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Get your week started with the latest news in women’s cycling
Alison Jackson, the winner of Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift and the Canadian national road champion, has signed with EF Education-Cannondale, as the new team continues to strengthen its squad. As she explains: “whether it’s me getting to be the winner or helping a teammate to make that happen, my goal is to do something that really matters.”
Femke Gerritse has signed a three-year contract with Team SD Worx. The young Dutch rider wants to develop on short explosive and longer climbs. She has been racing for Parkhotel Valkenburg since 2021.
Clara Koppenburg will join EF Education-Cannondale for 2024. The veteran German rider, who has been in the peloton for almost ten years, will bring a wealth of experience to the squad but is looking forward to new challenges and learning from others.
EF Education-Canondale has added Canadian Magdeleine Vallliere and Italian Letizia Borghesi to their squad for next season. Valliere likes climbing on long hard races while Boghesi prefers the classics-style races.
Finnish rider and multiple national champion Lotte Henttala will race for EF Education-Cannondale in 2024. The sprinter will be focusing on the classics and the Olympics in Paris next year.
Lidl-Trek has signed three young riders to their WorldTour squad. British rider Izzy Sharp is contracted for three years, while Canadian twin sisters Isabella and Ava Holmgren will ride for the team for two years. Sharp was the recent winner of the silver medal in the Junior Women’s Time Trial at the Glasgow World Championships and has two European titles on the Track, whilst the Holmgren twins are serial winners in cyclocross and XC.
Kim de Baat, last year’s Belgian champion, has announced her retirement as a professional cyclist. A few days after winning the Belgian title, De Baat broke her collarbone and ribs while at altitude training. She also underwent operations on her shoulder and contracted Covid. Unfortunately, the Fenix – Deceuninck rider never fully recovered from all this and decided to retire from racing.
After a year of being away from racing due to medical issues, Movistar’s Sarah Gigante has returned to the peloton, at the Tour of Scandinavia.
Norwegian Movistar rider Katrine Aalerud crashed on stage 2 of the Tour of Scandinavia and had to abandon. Medical reports show she did not have any fractures but will need to rest to heal. Emma Langley of EF Education TIBCO-SVB also injured herself and had to leave the race after the second stage.
The UCI Track Champions League is back for another season. The first event will be in Mallorca on 21 October, followed by Berlin on 28 October, St-Quentin-En-Yvelines on 4 November, London on 10 November and the Grand Finale on 11 November also in London.
British Cycling has shared details of a newly-appointed elite road racing task force to support the organisation’s attempts to energise the domestic scene. The task force will convene for a period of three months, in which time they will develop a series of recommendations for the organisation to implement in 2024 and beyond. The task force will also consider the composition of the elite national calendar, the difficulties facing domestic teams and opportunities to grow the profile of domestic races.
Results
Tour of Scandinavia
Stage 1: Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx) ahead of Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and Cecilie Ludwig Uttrup (FDJ-SUEZ)
Stage 2: Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig ahead of Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) and Kim Cadzow (Jumbo Visma Women)
Stage 3: Lorena Wiebes ahead Liane Lippert (Movistar Team) and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig
Egmont Cycling Race: Heidi Franz (DNA Pro Cycling) ahead of Scarlett Souren (Parkhotel Valkenburg) and Danique Braam (Duolar-Cevalmeire Cycling Team)
Giro Toscana Feminile
Prologue: Franziska Brauße (CERATIZIT WNT Pro Cycling) ahead of Fien van Eynde (Fenix-Deceuninck Continental) and Katarzyna Wilkos (MAT Atom Deweloper Wroclaw)
Zwift Blog
In her latest exclusive blog, Abi Smith of EF – TIBCO-SVB talks all about racing in the heat and provide some tips to ride in hot weather. Check it out here!
This week in cycling history
Keetie van Oosten-Hage
The Dutch rider’s birthday was on 21 August. She came from a family of bike riders, with sisters Bella, Heleen and Ciska all riding competitively. The now 74 year old was one of the most accomplished female riders of all time. Her palmarès include 12 consecutive national pursuit titles and nine national road championship titles (eight of which were consecutive). She was also the World Champion in 1968 and then again in 1976, and earned another six medals on the road and four gold medals on the track. In 1978, the Dutch rider set a world hour record in Munich with 43082 km, after which she decided she had achieved all she wanted and retired. To commemorate her achievements, a trophy in her name is awarded each year to the Netherlands’ best female rider. After her retirement she taught handicrafts at a college near her home and continued to ride her bike from time to time.
Alessandra Cappellotto
The Italian rider was born on 27 August 1968 and represented her country at two consecutive Summer Olympic Games in 1996 and 2000. In 1997 she won the World Championships in San Sebastian in Spain. After she won the title, she formed the first international women’s team in Italy, which at the time was not common in her country. Later she became the Vice President of the Italian riders’ association and ran the women’s section of the CPA. Most recently, she has been advocating for the assistance of female riders from Afghanistan. Outside of cycling, Cappellotto enjoys wine making from grapes of her own vineyard in Italy.
Zwift Rides of the week
Voxwomen Zwift Rides
Join, ride, share, and be inspired! Join others and celebrate women’s cycling through a women’s cycling fan club on Zwift. Be part of the journey and complete rides that cater to our busy lives, and find motivation and enjoyment through riding!
The rides are open to everyone and there are two rides every other Thursday. The next one is on 7 September. The times of the ride are 7am and 7pm GMT (8am and 8pm CET) and are 40min in duration with special guests leading the rides! The pace will be set to open, but “rubberbanding” will be turned on which keeps everyone together regardless of how hard they are pedaling – so it is a no-drop ride as long as you keep pedaling. On the ride days, one ride will be a standard group ride, while the second ride will be Zwift’s Aerobic Conditioning Workout. Find inspiration from each other and have fun challenging yourself! We hope you join us in the virtual world of cycling!
Take advantage of the club chat and be a part of the women’s cycling community also – there will be some giveaways from time to time, so be on the lookout!
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!
