The women’s professional cycling peloton has seen an exciting week of racing with Lizzie Armitstead becoming the first ever Women’s WorldTour leader. Her incredible performance at Strade Bianche earned her the the leaders jersey as well as her fourth consecutive win, where she sprinted across the finish line ahead of Kasia Niewieadoma and Emma Johansson.
Of course Voxwomen were on hand catching all of the action. Be sure to check out our Strade Bianche video here! Don’t forget to subscribe to get our latest videos straight to your inbox!
Cycling fans are guaranteed a great show at this weekends Ronde van Drenthe. The 138.3km race is second on the new Women’s WorldTour calendar, which replaces the Women’s World Cup.
The course takes its riders three times over VAM-berg. One of the most unique climbs in Holland, the hill is made out of landfill so grows every few years and is definitely one for the climbers. There are also many exposed sections making the possibility of crosswinds splitting the peloton almost certain.
Although its route only features a short 9.3km of cobbles, they are not easy sections. The cobbles running through the courses forests are covered with moss and are almost always damp. These sections will inevitably see the race torn apart.
Landfill climbs, crosswinds and cobbles. What’s is there not to be excited for?
Wiggle High5’s defending champion Jolien D’hoore will be on the start line in Hoogeveen eager to bring home another win after focusing on the track during the winter months.
In a press release published by her team, Jolien said:
“Last year was an amazing day for me and the team; it was my birthday, my first World Cup win, my first time as World Cup leader.
I will try to make [Drenthe] as awesome as last year but honestly I don’t know what to expect”.
Team mate Emma Johansson is another rider in great form with her recent podiums in Le Samyn and Strade Bianche. Johansson is also a previous Drenthe winner, having won the 2009 edition and finishing on the podium in 2012 and 2013.
The 2014 Ronde van Drenthe winner Lizzie Armitstead is of course a rider to look out for this weekend. Her Het Niewsblad and Strade Bianche win’s demonstrate her impressive form and she is sure to be keen to add another title to her 2016 palmares.
Team Liv-Plantur will be taking over the Voxwomen Twitter account over the weekend. Be sure tofollow us to keep an eye on their antics!
The race starts at 11:40 CET. Live updates of the race will be tweeted from the Ronde van Drenthe official Twitter account.
You can also follow the race using the Twitter hashtag ‘#RondevDrenthe’.
And if that wasn’t enough excitement for one weekend, Sunday brings the much anticipated return of Marianne Vos to the peloton. Vos has been out of action since May last year and will be hoping for a much luckier season, after having to stay off the bike in order to fully recover from a Hamstring injury.
Her season will start at Drentse Acht van Westerveld this Sunday where she will battle it out alongside the rest of the peloton across the cobbles they call Kinderkopjes (translates to babies heads! – This says it all!) to cross the finish line.
Vos is using Drentse to test her legs following her recovery and it has not yet been confirmed what other races are on her calendar for 2016.
More info on the race can be found here.
