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Get your week started with the latest news in women’s cycling
Bronze medal winner at this year’s Cyclocross World Championships and World Road Championships, Silvia Persico, has signed with UAE Team ADQ. Among other achievements, Persico has won a stage and the points classification at the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta, taken a double stage podium and fifth place in the GC at the Tour de France, a stage podium and seventh place in the GC at the Giro Donne and third place in the GC at the Festival Elsy Jacobs.
New Zealand rider Mikayla Harvey has signed with UAE Team ADQ for the next two seasons. She previously rode for Canyon//SRAM Racing. Harvey placed fifth in the overall classification of the 2020 Giro Donne and seventh at La Flèche Wallone in the same year. In 2021, she won the youth classification at the Tour de Suisse and was also the best young rider at the Giro in 2020. Previously, she won both the Oceania ITT championships and New Zealand national ITT championships in the the Under-23 and Junior category.
Swedish rider Caroline Andersson will leave Team Co-op Hitec Products to join Liv Racing Xstra for the next two years. The young rider placed 13th in the Grand Prix Féminin de Chambéry and 15th at the Tour de Suisse.
Alice Towers will join Canyon//SRAM for the next three years. The young rider won the road race at the British national championships in her second year as an elite rider and placed seventh on the Muur de Geraardsbergen in the final stage of the Lotto Belgium Tour.
Nicole Steigenga has signed with AG Insurance NXTG. The Dutch rider was the junior national champion in her first year as a junior, and achieved her first WorldTour top 10 in Vårgårda.
Norwegian rider Stine Borgli and her Swedish teammate Emilia Fahlin have extended their contracts with FDJ-SUEZ-Futuroscope for another year.
Norwegian rider Mari Hole Mohr already had a contract with Coop-Hitec Products until the end of 2023, but has now extended until the end of 2024. At the national championships she took a bronze medal in the road race, which gave her the title in the U23 category. She recently finished 9th in the U23 classification of the road race at the world championships in Australia.
Olivia Baril has signed with UAE Team ADQ. The young Canadian, who previously rode for Valcar – Travel & Service, won the young rider classification at the Tour de Suisse.
Eleonora Gasparrini will join UAE Team ADQ. She has won both the Italian and European Junior Road Championship titles, and a series of European and World titles on the track. She achieved a podium at the Ronde van Drenthe and in the same year won the title of Italian U23 Road Champion. She was also the best young rider at the Festival Elsy Jacobs, the RideLondon Classique and the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas.
Multiple European and Word Champion on the track, Chiara Consonni, has moved up to the WorldTour with UAE Team ADQ on a two-year contract. This year on the road, she won the last stage of the Giro Donne, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Dwars door de Westhoek, the SPAR Flanders Diamond Tour and the GP d’Isbergues in France.
After three years with Le Col Wahoo and 12 seasons as a professional cyclist, Emilie Moberg has decided to retire. The Norwegian rider had a bad fall earlier in the year and suffered a concussion, which ended her 2022 season. Almost finishing a Master’s in Nutrition, she is now working with hospital patients.
The Andy Schleck Women’s Team will not be racing anymore in 2023. The goal of the team was to develop Luxembourg athletes to the highest level and at this stage there are unfortunately not sufficient funds to keep the team running in 2023.
According to the UCI, the organiser of the RideLondon Classique has provided evidence of contractual commitments to broadcast all stages of the race live on TV in 2023, and the race is now back on the UCI Women’s WorldTour calendar for 2023.
The UCI has announced that the first round of the 2023 Tissot UCI Track Nations Cup will take place in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 23 to 26 February 2023. The second and third rounds of the series will be held in Cairo, Egypt and in Milton, Canada.
The UCI will host the Afghan national women’s championships in Switzerland on 23 October. The riders will take on 2 laps of a 28.5 km long circuit near the UCI headquarters. Many of the participants had been evacuated after last year’s change of government in their home country and found refuge in European countries.
British Cycling has launched the second edition of the Diversity in Cycling report, featuring individuals and initiatives that are helping to make cycling more inclusive. This edition also includes off-road disciplines, different areas of the UK, and community initiatives, while also reflecting wider societal changes which have occurred since the report was first published in 2019.
Following criticism of the UCI’s almost 20 year old no-earpiece rule at the recent Wollongong championships, the organisation has decided to stick with its decision not to allow race radios at events such as the World Championships and the Olympic Games.
Results
Giro dell’Emilia: Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) ahead of Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) and Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ)
Exact Cross Meulebeke: Lucinda Brand ahead of Fem van Empel and Denise Betsema
Race Preview
The inaugural edition of The Tour de Romandie Féminin will be held from 7 to 9 October 2022. The three-day event will start in Lausanne and finish in Geneva and will feature a challenging course. Read all the details about the route and the contenders right here, in our race preview p/b MAAP.
Zwift Blog
We check in with Abi Smith of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB for an insightful recount of this year’s season, from her setbacks, to overcoming obstacles, and all the good memories from the season. Read all about it here.
This week in cycling history
Julie Robyn Speight
Born on 1 October 1966, Speight is an Australian eight time national champion, and Australia’s first female Olympic and Commonwealth Games track cyclist. Although in 1984, she qualified for the inaugural Women’s Road Race at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Australian cycling authorities decided last minute not to send a women’s team to LA. Four years later, she became Australia’s first female Olympic rider in 1988. Speight lobbied for more events at national track titles, and was successful in her campaign to have a Points Race included in the 1990 Australian National Women’s Track Championships. Her trailblazing contributions to women’s cycling were recognised when she was inducted into Cycling Australia Hall of Fame in 2017. These days, she serves for the Tasmanian Olympic Council and also works to raise awareness of concussion-related injuries in athletes. She has recently decided to donate her brain to research on the degenerative condition of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a condition which is a growing concern among athletes of different disciplines.
Zwift Rides of the week
Zwift PretzelFest
It’s time to don your lederhose, fill your stein with electrolytes, and stuff your jersey pockets with pretzels. Get ready to celebrate the arrival of October with the inaugural Zwift PretzelFest! This 3 week series offers a variety of routes and some awesome unlocks. Read all about it here!
Zwift Academy Road 2022
We’re in the final week of Zwift Academy Road 2022! The Academy program delivers a crash course in getting faster, stronger, and training smarter. Six structured workouts pinpoint specific energy systems and educate you along the way. Baseline and Finish Line rides that bookend your training journey measure your progress. Read more information here.
From our online shop
Voxwomen T-shirt – £20
Get yours this summer! Wear our new t-shirt to show your support for the sport. Everyone will know you’re an avid follower of women’s cycling when you wear this item to support Voxwomen! Get yours here!
