Your news
Get your week started with the latest news in women’s cycling
After having recently resigned from Zaaf Cycling Team, French champion Audrey Cordon Ragot has signed for Human Powered Health. Her first race was Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift.
Belgian rider Shari Bossuyt has extended her contract with Canyon//SRAM until the end of 2025. Last year, she achieved three podiums on the Women’s WorldTour level at the Tour of Scandinavia and also became Madison World Champion on the track last October. This year, Shari took her first UCI win on the final stage of the Tour de Normandie in a bunch sprint.
Vittoria Guazzini of FDJ-Suez sustained a pelvic fracture during a training ride for Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift. She will be out for an indefinite period. We wish her all the best with her recovery.
The FDJ-SUEZ team has announced the arrival of CB, the leader in card and mobile payments in France, as a new major partner. The squad’s partnership with CB will last for three years. Starting with the third edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, the CB logo will appear on the sleeves and shoulders of the FDJ-SUEZ jersey.
The Giro Donne has announced that the event will be held from 30 June to 9 July this year. The route will traverse the region of Toscana, Emilia-Romagna, Piemonte, Liguria and Sardinia. On 30 April, the organisers will reveal the details of the course.
The women’s Ronde Van Vlaanderen had a combined TV audience of more than one million in Flanders. It was by far the most worldwide watched women’s classic race ever.
The UCI has launched a campaign aimed at encouraging all cycling stakeholders – athletes, coaches, organisers, officials and staff members of different structures – to play an active role in protecting the physical and psychological integrity of those involved in the sport. The statement notes that cycling must be safe for everyone: each member of the cycling family, whether a rider or not, must be able to work in an environment in which they feel safe and respected. More information can be found here.
The National Criterium League kicked off last Saturday in Miami, with 30 laps of a 1.5km route and was won by the Denver Disruptors. The new league featuring male and female riders has captured attention over the past several months, not least because of its $1 million prize purse. The new league’s $7.5 million capital raised last December is one of the largest private investments ever in U.S. professional cycling.
The UCI published a report on the significant positive economic impact of the 2022 UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia, and the 2022 Tissot UCI Track World Championships in Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. The report also revealed that between them, the UCI World Championships for road and track generated nearly €40 million in economic activity for the host cities and regions. The world championships were broadcast to 132 million viewers in 59 countries. More details can be found here.
A brand new e-bike racing series, the EBK, will host its first event in London this summer. Organised by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the series hopes to take e-road bike racing mainstream and promote sustainable travel. In 2024, it will embark on an international calendar, staging criterium races with men and women teams in cities around the world.
Results
Scheldeprijs: Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx) ahead of Charlotte Kool (Team DSM) and Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ)
Paris – Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift: Alison Jackson (EF Education TIBCO -SVB), Katia Raguso (Liv Racing TeqFind) and Marthe Truyen (Fenix – Deceuninck)
New Podcast: “Just 3 Questions”
Are you seeking to become a better version of yourself? Have you set yourself a sporting challenge and don’t know where to start with training, nutrition, tech or anything else? Then this brand new podcast is an essential tool for you!
In our very first episode, we provide a short and informative listen on helping you to achieve your sporting goals. Three questions asked by you are answered by experts Chris and David from Supersapiens and Precision Fuel and Hydration.
Listen on Spotify here!
Listen on Apple Podcasts here!
Listen on Amazon here!
Zwift Blog
The 2022 Paris Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift winner, Elisa Longo Borghini, reflects on her experience of last year’s Hell of the North in her exclusive blog. Check it out right here!
Vox Performance Project
After joining the project, Maria learned how to properly fuel and hydrate. Excited to try the Supersapiens sensors and armed with knowledge from Precision Fuel & Hydration, she tracks what she’s learned so far in her latest blog. Read all about it here!
This week in cycling history
Josiane Bos
Born on 7 April 1956, the French former rider won the World Road Championships in 1977. Before the race, she felt she had a good chance of winning as soon as she received the race number 51. She comes from the same region as Bernard Thévenet and Michel Laurent – Thévenet won the Tour de France with number 51 and Laurent won Paris Nice with the same number. Bost was also twice the national pursuit champion and once the French sprint champion, besides finishing second three times in the national road championships, where she was defeated each time by Geneviève Gambillon.
Yvonne McGregor
9 April was McGregor’s 62nd birthday. Until the age of 28, the English athlete competed in running, but after an injury she switched to cycling, breaking Beryl Burton’s 20-year-old British 10 mile time trial record in 1993 and setting a new hour record in Manchester in 1995. She was on the podium at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the track discipline, becoming the first British female Olympic medallist in any cycling discipline. Two months later at the 2000 UCI Track Worlds in Manchester, she took gold in the pursuit. After her retirement in 2002, she was made an MBE for her services to cycling and started a new career as a sports massage therapist.
Evelyn Hamilton
The British-born rider was born on 3 April 1906. She was a talented cyclist who broke records such as riding 700 miles from London to John O’Groats in four and a half days, and riding 1000 miles in 100 days. During the war, she landed up in France under mysterious circumstances and became a WWII war hero, couriering messages for the Resistance in her bike’s handle bar through occupied France. A book and film were made of her life, a story of talent, and fighting for equality and recognition. Hamilton passed away at the age of 99 years.
Performance Corner
How to use caffeine before rides
Depending on your day-to-day caffeine usage, the general guideline would be to consume 3–6 mg of caffeine per kg of body weight (1.4-2.7mg/lbs) during the final 60 minutes before you exercise.
But, should you go cold-turkey in days before a big ride? And, can you caffeine-load like you can carb-load? Find out here.
Questions? Email hello@pfandh.com. Click here to get 15% off fuel and electrolytes – proud partners of Lotto Dstny and Team DSM.
Zwift Rides of the week
The Voxwomen Club
Get ready for the next ride on 11th April! Celebrate women’s cycling through our new club on Zwift! Here, you can be part of the journey and complete rides that cater to the busy lives we live and find motivation and enjoyment through riding. The rides will be held every other Tuesday at 7am/11am/1pm PST (3pm/7pm/9pm GMT). Rides are approximately 40 minutes and feature special guests to lead the events.
It’s also open pace and no drop, thanks to the Zwift bubble feature, which keeps everyone together so you can ride at your own pace without being dropped from the group. The first ride is this Tuesday, so be sure to join us here!
