Your news
Get your week started with the latest news in women’s cycling
The Tour de l’Avenir has revealed the course of the 5-stage race. The inaugural edition will take place between 28 August and 1 September 2023, with a total of 375km and 6832m in altitude gain for the peloton to contend with.
Former Zaaf Cycling rider Michaela Drummond was initially not able to sign with her new Spanish team as the Spanish Cycling Federation did not register her contract. However, this issue was sorted out a few days later. Her former Zaaf Cycling teammate Danielle de Francesco has also joined Arkea Pro Cycling. The Australian is a triathlete and former member of the Australian Swim Team. Canadian rider Maggie Coles-Lyster seems to also have also found a new team as per the UCI’s website, which shows her as joining Israel Premier Tech Roland.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift race director Marion Rousse has said that at this stage there are no plans to add extra stages to the race, however organisers will consider additional stages when the time is right, as the race needs to grow at a sustainable rate. She added that the rosters of the WorldTour and Continental teams aren’t yet big enough to do a two or three week race.
The Australian Bay Crits race, normally held in January and whose winners include Ruby Roseman-Gannon, Chloe Hosking, Valentina Scandolara and Gracie Elvin, will not be held in 2024. The organisers cited financial and logistics issues which have become too prohibitive to continue.
The UCI has approved the IOC’s recommendations concerning the participation of Russian and Belarusian passport holders in events on the UCI calendar. Among other requirements, riders have to apply to the UCI for the status of “neutral individual athlete” in order to participate in competition. Additional support for Ukrainian riders has also been approved. More details can be found here.
Itzulia Basque Country has announced that the UCI has informed the organisation that Zaaf Cycling will not be able to participate at the event as the team’s license has been revoked. Eight WorldTour teams and 12 continental teams will be at the start of the event from 12 to 14 May.
Former Irish road champion Imogen Cotter of Fenix Deceuninck Continental, who was involved in a collision with a van during training in January 2022, is now back riding and speaking out on road safety. She has also launched a video with the Road Safety Authority in Ireland campaigning for road safety awareness.
The UCI has signalled a shift in its transgender policy just days after Austin Killips was the first transgender athlete to win a UCI women’s stage race. The UCI remarked that it had heard the concerns of female athletes about unfair competition in the sport, and would be reopening its consultation with a view to reaching a decision in August.
According to reports, Trek-Segafredo will become Lidl Trek as the German supermarket chain will join as a naming sponsor from the Tour de France onwards. Lidl has sponsored a men’s team before but after a year’s absence, the company returns to the peloton. The team’s contract with coffee brand Segafredo expires this year.
The UCI has updated the distances for its track competitions. For example, the 500m time trial for the elite women will become the 1000m time trial and the individual pursuit will be extended from 3km to 4km.
In order to promote cycling, the French government has unveiled its new plan to the cost of two billion euros. More than 1 billion will be released to develop bike paths in France, while the remainder will be used to extend aid for the purchase of bikes until 2027.
Results
La Vuelta Femenina:
Stage 1: Team Jumbo-Visma ahead of Canyon//SRAM and Trek-Segafredo
Stage 2: Charlotte Kool (Team DSM) ahead of Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) and Chloe Dygart (Canyon//SRAM)
Stage 3: Marianne Vos ahead of Charlotte Kool and Chloe Dygart
Stage 4: Marianne Vos ahead of Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team) and Marlen Reusser (SD Worx)
Stage 5: Demi Vollering (SD Worx) ahead of Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) and Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon//SRAM)
Stage 6: Gaia Realini (Trek-Segafredo) ahead of Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) and Loes Adegeest (FDJ Suez)
Stage 7: Demi Vollering ahead of Gaia Realini and Annemiek van Vleuten
GC: Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) ahead of Demi Vollering and Gaia Realini
New Podcast: “Just 3 Questions”
Want to submit your own question to be answered by our experts? Send a voice note to us at info@voxwomen.com!
In our second episode, three questions asked by you are answered by experts David from Supersapiens & Chris from Precision Fuel & Hydration. Topics include:
– Fuelling strategies for early morning training
– How to fuel for training vs. racing
– If there’s an upper limit for fuelling during exercise?
Listen on Spotify here!
Listen on Apple Podcasts here!
Listen on Amazon here!
Zwift Blog
Want to know how a professional rider spends her day? The busy pro from Team DSM, Megan Jastrab, tells you all about a typical day in her blog here!
Vox Performance Project
Vox Performance Project participant Jade writes in her new blog “Me, myself and my cycle” about how her menstrual cycle affects her training and performance. She focuses now on looking after her body and feed it sufficiently to enable her to perform and recover which has also shown a positive effect on her cycle. Check out her blog here.
This week in cycling history
Megan Guarnier
The now 38-year-old U.S. rider had her birthday on 4 May. Long before Guarnier raced on a bike, she was a competitive swimmer from ages eight to 18, but a shoulder injury eventually led her to give up this sport and move to triathlon, which led her to cycling. She said that she was never solely motivated by winning, but what pushed her was self-improvement. Her success was slow but steady. She won the Giro Donne, Strade Bianche, and the Amgen Tour of California and was a multiple national road champion. The New York State born rider became the first U.S rider – male or female – to have won a WorldTour or UCI series and to be ranked No. 1 at the end of the season. Guarnier also holds a neuroscience degree, and her professional resume includes having worked as a nuclear plant risk assessor. Her plans after retiring in 2019 included either gaining a medical degree or a Ph.D. Although plagued by injuries that often curtailed her throughout her career, she was one of the best female riders to emerge from the United States.
Performance Corner
Can you train your gut to tolerate more fluid?
In response to our athlete case studies which analyse fluid, sodium and carb consumption during various endurance events, people often ask how some athletes can routinely tolerate drinking considerably more than 500ml (~16oz) of fluid per hour when competing.
If you think you need to drink more during rides but are struggling to take in more fluid, this article is worth a read.
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 the 23rd of May! 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!
