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Get your week started with the latest news in women’s cycling
Marta Bastianelli has extended with UAE Team ADQ for another season. The Italian has won a series of major titles, such as the World Championships and the European Championships as well as the Tour of Flanders.
Dutch rider Babette van der Wolf will be making her debut with Le-Cool Wahoo, after an impressive run of results in the junior category, including seventh in both the national road and time trial races this year, and winning the European championships in the Madison.
After a successful GoFundMe campaign, Pat Shaw, former pro rider and cycling commentator, has been able to form a women’s continental team with Team BridgeLane, starting next year.
After having had a successful season, Plantur-Pura will be applying for the remaining WorldTour licence for next year. With 14 teams already in the WWT next year, just one WorldTeam license remains for the coming season. The Belgian team joins Ceratizit-WNT, and a few others in applying to step up to the WorldTour. Under the current regulations, the decision on which team will be successful will be based on their position in the UCI team standings.
Magnus Bäckstadt has joint Canyon//SRAM as lead sports director. He won Paris Roubaix and stages at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia during his career. After retiring from cycling, among other things, he has managed UK cycling teams and done race commentary. This will be his first role in a women’s cycling team, but having supported his two successful daughters, pro riders Zoe and Elynor, he has strong connections to women’s cycling.
Winner of the 2020 Zwift Academy, Neve Bradbury, has extended with Canyon//SRAM until the end of 2024. The Australian rider placed top 10 in the GC at the Giro Donne, followed by fifth overall and topping the Young Riders classification at the Tour of Scandinavia.
The ninth edition of The Women’s Tour will take place from Tuesday 6 to Sunday 11 June 2023. Next year’s race has moved dates by a day in order to allow the six-stage event to finish with two weekend stages. More details of the six stages will be revealed in the coming weeks
British Cycling has announced its team for the UCI World Track Championships in Saint Quentin en Yvelines, France. Olympians Laura Kenny, Neah Evans, Katie Archibald, and Josie Knight will be joined by Megan Barker, as well as Anna Morris, Sophie Lewis, and Jess Roberts, who will be making their elite World Championship debuts. More information can be found here.
In order to assist the struggling road racing scene in the USA, the National Cycling League has announced it will offer a US$1 million prize in addition to the individual prize purse for each invitational held. During its 2023 debut season, ten teams made up of male and female riders will contest the event. Initially the races will take place in Miami Beach, Atlanta, Denver and Washington, D.C as well as online on a virtual platform.
On 1 November, new UCI regulations will come into force. They include an increase of the minimum wage for WWT riders to €32,102 for next year. Teams may also signs neo-pros in addition to the maximum number of 20 riders allowed on their roster. More team vehicles will be allowed in races of six stages or more and team sizes for races of the same length will also increase to seven riders.
Results
Tre Valli Varesine: Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek Segafredo) ahead of Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) and Ane Santesteban (Team BikeExchange-Jayco)
Binche Chimay Binche: Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) ahead of Marjolein Van T’Geloof (Le Col-Wahoo) and Annlilna Ahtosalo (Uno-X Pro Cycling)
Tour de Romandie: Stage 1: Arlenis Sierra (Movistar Team) ahead Liane Lippert (Team DSM) and Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx)
Stage 2: Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Team SD Worx) ahead of Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo)
Stage 3: Marta Lach (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling) ahead of Tamara Dronova-Balabalina (Roland Cogeas Edelweiss Squad) and Arlenis Sierra (Movistar Team)
General Classification: Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio ahead of Annemiek van Vleuten and Elisa Longo Borghini
World Gravel Championships: Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (FRA) ahead of Sina Frei (SUI) and Chiara Teocchi (ITA)
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
Katherine Towle Knox
Known as Kittie, the U.S. rider, born on 7 October 1874, began her interest in cycling early on in her life. After saving enough money from her job as a seamstress to buy a bike, she entered several races and eventually became the first African American to be accepted into the League of American Wheelmen in 1893, at a time when few women were members. Knox persisted in racing, despite sometimes being denied access to races as well as service by restaurants and hotels while traveling. She would place in the top 20% of every ride that she ever competed in, many of which were at least 100 miles long. Using her seamstress skills, Knox sewed her own cycling outfits even though her quest for a functional cycling kit went against the strict gender norms of the day, opting for bloomers instead of the long skirts and dresses. Knox died tragically in 1900, at the age of 26 of kidney disease. An official Kittie Knox Award was created to honour her involvement in cycling. The inaugural recipient of the award was Ayesha McGowan, the U.S.’s first black female pro racer. USA Cycling also offers the Kittie Knox Challenge, a virtual event in recognition of this remarkable athlete and pioneer of cycling.
Anne-Caroline Chausson
The French rider, born on 8 October 1977, is a legend across the various MTB disciplines, but also succeeded in endurance races and BMX. She has won 13 UCI international senior mountain bike World Championships, 14 European mountain bike championships and several MTB World Cup events. At the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing she won the inaugural women’s BMX event. She partnered with Commencal, serving as an ambassador, test rider, and product developer. Having dealt with the diagnosis of caner once, she has been faced with surgery for its recurrence but is still riding her bike because as she says: “whatever happens, riding is a link with life, one made of joy and discovery.”
Zwift Rides of the week
Women Only Wednesday – Donny Chaingang
This is an inclusive ride for all levels of riders suitable for everyone from first time Zwift group riders to pros! The ride leader keeps the ride together, steadily ramping up the pace until the GoGoGo when the riders are released for an all out effort. Find out more here!
Zwift PretzelFest
It’s time to don your lederhose, fill your stein with electrolytes, and stuff your jersey pockets with pretzels. Celebrate the arrival of October with the inaugural Zwift PretzelFest! We’re in stage 2 of the 3 stage series. Complete any stage 2 event this week for some cool lederhosen inspired unlocks. More info here!
