Your news
Get your week started with the latest news in women’s cycling
Lidl will partner with Trek to become the main sponsor of Lidl-Trek (currently Trek-Segafredo). Lidl-Trek will begin competing under this new name, starting with the Giro d’Italia Donne on June 30.
EF-Education TIBCO-SVB will lose TIBCO & SVB as sponsors. Against a backdrop of economic and financial challenges, these long-term women’s cycling sponsors will not renew sponsorship at the end of 2023, with the team now exploring other possibilities.
As of 1 January 2024, Arkea Pro Cycling will become ARKEA – B&B Hotels, as the hotel chain will join as a naming partner of the French team for two years. The women’s team’s budget is said to double during that time.
Olympic MTB champion and current Swedish road champion Jenny Rissveds joined Team Coop Hitec Products on 1 June 2023. Her focus will still be MTB and her squad, Team 31, but she also wants to try road cycling and gain experience in this discipline.
Puck Pieterse, reigning Dutch cyclocross champion and winner of the last MTB World Cup in Nove Mesto, has extended her contract with Fenix-Deceuninck until 2027.
Emily Batty, one of Canada’s most decorated mountain bikers, has announced her retirement from elite racing. Batty finished fourth in 2016, was the Pan American Games champion, won two bronze medals at the World Championships, four elite national XCO titles, and was on the podium many times in the MTB World Cup as both an U23 and elite rider.
Lifeplus-Wahoo is aiming for WorldTour status in 2026. Lifeplus has an agreement for a two-year sponsorship but is considering an extension that would give the British team greater financial stability in achieving this goal.
The organisers of the Giro d’Italia Donne have been criticised for poor planning, late route announcement and poor prize money and it is hoped that next year, when RCS (the organiser of the men’s race) takes over the event, the situation will improve.
Elisa Balsamo of Trek-Segafredo, who sustained an injury during Ride London, has had surgery to reduce the compound fractures of the right mandibular condyle and mandibular symphysis. The stabilisation was performed with specially designed titanium microplates. She is now at home recuperating and we wish her all the best in her recovery.
FDJ-SUEZ rider Gladys Verhulst suffered from food poisoning at Ride London. Her condition is currently under medical observation and she will take a break from riding.
CERATIZIT WNT-Pro Cycling’s Nadine Gill will return to racing later this month following a four-month hiatus after contracting Epstein-Barr virus. Gill was able to return to training in April and will now ease back into competition slowly, beginning with the Tour of the Pyrenees later in June.
Canyon//SRAM’s Shari Bossuyt has been temporarily suspended due to a positive doping result taken by the French authorities at the Tour de Normandie Feminin in March. The team is now waiting for the decision of the French Anti-Doping Agency.
Two former Zaaf Cycling riders have joined other teams. Emanuela Zanetti has returned to her previous team, Isolmant-Premac Vittoria, and former U23 European duathlon champion Marta Romance rides now for Born to Win-Zhirag-G20.
Supermarket chain Jumbo has indicated that it will stop sponsoring top sports. Its contract with Jumbo-Visma runs until next year and the company will honour the agreement but is willing to step aside if another naming sponsor is found beforehand.
The Amaury Sport Organisation, the organisers of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, has launched the “School Solidarity – A Bike For Every Child” Campaign. This programme aims to put 100,000 children on bicycles across France and (across South Africa via the Qhubeka Charity). The goal is to get children mobile, riding to school, and more.
The UCI has published a list of Russian and Belarusian athletes who have been granted “individual neutral athlete” status and who are eligible to participate in any events on the UCI International Calendar.
Results
Vuelta Ciclista Andalucia Ruta del Sol:
Stage 1: Tamara Dronova (Israel Premier Tech Roland) ahead of Linda Zanetti (UAE Development Team) and Michaela Drummond (Farto-BTC Women’s Cycling Team)
Stage 2: Tamara Dronova (Israel Premier Tech Roland) and Katrine Aalerud (Team Movistar) and Mie Bjørndal Ottestad (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team)
Stage 3: Marta Romeu (Laboral Kutxa Fundación Euskadi) ahead of Tamara Dronova and Katrine Aalerud
Stage 4: Sara Martin (Movistar Team) ahead of Elizabeth Stannard (Israel Premier Tech Roland) and Tamara Dronova
Stage 5: Mie Bjørndal Ottestad ahead of Katrine Aalerud and Lotte Claes (Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime)
General Classification: Katrine Aalerud ahead of Mie Bjørndal Ottestad and Tamara Dronova
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
Abi Smith of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB tells us about the many reasons she chose cycling over any other sport, and why she became a pro-rider in her latest blog. Read more here.
Vox Performance Project
Jade, one of our Vox Performance Project participants, reflects on what she’s learned from this project. Your mind set is crucial in achieving your goals and so is physically investing in it and striving for consistency and happiness. Read about what she has to say right here!
This week in cycling history
Maria Canins
Canins’ birthday was on 4 June. The now 74-year-old Italian first entered cycling by way of cross-country skiing, winning the Italian National Championship no fewer than 15-times during her twenty-year career. Canins first took to mountain biking, winning the World Championship and Italian National Champion titles twice before embarking on a career as a road cyclist in 1982. She won the Grande Boucle twice as well as the inaugural Giro d’Italia Femminile and the Trofeo Alfredo Binda four times. At 41, Canins decided to retire from professional racing in 1990. These days she still rides her bike and is involved as a cycle tour guide in the Dolomites where she lives.
Edwige Pitel
Born on 4 June 1967, Pitel was a French rider who won multiple national championships and was twice the winner of the ITU Duathlon world Championships, an event that involves a continuous run-cycle-run course. She only began racing in earnest in her mid-30s, having started out as a runner but due to injury switched to cycling. She was still racing at the age of 52 at La Course by Le Tour de France, and was the oldest competitor on the circuit. She raced without a salary but purely because she was still very passionate about riding and competing. The now 56 year old, who has a PhD from Imperial College, London, retired four years ago from cycling competition. She continues to work as a computer system engineer for the Grenoble Council, where she has been employed for the past ten years.
Performance Corner
How to carb load before your next event
Starting a big ride fully fueled is mandatory if you want to maximise performance. Start carbing up as early as ~48 hours out from a really big race and make sure you’re getting enough carbs in during the final few hours. Learn more here!
Learn more about the dangers of underfueling and the concept of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) here.
Zwift Rides of the week
The Voxwomen Strava Club
See the training rides of pro female riders, read blogs from the pros, or challenge yourself on the weekly leaderboard!
The Voxwomen Strava club is for fans of women’s cycling who are looking to ride together and share in the inspiration of the development of women’s cycling. Join, ride, share, and be inspired. Be part of the journey and find motivation and enjoyment through riding, so join here!
From our Online Store
Women’s hoodie
This organic hoodie features the Voxwomen Club logo with the words “Join, ride, share and be inspired.” Show your support for women’s cycling and support Voxwomen, with this stylish cotton hoodie. Buy yours here!
Men’s hoodie
This certified organic cotton pullover hoodie features the Voxwomen Club logo! Show your support for women’s cycling and support Voxwomen at the same time, with this stylish hoodie. Get yours here!
