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

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

Adrie Visser wins Erondegemse Pijl

04.08.12 Official site
Belgium, UCI 1.2


One small loop of 9km, one 38.5km loop from Erondegem to Bambrugge and eight laps of a 9.3km circuit starting and ending at Erondegem, the total distance being 121.9km. The event formed part of the Lotto Cycling Cup.

With a rolling (rather than hilly) parcours and two 20m climbs in the final 1.5km (see details below), this was a race that could go to almost any rider rather than to a sprinter, as at first seemed to be the case. It was also a parcours that might favour a breakaway, especially as one that lasted to the end would have the advantage of being able to sprint to the finish line without the chasers'/peloton's knowledge once around the last right-hand corner and into the final 300m.

Final 3km

The riders appeared rather reluctant due to rain shortly after the race began, although an average speed of 41kph in the first hour showed that things were ticking over; however, the combination of slippery conditions and high speed proved dangerous - numerous crashes saw two riders taken to hospital. Emma Mackie of Abus Nutrixxion launched the first attack one hour and ten minutes into the race, rapidly gaining a 10" and then losing it again even quicker - sadly, she then crashed and was one of the two taken away by ambulance but is understood to have escaped injury Elisa Longo Borghini (Hitec-Mistral) also fell, as did Olivia Koster (Specialized-DPD-SRAM). Esra Tromp (Skil-Argos) had a go at escaping around 40 minutes later and ended up becoming one of the highlights of the event, remaining out in front on her own right into the first few laps of the 9.3km circuit and building her lead up to 30" at one point: a move that will have pleased fans, sponsors and her mother, who also races, alike.

Final 3km profile

After a quarter of an hour or so, Rabobank's Iris Slappendel bridged and the two women rode together for most of the remainder of the race, though it was a notably once-sided partnership with Tromp using up all the energy she had left simply to stay with a more experienced rider for as long possible. If only she'd had that experience, they might have worked closely and the eventual outcome could well have been very different; as things were Tromp eventually dropped away. Slappendel put up a heroic fight, continually increasing her speed and managing to add big chunks of time, but the chasing pack kept on chipping away at it. She was caught with two laps to go.

Esra Tromp's ride will have pleased
sponsors, fans and her mum!

Adrie Visser (Skil-Argos) attacked a short while afterwards, causing a flurry of activity in the peloton, but it soon became apparent that she was only trying to find out who would respond and get herself up to the front. Nina Kessler (Dolmans-Boels) & Petra Dijkman (Kleo) got away together five minutes later and were caught a minute later as the race entered the final lap. With all threats neutralised, the entire peloton slowed down as riders began daring one another to attack in the traditional game that comes before a bunch sprint. This continued all the way into the last kilometre; a nail-biting, edge-of-the-seat situation for fans as there was no way to predict who might win - or even who might try to win - until Visser deemed it the right moment for her real attack, exploding towards the line with 70 riders going with her. Liesbet de Vocht (Rabobank) was second fastest; the first 71 riders all recorded the same time.

Meanwhile, it had been a very good race for Maaike Polspoel (TopSport Vlaanderen-Ridley); she was first up the first two climbs, second up the third, third up the fourth and second through the second intermediate sprint - she won the GPM as a result, and very deservedly so. Mascha Pijnenborg was third fastest in the first sprint, fastest through the second and second through the third; she won the sprints classification.

Visser at the finish line, pictured by Bart Hazen

Winner Adrie Visser

Top Ten
  1. Adrie Visser Skil-Argos 3h04'17"
  2. Liesbet De Vocht Rabobank ST
  3. Janneke Kanis Skil-Argos ST
  4. Kaat Hannes Lotto-Belisol ST
  5. Laura Van Der Kamp Dolmans-Boels ST
  6. Iris Slappendel Rabobank ST
  7. Evelyn Arys Kleo ST 
  8. Sofie De Vuyst Lotto-Belisol ST
  9. Rochelle Gilmore Faren-Honda ST
  10. Emilie Moberg Hitec Products-Mistral Home ST (Full results)

1st Intermediate Sprint 
1 Emilie Moberg 2 Monique van Ree 3 Mascha Pijnenborg
2nd Intermediate Sprint
1 Mascha Pijnenborg 2 Maaike Polspoel 3 Sofie De Vuyst
3rd Intermediate Sprint
1 Monique Van Ree 2 Mascha Pijnenborg 3 Sara Mustonen
4th Intermediate Sprint
1 Iris Slappendel 2 Maaike Polspoel 3 Luisa Tamanini
1st GPM
1 Maaike Polspoel 2 Sofie De Vuyst 3 Jessy Druyts
2nd GPM 
1 Maaike Polspoel 2 Linda Ringlever 3 Sara Mustonen
3rd GPM
1 Adrie Visser 2 Maaike Polspoel. 3 Marie Voreland
4th GPM
1 Esra Tromp. 2 Iris Slappendel 3 Maaike Polspoel



On the road (Time-BST, info culled from Twitter and other sources). Refresh for updates.
>16:40 It's Adrie Visser! Visser wins 2012 Erondegemse Pijl for Skil-Argos! Liesbet de Vocht (Rabobank) is second.
>16:35 2km, riders altogether. It's going to be a bunch sprint.
>16:29 Peloton has slowed right down now, all the riders daring one another to attack. It's going to blow up any moment.
>16:25 ...and they're caught. Last lap.
>16:24 Nina Kessler (Dolmans-Boels) &  Petra Dijkman (Kleo) get away together.
>16:19 Mascha Pijnenborg wins Sprints Classification.
>16:16 Adrie Visser attacks!
>16:14 Two laps left, gap down to under 10" - the end is near, but what a brilliant break it was.
>16:09 Race progressing at superspeed now as the peloton try to reel in Slappendel and Tromp. Have they left it too late...?
>16:07 The peloton is now a long, thin line.
>16:04 Here we go again as the pack click up another gear, reducing the gap by half.
>15:56 Three more laps of the 9.3km circuit. Incredibly, Slappendel has increased the gap to 26"; the pack are going to have to take some serious action soon.
>15:52 Gap down to 13". If only Tromp was a little older and more experienced, they might have been able to work together and won this - she have too much of herself maintaining her solo lead (the sponsors will love her for it, though).
>15:51 Esra Tromp, who has done so much to enliven this race.
>15:49 But the pack won't let her get away with it that easily! They've just clicked up a gear and slashed the gap to 15".
>15:47 Slappendel's putting in all the effort and has lengthened the lead to 25" as Tromp hangs on for dear life - she won't be able to keep up with her for long now.
>15:46 Polspoel was third to the top of the fourth and final climb, making her the GPM winner today. Chapeau!
>15:42 Actually, Slappendel is 27. Sorry Iris!
>15:41 Peloton upping the pace to try to reduce the gap - Slappendel's too dangerous to be allowed to go unchallenged. It's down to 15".
>15:38 Slappendel turned 28 in February and is a highly accomplished rider. She joined Rabobank when Garmin-Cervelo's women's team closed down in 2011, while most of her team mates - including British stars Emma Pooley and Lizzie Armitstead - went to AA Drink-Leontien.nl.
>15:35 It was Iris Slappendel! Unsurprisingly, she's caught Tromp and they now have 21". Expect other victory contenders to start trying to bridge now.
>15:30 An unknown rider goes after Tromp.
>15:30 Five laps left.
>15:27 ...now 30".
>15:26 Tromp has 15".
>15:24 Tromp is 21 and studies business admin. Her mother also races.
>15:22 Esra Tromp (Argos-Shimano) lauches an attack
>15:13 Riders fast approaching the finish line for the second time - but there's still a long way to go: when they get there, they have to complete the six laps of the final circuit.
>15:08 Proving a good race for TopSport Vlaanderen-Ridley's Maaike Polspoel - she won the first two GPM and was second in the third GPM and second sprint. Grabbing points left, right and centre!
>14:51 Riders all together
>14:44 After departing the feeding zone, the group reconvenes
>14:42 The riders have arrived at the feeding zone
>14:40 Emma Mackie attacks solo, builds 10" advantage
>14:38 Average speed 41kph in the first hour
>13:35 Raining lightly
>13:32 135 riders started at 14:30 local time