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

Women's Cycling News Round-up 02-09.02.2014

World 'Cross Champs - more to come...

More news to come - got a story for us? Let us know!

Vos smashes World 'Cross Champs; Brit Helen Wyman wins bronze
Outside Belgium cyclo cross has never had a profile anything like that enjoyed by its sibling road racing, but once a year the entire cycling world stocks up on the Leffe and prepares for dose of good, filthy fun as the riders get down and dirty and fight it out for the biggest prize in 'cross - the World Championships.

In recent years, Marianne Vos' domination of the sport has been so great that bookies probably kept a drawerful of pre-printed betting slips with her name inserted where there'd usually be a blank space - your chances of getting any cash back had you have bet on anyone else was about as likely as your chances of getting it back if you'd dropped your wallet in the Hoogerheide mud. For the last couple of seasons, however, it's been increasingly apparent that rather than "killing the sport" - as some people, presumably ones who've never heard of Eddy Merckx, who was the last rider that can be compared the Dutch superstar, claimed would happen - the Vos phenomenon has had an enormously positive effect: just as the British rider Helen Wyman said would happen, the rest of the field has had to work hard to improve so as to be in with a chance, and women's cyclo cross has become a very great deal more competitive and fascinating as a result. This year, that process has really come to a head - Vos has been World 'Cross Champion seven times, donning the rainbow jersey in all but two of the years since 2006 but for the first time in a long time a large percentage of fans were tipping other riders for victory, with the USA's Katie Compton and Wyman both being named likely victors.

As was the case at the final round of the World Cup at Nommay in France last week, the widely predicted and much-anticipated battle between Vos and Compton never happened - right at the start of the race the American collided with three-time Czech champion Pavla Havlikova and both riders had difficulty untangled their bikes, losing a lot of time. Compton, though, is a very strong rider indeed; she was still in with a good chance of catching up and Vos would only have had to make a tiny mistake for her rival to take control. The thing is, though, Vos doesn't make many mistakes, and later in the race Compton's asthma, which forced her to abandon at Nommay, started to play her up once again. It seems highly likely that, sooner or later, Compton will take the rainbow jersey, but it wasn't to be this year and in the end she took ninth place.

Vos' technique is well-known: she simply finds her pace and then keeps going, and if anyone can stay with her for the duration then they might (and it's a very big might) be able to match her legendary surge of power to the line. In this race she set her pace early, suddenly accelerating hard halfway through the first lap to a speed that suited her. Italian Eva Lechner went with her and looked strong, but the speeds that suit Vos are virtually unhuman and she fell behind by the end of the lap. From that point on, it was virtually beyond doubt that Vos would take another title and there will be those who say that deciding the outcome so early makes for a boring race. However, there is joy to be had in watching an artisan skilled in his or her craft, and Vos is as expert at the technique of cycling as she is as generating vast wattages - time and time again she picked her lines and executed them to absolute perfection, hardly ever putting a tyre more than a centimetre away from where it needed to be to maintain momentum despite the slippery conditions and taking the corners so quickly that the mud hardly had time to stick to her socks, which looked almost as clean when she finished the race after 39'25" as when she started. She is a truly remarkable athlete and entirely deserves every victory she takes, even if her main rival has been taken out.

Lechner, who had now given up on catching Vos and was concentrating on staying as far ahead of the rest as she possibly could; she worked stupendously hard and her second place finish 1'07" behind Vos was impressive. Meanwhile, there was a full-scale melee going on further back down the parcours for the silver and bronze booty: Wyman, who leads many races for a good part of the initial lap due to her lightning-bolt starts, was third for a long time but Compton, still in at this point, and Belgian superstar Sanne Cant were tracking her every move. Had Compton not have experienced difficulties she's almost certainly have finished top three, perhaps even ahead of Lechner; as it was, Wyman ended up only having to deal with Cant who, for a while, managed to get ahead and looked very much like the probable third. Wyman's fast reactions serve for more than just fast starts, though, and Cant only needed to make the slightest misjudgement during the final lap for Helen to leap past her and grab the third place on the podium 1'17" behind Vos.

Of the other members of Wyman's British team, Nikki Harris was the next-fastest in fifth place, while Gabby Durrin was 26th and Hannah Payton 35th.

We hope to photographs of the race as soon as possible.

2014 World Cyclo Cross Championships Top Ten
1 Marianne VOS (Netherlands) 39'25"
2 Eva LECHNER (Italy) 40'32"
3 Helen WYMAN (Great Britain) 40'42"
4 Sanne CANT (Belgium) 40'45"
5 Nikki HARRIS (Great Britain) 41'58"
6 Lucie CHAINEL-LEFEVRE (France) 42'09"
7 Loes SELS (Belgium) 42'12"
8 Thalita DE JONG (Netherlands) 42'17"
9 Katie COMPTON (USA) 42'23"
10 Caroline MANI (France) 42'24"
Full result

Women's Cycling News 12-19.01.2014

Tour de San Luis - Wyman wins eighth CX Nats - CX, Road and ITT Nats around the world - Otegem CX - Tour de San Luis - Shorts and Interesting Links - Photo of the Week - more to come...

Tour de San Luis
Stage 1
British rider Hannah Barnes (United Healthcare) was the fastest in a 41-rider bunch sprint to win the first stage. Team mate Alison Powers led Barnes out 500m to the line; Barnes jumped with 150m to go and powered past the rest of the bunch.

Yudelmis Dominguez Masague, riding for the Cuba National Team, picked up the most points in the two intermediate sprints and now leads the Sprints classification.

Barnes, making her race debut for the team, will now be widely considered a favourite for overall victory as the race consists chiefly of short stages likely to end in further bunch sprints. The final stage takes place on Saturday.

Stage 1 Top Ten
1 Hannah BARNES (United Healthcare) 1h51'44"
2 Paola MUNOZ ST
3 Arlenis SIERRA CAÑADILLA (Cuba NT) ST
4 Yudelmis DOMINGUEZ MASAGUE (Cuba NT) ST
5 Valeria PINTOS ST
6 Clemilda FERNANDES SILVA (Brazil NT) ST
7 Serika GULUMA ORTIZ ST
8 Barbara FRISCH ST
9 Bibiana NARVAEZ ST
10 Marlies MEJIAS GARCIA (Cuba NT) ST
Full result

Stage 2
Hannah Barnes abandoned following crash and required medical treatment.

Clemilda Fernandes Silva (Brazil NT) wins the stage. Yudelmis Dominguez Masague (Cuba NT) leads the Sprints classification; Arlenis Sierra Cañadilla is the leading rider in the Youth classification and also leads the Combination category.

Stage 2 Top Ten
1 Clemilda FERNANDES SILVA (Brazil NT) 1h35'02"
2 Marlies MEJIAS GARCIA (Cuba NT) ST
3 Luciene FERREIRA DA SILVA ST
4 Arlenis SIERRA CAÑADILLA (Cuba NT) ST
5 Fernanda DA SILVA SOUZA ST 1
6 Andreina RIVERA +04"
7 Serika GULUMA ORTIZ +04"
8 Cristiane SILVA +04"
9 Paola MUNOZ +04"
10 Estefania PILZ +04"
Full result and GC

Stage 3
Alison Powers (United Healthcare) wins with a 3'18" advantage, propelling herself into first place overall with a lead of 3'04 as well as becoming new leader of the Combination classification. Team mate Alexis Ryan wins bunch sprint for second place.

Yudelmis Dominguez Masague (Cuba NT) leads the Sprints classification; Arlenis Sierra Cañadilla remains leading rider in the Youth classification.

Stage 3 Top Ten
1 Alison POWERS (United Healthcare) 1h39'25"
2 Alexis RYAN (United Healthcare) +3'18"
3 Luciene FERREIRA DA SILVA ST
4 Clemilda FERNANDES SILVA ST
5 Marlies MEJIAS GARCIA (Cuba NT) ST
6 Arlenis SIERRA CAÑADILLA (Cuba NT) ST
7 Yudelmis DOMINGUEZ MASAGUE (Cuba NT) ST
8 Paola MUNOZ ST
9 Talia Ayelen AGUIRRE ST
10 Valeria PINTOS ST
Full result and GC

Wyman wins eighth National Cyclo Cross Championships

Having last year ended Helen Wyman's seven-year reign at the top, locally-born 27-year-old Nikki Harris was odds-on favourite for the British Cyclo Cross National Championships on Sunday - and Wyman would most certainly have agreed.

Podium
(Image c/o Jack Chevell)

Whatever happened, though, it was no secret that this race was almost certain to be a competition between the two women right from the start, with the rest of the field fighting it out among themselves for third place: both are based in Belgium and as a result have opportunity to attend a far greater number of races than the British-based riders. Whilst 'cross does appear to be on the up here, we don't have anything like as many races as in Belgium, where the sport is enormously popular and draws crowds of thousands; Wyman and Harris have a selection within in relatively easy reach of their Flemish homes throughout the season.

Wyman's had an excellent season so far, winning the European Championships for a second consecutive year back in November and is evidently in fine form. Harris was second in that race too, though, and has also performed superbly this season. There's no doubt that sooner or later the baton is going to be passed, but when the heavy rain on Friday night combined with Saturday's races to turn the Moorways parcours into a quagmire of which even the infamous Flemish races would have been proud, things began to look ever better for 32-year-old Wyman because in conditions that slimy, experience counts and her formidable bike-handling-in-treacherous-mud skills are well-known - and well-respected - throughout the cyclo cross world.

Harris was able to match her friend and rival's typically lightning-fast start, but once out on the fields it was clear that she wasn't going to be able to keep up and before very long at all Wyman had ploughed away into the thick of it. All those years as the best 'cross rider in Britain have left the St. Albans-born rider with an ability to read the track that is almost psychic - where other riders see the surface and have to experiment in the early laps to find the best lines, Wyman has an uncanny ability to see what lies beneath and find the firmest paths through it, enabling her to start building her advantage from the moment the race gets under way. Then, because she's got the strength to match, she can keep going.

However, after crossing the line completely caked in mud, even Wyman herself was genuinely surprised by her winning margin: finishing in 41'14" compared to Harris' 42'28", she was an incredible 1'14" faster and isn't ready to let go of that baton just yet. Just how much of an advantage they had over the rest of the field was apparent when Ffion James of Abergavenny Road Club finished 4'23" after Harris for third place.

Megan James (Abergavenny CC), Lucy Horrocks (Team Hope) and Ellie Russell (Mid Shropshire Wheelers) were first, second and third in the Under-14 event; Charlotte Broughton (MG Decor), Isabella Boon (Derby Mercury RC) and Jessica Roberts (RST) in the U-16; Tracey Fletcher (Team Empella), Claire Smith (Cotswold Veldrijden), Marie Jackson (Paul Milnes Cycles) topped the Veteran Women.

What makes Helen's victory even more remarkable is the fact that she underwent root canal surgery on the Friday before the race. You can read all about that in her own report.

Elite Women Top Ten
1 Helen Wyman (Kona/FSA Factory Team) 41'14"
2 Nikki Harris (Telenet Fidea) 42'28"
3 Ffion James (Abergavenny RC) 46'51"
4 Abby-Mae Parkinson (RST Racing Team) 47'08"
5 Amira Mellor (Paul Milnes Cycles/Bradford Olympic) 47'46"
6 Diane Lee (Mulebar Girl-Sigma Sport) 48'12"
7 Alice Barnes 49'38"
8 Beth Crumpton (Hargroves Cycles RT-Specialized-Trant-Next-Elliott's) 50'16"
9 Delia Beddis (ViCiOUS VELO) 50'22"
10 Tracy Moseley (Malvern Cycle Sport) 50'42"
Full results for all events

Around the World
Britain's Championships weren't the only ones taking place over the weekend - there were more CX Nationals taking place around the world and even some Road Nationals. In the "CX Top Four" nations the were few surprises with Sanne Cant winning in Belgium, Marianne Vos winning in the Netherlands, Katie Compton winning in the USA and Pauline Ferrand Prevot winning in France.

Each nation's results are at the end of the following links...

CX Nationals Austria - CX Nationals Belgium - CX Nationals Croatia - CX Nationals Denmark - CX Nationals France - CX Nationals Germany - CX Nationals Hungary - CX Nationals Ireland - CX Nationals Italy - CX Nationals Luxembourg - CX Nationals Netherlands - CX Nationals Poland - CX Nationals Spain - CX Nationals Switzerland - CX Nationals USA

Rushlee Buchanan kicked off her year with new team United Healthcare in fine style by winning the New Zealand Road Race Championships, the first road racing championships to take place in 2014. Jaime Nielsen took the Individual Time Trial title, taking an unexpected 28" less than Linda Villumsen to get to the finish.

In the Australian Championships, Orica's Gracie Elvin took the Road Race when she was first over the line from a bunch of eight favourites that all recorded the same time. The ITT went to Felicity Wardlaw.


Otegem CX

Belgian champ Sanne Cant was 7"
slower than Helen Wyman

So on Sunday you won a decisive victory at a major national sporting competition. What do you do on Monday? I know what I'd do - sleep until midday, get up to a leisurely breakfast and then be in the pub for 3pm. But I'm not Helen Wyman who, having won the British National Cyclo Cross Championships for the eighth time on Sunday, traveled 600km in a camper van to back in Belgium on Monday morning ready to race at the Otegem CX. Which she also won, beating Sanne Cant, who won an eighth title of her own at the Belgian CX Championships on Sunday.

Otegem Top Ten
1 Helen WYMAN 37:35
2 Sanne CANT 37:42
3 Sophie DE BOER 37:47
4 Ellen VAN LOY BEL 38:09 
5 Pavla HAVLIKOVA 38:50 
6 Loes SELS 38:54 
7 Jolien VERSCHUEREN 39:48 
8 Asa Maria ERLANDSSON 40:15 
9 Karen VERHESTRAETEN 40:39 
10 Cindy BAUWENS 41:24
Full result


Shorts and Interesting Links
World champion Vos's Rabo Liv team presented (Cycling News)
Compton races to 10th US cyclo-cross title (Cycling News)


Photo of the Week

"Yes, it weighs half a ton - but with Kirsten pedaling, it'll still win the final sprint!"

(With thanks to Kirsten Wild and Lucy Garner)

Women's Cycling News 20-27.10.2013

UCI events this week - Chrono des Nations - Vos wins Valkenburg... and Woerden - Women's group riding skills session with Sigma Sport - Transfers and Team News - more news as it happens...

UCI Elite Women's road races this week: Chrono des Nations (20.10.2013) loads of cross and track

Chrono des Nations
Race preview here

Time trial riders descended on Les Herbiers on Sunday the 20th of October for the final Elite Women's event of the season (apart from the African Championships), the Chrono des Nations. A first-class roster guaranteed exciting riding, with many people especially interested in seeing the relatively-unknown riders from cycling clubs that tend to come to this race - and frequently set impressive times. Another interesting aspect was the presence of Jeannie Longo, who won the first women's edition of this race back in 1987 and will turn 55 years of age at the end of the month.

Les Herbiers got its name due to the lush vegetation that grows abundantly in the locale, which is made possible by heavy rainfall. On Saturday, the showers that swept through in the morning had been replaced by drier conditions in the early afternoon and the majority of the parcours wasn't too slippery, raising hopes that conditions might be good on Sunday - by the morning of the race, forecasts remained contrary with some predicting a dry day, others warning of light rain from lunchtime to late afternoon. The wind, meanwhile, was another matter entirely - roaring in off the Atlantic, it tore across the parcours - and the Chrono is a parcours that requires care and good bike-handling at the best of times, because all that vegetation is losing its leaves at this time of year and the route features a number of technical bands and corners where wet leaves tend to collect, forming a very slippery hazard.

Solovey's victory - which was decisive at +43" over second place Alison Starnes, who is an older, more experienced rider at the peak of her athletic career, and almost a minute over third place Elisa Longo Borghini - will be controversial: she's not long returned to cycling after a ban (ended 1st July), having been caught out in a test for the steroid Drostanolone. Solovey used the drug when she was just 19 and  is still only 21 years old, making her victory against some of top time trial riders in the world even more impressive - for many, perhaps a little too impressive, so there will be questions.

If it can be proven that Solovey is now clean (it should be added that she would not be the first young rider to be pressured into doping by a crooked trainer, as appears to have been the case - and which is a convincing counter to the argument that all athletes found to have doped should be banned for life without question), she has proven that she is a seriously talented rider. Junior World ITT Champion in 2009 and 2010, she went on to become National ITT Champion at Elite level in 2012 and is European Under-23 ITT Champion and National Omnium Champion this year, when she also finished third in the European U-23 Road Race Championships. Given a season or so of good results, in her races and in the dope-tester's trailer, it's a safe bet that we'll be seeing Solovey take up a contract with one of the top professional teams very soon; in the meantime, she's served her ban, deserves the opportunity to make a new start and is innocent unless proven otherwise.

Chrono des Nations Top Ten
1 Hanna SOLOVEY (Ukraine) 28'24"
2 Alison STARNES (USA) +43"
3 Elisa LONGO BORGHINI (Italy) +59"
4 Olga ZABELINSKAYA (Russia) +01'01"
5 Edwige PITEL (France) +01'05"
6 Amber NEBEN (USA) +01'31"
7 Bridie O'DONNELL (Australia) +01'42"
8 Liesbet DE VOCHT (Belgium) +01'50"
9 Jutta STIENEN (Switzerland) +02'01"
10 Julia SHAW (Great Britain) +02'02"
Full result


Vos wins Valkenburg...

Marianne Vos, seen at the 2013 CX World Championships

"It might have looked easy, but it wasn't," Marianne Vos told the world after winning at the first Cross World Cup round of the season. She really has no need to worry - there may be a few people out there who mistakenly think winning races comes easily to Vos, but anyone who knows anything about cycling knows there's no such thing as an easy victory in this sport. Nor did it look easy: it's plain to see when watching Vos race that she puts as much of herself into every ride as everyone else - it's just that she apparently has a little more to put in.

The race started with a minute's silence in honour of Amy Dombroski, the American rider who tragically died aged just 26 when she was involved in a collision with a car earlier this month. Seven-time British Champion Helen Wyman was fastest away from the start, as tends to the case in all of her races - 32-year-old Wyman has always had an ability to produce a large amount of power in a short period of time, which is why her trophy cabinet is as full as it is. Apart from that, though, it was due to be another demonstration of Vos' domination: it took the Dutch rider only a few hundred metres to catch the Brit, then overtake - and from that point on she never looked back. Wyman joined forces with Nikki Harris, Katie Compton and Christel Ferrier-Bruneau - a cyclo cross dream team if ever there was one - to go after her, but still Vos extended her lead, putting 18" between herself and the chasers by the end of the first lap. During the second lap, Compton began to gain a lead on the chasers and was soon ahead of them - but she was unable to get near Vos.

Katie Compton

As the race neared its end, the strain of trying to match Vos' pace accounted first for Ferrier-Bruneau and then, a short while afterwards, for Wyman, who had perhaps put the most effort into their attempts to catch her; both let off the power and gave up hopes of a podium place. Before long, it was clear that Harris was suffering too, leaving Compton without challengers for second place but still completely unable to prevent Vos taking first - it took the American 1'35" longer to arrive at the line, with Harris getting there another 17" later.

Vos has also stated her intention to compete in fewer mountain bike races in 2014, having picked up the sport last year after spending several seasons concentrating on road and cross - she was Junior National Cross Country Champion in 2005. Mountain biking is, she explained to reporters at Valkenburg, less important to her now, but she still dreams of competing in MTB at the 2016 Olympics and will continue training in the discipline. For now, she will compete in the Woerden race, then take a well-earned break before returning to compete in the remainder of the cross season.

The next round of the World Cup is Tabor in the Czech Republic, taking place on Saturday the 26th of October. Following that: Koksijde, Belgium, 23.10.13; Namur, Belgium, 22.12.2013; Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, 26.12.2013; Rome, Italy, 05.01.2014; Nommay, France, 26.01.2014; Hoogerheide, Netherlands, 01.02.2014.

Valkenburg Top Ten
1 Marianne VOS 37'56"
2 Katie COMPTON 39'31"
3 Nikki HARRIS 39'48"
4 Helen WYMAN 40'00"
5 Christel FERRIER-BRUNEAU 40'07"
6 Pavla HAVLIKOVA 40'16"
7 Ellen VAN LOY 40'25"
8 Sanne CANT 40'49"
9 Annefleur KALVENHAAR 41'01"
10 Caroline MANI 41'26"
Full result

...and the Nacht van Woerden

Helen Wyman

Now, I don't know about you but on the last day at work before a holiday, I don't do a lot. In fact, I put more effort into avoiding work than I usually put into doing work. The same is not true of Marianne Vos: she's just about to take a very well-earned break from the world of cycling and plans to return for the Heusden-Zolder round of the World Cup on the 26th of December but, because she apparently knows no other way to ride, she still put in everything she possibly could.

An attempt to recycle her Valkenburg tactics didn't work out when Katie Compton put her heart and soul in making sure she stayed with the Dutchwoman, so Vos fought a war of attrition by using her incredible bike-handling skills to maintain a pace around the course that she knew could only wear the American down given sufficient time. For Wyman and Harris it was too much and, before long, they were trailing - though never by anything like as large a margin as at Valkenburg, suggesting that when Vos returns in December (by which time they'll both have an extra two months-worth of cross races in their legs) she might find them both to be very powerful adversaries.

Finally, not far from the finish, Vos got away and found the lead she needed, beating Compton by 6" - enormously different to the 1'35" with which she won Valkenburg and evidence that Compton is a serious rival this season. Wyman finished 15" after Compton, then Harris 6" later.

Woerden Top Ten
1 Marianne VOS 40'40"
2 Katherine COMPTON 40'46"
3 Helen WYMAN 41'11"
4 Nikki HARRIS 41'17"
5 Sophie DE BOER 41'33
6 Gabriella DURRIN ST
7 Ellen VAN LOY 41'49"
8 Arley KEMMERER 42'53"
9 Lana VERBERNE 43'02"
10 Reza HORMES 43'09"
Full result


Women's group riding skills session with Sigma Sport

Learn group riding skills with Mulebar Girl-Sigma Sport

If you're planning on starting out in racing come the new season, whether you're going to be the next Marianne or just fancy seeing how well you fare in your local club's races, you'll have watched races closely enough to know that races aren't won simply being able to ride fast. You also need bike handling skills and, most importantly of all, the ability to work as part of a closely-choreographed group - with your team mates and, due to the unique nature of cycling, with riders from other teams, too, which is why cyclists use a system of gestures and symbols during a race to allow them to communicate with one another even when they speak different languages.

All those skills can take a long time to learn, but if you can master them as quickly as possible your racing is immediately off to a good start. That's where Team Mulebar Girl-Sigma Sport come in. Members of the team, working alongside female riders from Sigma Sport, have created a short training session that promises to instruct riders in how to move their hands confidently around and off the bars, recognise hazards and point them out, ride in close proximity front/back and side to side, eat and drink on the bike and share the workload (how/why/when to change group position). Find more information on Sigma's website.

The session begins at Sigma's shop in Hampton Wick, Kingston-upon-Thames (there's a train station just up the road if you'd prefer not to drive), from where the group will ride to Richmond Park where training will be carried out. Places on the session are limited to 15 to ensure that the quality of training received is of a high standard; if all places are filled, there will doubtless be more sessions in the future.

The session, open to female riders only, will take place on the 30th of October and begins at 9:30am. It'll last for around two hours and, because Mulebar Girl-Sigma Sport know that cycling should be fun, there'll be coffee and cake back at the shop afterwards.

For more details or to register, email calvin.cox@sigmasport.co.uk. Places will be allocated on a first come/first served basis; please register early to avoid disappointment.


Transfers and Team News
Most of the teams have finalised their 2014 rosters by now. So far, things are looking like this.

Vera Koedooder

Vera Koedooder, previously of the Sengers team which will not continue beyond 2013, is going to Bigla. Koedooder, who turns 30 at the end of this month, won the Grand Prix de Dottignies, the Omloop can Borsele and Stage 2 at the Tour de Bretagne this year. Bigla is expected to reveal its full 2014 roster in early November.

Parkhotel Valkenburg have announced they're taking on five new Dutch riders: Marissa Otten and Monique van de Ree (previously CycleLive Plus-Zannata),  Esra Tromp (previously Argos-Shimano), Kim de Baat (previously Boels-Dolmans) and Natalie van Gogh.

Shorts and Interesting Links
Note: you've probably spotted by now that there aren't any reports on the European Track Championships which have been taking place in the Netherlands. That's because, despite several attempts to become enthusiastic about it, I've never managed to "get" track cycling and the finer details of it still elude me. There are plenty of other people who do love it, though, and it won't take you long at all to find reports written by them.

Kerry McPhee wins Scots Hillclimbing Championships (British Cycling)
NZ women's track squad back on track (NewsTalk ZB)
Dynamic, Women-Centered Shifts in Our Local Biking Community (PQ)

La Fleche Wallonne report and results

Pooley abandons, Stevens takes Fleche victory

Emma Pooley

Emma Pooley (AA Drink-Leontien.nl) was forced to abandon the Fleche Wallonne Femmes after her gears apparently broke twice, a third mechanical problem and three crashes. In the first, she went down along with several other riders but was unhurt; in the second, she collided with a rider who had unexpectedly stopped, breaking her deraileur and while beginning to feel rather battered could continue on a spare bike; in the third. another rider collided with her and she was thrown to the ground, then a motorbike ran over her bike and damaged it beyond repair (AA Drink-Leontien.nl report here). Eye witnesses say she was bleeding as she climbed the Muur for the last time, but she's said to have only very minor injuries (updates as soon as possible). Faren-Honda's Nicole Cooke is reported to have abandoned "after a few kilometres."

Marianne Vos, four-time winner of this race, looked set to repeat her previous success after taking the lead on the final climbed of the infamous Muur to the finish line after a five-rider break formed with 15km to go and managed to join up with Linda Villumsen, Clara Hughes and Lucinda Brand. However, she was surprised in the last 30m by Evelyn Stevens who suddenly appeared from behind her and powered past to the line looking as though she had a rocket under her saddle - an absolutely superb win for the American rider and as good as a big tick next to her name on the Olympic selection list.

Evelyn Stevens, now with
Specialized-Lululemon

Women's Top Ten
1. Evelyn Stevens (Specialized-Lululemon) 3h26'32"
2. Marianne Vos (Rabobank) +4"
3. Linda Villumsen (GreenEDGE) +20"
4. Lucinda Brand (AA Drink-Leontien.nl) +27"
5. Ashleigh Moolman (Lotto Ladies-Belisol) +41"
6. Judith Arndt (GreenEDGE) ST
7. Megan Guarnier (TIBCO) +44"
8. Clara Hughes (Specialized-Lululemon) +48"
9. Emma Johansson (Hitec Products-Mistral Home) ST
10. Karol-Ann Canuel (Vienne Futurscope) +51"

Best Brit: 20. Sharon Laws (AA Drink-Leontien.nl) +1'10"
(Top 40)




The women's race is, of course, the fourth round of the Women's Road World Cup. The standings after today look like this:

1. Marianne Vos (Rabobank) 200 pts
2. Judith Arndt (Specialized-Lululemon) 139 pts
3. Emma Johansson (Hitec Products-Mistral Home) 86 pts
4. Kirsten Wild (AA Drink-Leontien.nl) 80 pts
5. Evelyn Stevens (Specialized-Lululemon) 75 pts
6. Trixi Worrack (Specialized-Lululemon) 62 pts
7. Adrie Visser (Skil-Argos) 56 pts
8. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Rabobank) 52 pts
9. Kristin Armstrong (USA) 50 pts
10. Tatiana Guderzo (IMCipollini-Giambenini) 50 pts

Videos

Videos courtesy of Sebastien Tytgat

Energiewacht Tour Stage 5 report and results

Ina-Yoko Teutenberg
(image credit: Velocio Sports)

I honestly never wanted this race to end - the riding has been absolutely first rate, the outcome was totally unexpected and with the short, spectator-and-TV friendly circuit courses and excellent online coverage the organisers have done more for women's cycling in only five days than many organisations have achieved in five years; so congratulations on an absolutely first rate job by all the riders and everyone else involved. It looks very much as though a holiday to north-east Nederland is on the cards in April 2013.

Many fans expected Specialized-Lululemon to get Ina-Yoko Teutenberg up to the front in order to hammer home her General Classification victory today and for Rabobank to come together in a serious attempt to propel Marianne Vos back up to the top, but this stage turned out to be all about the lesser-known riders  - a number of whom finished within the top ten after a series of effective breaks throughout the race. Meanwhile, Lululemon kept out of the limelight and concentrated on getting Teutenberg to where she needed to be; their clever riding leaving no doubt whatsoever that the GC was hers.

Nicole Cooke (Faren-Honda) scored a superb stage win five years to the day since she won the Ronde van Vlaanderen voor Vrouwen, powering to the line and gaining a 2" lead over a pursuing group made up of Eveyn Arys (2nd, Kleo), Sarah Düster (Rabobank), Megan Guarnier (TIBCO) and Marieke Van Wanroij (AA-Drink-Leontien.nl) - a much-needed boost for the Welsh rider after a few difficult years in the wake of an illness that badly knocked her performance.


 Stage 5
 1.  Nicole Cooke Faren-Honda 03:27:05
  2.  Evelyn Arys Kleo +2"
  3.  Sarah Düster Rabobank ST
  4.  Megan Guarnier Team TIBCO ST
  5.  Marieke Van Wanroij AA Drink-Leontien.nl ST
  6.  Josien Van Wingerden Specialized Dpd SRAM +4" -
  7.  Jennifer Wheeler Team TIBCO ST
  8.  Chloe Mcconville +16"
  9.  Amy Pieters Skil-Argos +2'19"
  10.  Judith Jelsma WV De Noord-Westhoek ST


(Full stage result)

Final General Classification

Image credit and full results: Energiewachttour.nl

Interesting Stuff: Follow Teut on Twitter (and her team too)

Stage 1 / 2 / 3 / 4a-4b / 5 / Guide / Video Vault

Energiewacht Tour Stage 4a/4b report and results

Kirsten Wild
(image credit: AA Drink-Leontien.nl)

Stage 4a
Strong winds caused havoc and high speeds in equal amounts during the five laps of the Winsum circuit, splitting the pack into seven distinct groups at one point. A group of 17 escaped and was gradually whittled down to 11; but with the likes of Visser (Skil-Argos), Gunnewijk(GreenEDGE), Arndt (GreenEDGE), Kasper (RusVelo), Van Dijk (Specialized-Lululemon), Worrack (Specialized-Lululemon), Wild (AA Drink Leontien.nl), Blaak (AA Drink Leontien.nl),  Slappendel (Rabobank) and Vos (Rabobank) onboard, their lead just kept on increasing - as they entered the final lap, they had 8'03" on the chasers and didn't show any signs of taking it easy.

Kirsten Wild mounted a solo attack after coming within 2km of the finish line with Trixi Worrack and then Marianne Vos responding - however, neither could catch her and she crossed the line solo. Worrack dropped off and was replaced by Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Specialized-Lululemon) who once again powered past for second and left Vos, who retains her leadership in the General Classification) to take third.

Stage 4b, taking place this afternoon, is a 26.5km team time trial that is expected to prove pivotal in the eventual outcome of the race.

Top Ten

  1.  Kirsten Wild AA Drink-Leontien.nl 01:42:25
  2.  Ina Yoko Teutenberg Specialized-Lululemon 00:07
  3.  Marianne Vos Rabobank ST
  4.  Judith Arndt GreenEDGE ST
  5.  Ellen Van Dijk Specialized-Lululemon ST
  6.  Adrie Visser Skil-Argos ST
  7.  Romy Kasper RusVelo ST
  8.  Loes Gunnewijk GreenEDGE ST
  9.  Chantal Blaak AA Drink-Leontien.nl ST
  10.  Trixi Worrack Specialized-Lululemon ST

(Full results)

Interesting stuff: Official race report / Rabobank report

Ina-Yoko Teutenberg

(now with Lululemon)

Stage 4b
Specialized-Lululemon win the Team Time Trial, GreenEDGE second and Rabobank third, Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Specialized-Lululemon) takes General Classification leadership from Marianne Vos (Rabobank).

Follow the official race Twitter @ewachttour for details during each stage and information on the race. Local TV RTL7 is broadcasting a short highlights show daily, with the Stage 4a edition being at 14:30 BST (+1 hour for local time/CEST). Stage 4b and 5 will be shown on Sunday, also at 14:30.

Stage 1 / 2 / 3 / 4a-4b / 5 / Guide / Video Vault