconds ahead of British rider Harris. Helen Wyman won this race last year and was a favourite today - however, despite a customarily excellent launch away from the start she's still having some problems in the freezing conditions during the latter part of this season after coming down with a chest infection that has cut a swathe through women's 'cross, making her fifth place finish 1'16" behind Van Den Brand  perfectly respectable.

Babaco's Christine Vardoros suffered with her asthma in the cold weather and therefore did well to take 17th place all things considered. "Asthma strikes again in Heerlen today," she told fans via her Facebook page. "With very cold dry air i was wheezing within a minute of the start and pedaled backwards for the whole race, somehow managing to ride slower and slower. It took everything i had just to cross the finish line in what felt like - and probably was - slow motion. Sooo bummed." She later said that she'd have stopped had it not have been for the knowledge that so many people were cheering for her, and anyone who suffers asthma will be more than a little impressed that she kept going and finished the race.

It was notable that, despite the question placed to her by a UCI interviewer following the World Championships at Koksijde two weeks ago, the absence of Marianne Vos did not make the race any more competitive; all riders rode as hard today as they have done when competing against the Dutch superstar with no apparent increase in effort.

Van Den Brand now has three races to go before she ends her 'cross career at the end of this season. "It's time to let the new generation take over," she says.

Dutch website Wheeler Watchers have excellent photos to illustrate the icy conditions.

Elite Women Results

  1.  Daphny Van Den Brand 00:37:50
  2.  Sanne Van Paassen   00:10
  3.  Nikki Harris 00:18
  4.  Sophie De Boer 00:36
  5.  Helen Wyman 01:16
  6.  Arenda Grimberg 01:26
  7.  Sabrina Stultiens ST
  8.  Reza Hormes Ravenstijn 01:54
  9.  Nikoline Hansen 02:02
  10.  Joyce Vanderbeken 02:10
  11.  Amy Dombroski ST
  12.  Iris Ockeloen 03:02
  13.  Ellen Van Loy 03:10
  14.  Evy Kuijpers ST
  15.  Nancy Bober 03:35
  16.  Yara Kastelijn 04:05
  17.  Christine Vardaros 04:21
  18.  Margriet Kloppenburg 04:40
  19.  Madara Furmane 05:37
  20.  Lotte Eikelenboom ST
  21.  Marianne Alleleijn ST

Full results

Superprestige Middelkerke results

Elite Women

1. Daphny Van Den Brand WV Schijndel 00:39:25
2. Nikki Harris 00:08
3. Pavla Havlikova 00:13
4. Arenda Grimberg 01:08 
5. Helen Wyman 01:28 
6. Nancy Bober 01:53 
7. Joyce Vanderbeken 02:06 
8. Nikoline Hansen 02:21 
9. Amy Dombroski Crank Brothers 02:33 
10. Nicolle De Bie 03:35 
11. Christine Vardaros Baboco - Revor Cycling Team 03:40 
12. Margriet Kloppenburg 00:01 
13. Caitlyn La Haye 00:02 
14. Sandie Verriest ST

Heerlen GP Heuts Elite Women details

Saturday, 11th of February 2012
09.00 - Final course construction
12.00 - Free practice
15.00 - End of practice
15.30 - Track inspection
Sunday, 12th of February 2012
09.00 - Free practice      
10.00 - Under-23
11.00 - Masters
12.00 - Elite Training  
13.45 - Elite Women
14.45 - Honouring World Champions  
15.00 - Elite Men
16.00 - Finish




The race begins with a 205m sprint along the Stadionbaan (50°52'45.20"N 6° 0'8.57"E), a wide and hard-surfaced area which will encourage high speeds as riders jostle to take first place leading into the first lap. It then passes between two "hillocks" (according to the course guide - they look rather like building spoils) for 50m, a section that can become muddy but which may be frozen solid - transforming a sticky patch into one that could shake teeth loose. Next up comes 65m on grass leading to a 90 degree right onto a long hard-surface section of 518m - it's narrow enough to make overtaking difficult and any rider who gained the upper hand in the initial section will have the opportunity to turn it into a potentially race-winning lead here, possibly in the early stages of the race, but the pack will be in hot pursuit.

Helen Wyman - Britain's
greatest hope

Having turned right, 378m on rougher grass takes the riders over some rough ground and more grass, then over ditches and up to a narrow road - further opportunity for the rider who was fastest through the preceding technical section to extend their lead. 117m of tarmac leads back onto grass and a right turn once onto the grass, which will be slippery as early frost/snow begins to melt and then become worse once a few laps have churned things up a bit. 380m leads to the pits, then loops around to double back past some trees before turning through a left-handed loop, over a track and back onto the first field. It heads through a hedge before a wide right-handed loop on grass and back to the hedge, emerging briefly on the other side entering the woods. A track leads to a  ladder with 24 slippery, narrow, splintered wooden steps (if they can, many riders will probably take their chances running or even riding up the slope to the right of the steps - they look treacherous and, as if traction wasn't already an issue, the space between them will be filled with loose nut casings from the overhanging beech tree) and onward to a surfaced lane curving right for 50m.

Having turned right onto a mud track, which once again may be frozen solid, riders continue for 50m and then head left onto the grass to make a second pass of the pits before arriving at another mud track 126m later. Here, they turn left and follow it for 95m, then enter a technical 50m section with tight bends leading back to the start line. At the end of the final lap, they will continue past the start line towards the sports club building to the right of the parcours where the finish line is located (50°52'41.55"N 6° 0'12.70"E). The entire parcours is 2.56km in length.

Britain's favourite cross rider Helen Wyman won here last year, and hinted to Cyclopunk on Twitter that she believes herself to be in with a chance again this weekend - and with that 205m tarmac section to start and then a sort grassy section before 518m on tarmac, we think that the work she's been putting into improving her starts will pay dividends this time around. In several of her last races, Helen left the start line like a rocket; blasting away from the pack so quickly that even the likes of Marianne Vos couldn't keep up: if she can do that again, she may well build up enough of an early advantage to keep her lead. As the strongest British crosser around today, we wish her the best of luck. Nikki Harris has also been riding exceptionally well this season and will often do well on the same courses as Helen, doubling our chances. However, as in any CX event, keep an eye on Daphny van den Brand - this is her final season, and with Marianne Vos sitting this one out she'll certainly have her eyes on the podium's top step, while the Sannes Cant and van Paassen have both had an excellent season and may prove capable of keeping the British riders out of the top three.

01.	Daphny van den Brand	NED	AA Drink Cycling Team
02.	Sanne Cant	BEL	BKCP - Powerplus
03.	Sanne van Paassen	NED	BrainWash Wielerploeg
04.	Nikki Harris	GBR	Young Telenet Fidea CT
05.	Helen Wyman	GBR	CX Groot Brittannie
06.	Sophie de Boer	NED	Young Telenet Fidea CT
07.	Sabrina Stultiens	NED	BrainWash Wielerploeg
08.	Arenda Grimberg	NED	CX Nederland
09.	Joyce Vanderbeken	BEL	Style & Concept CT
10.	Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn	NED	Orange Babies
11.	Nikoline Hansen	DEN	CX Denmark
12.	Nancy Bober	BEL	Style & Concept CT
13.	Tessa van Nieuwpoort	NED	Stevens Racing Team
14.	Margriet Helena Kloppenburg	DEN	CX Denmark
15.	Amy Dombroski	USA	CX USA
16.	Ellen van Loy	BEL	CX Belgie
17.	Lelde Ardava	LAT	DPA Cycling Team
18.	Marianne Alleleijn	NED	CX Nederland
19.	Evy Kuijpers	NED	CX Nederland
20.	Iris Ockeloen	NED	CX Nederland
21.	Yara Kastelijn	NED	CX Nederland
22.	Lotte Eikelenboom	NED	CX Nederland