Your Monday Briefing

The build-up towards the Ronde van Vlaanderen is on. Canyon//SRAM Zondacrypto have named their starting line up for the race. The team will field Zoe Bäckstedt, Chiara Consonni, Nastya Kolesava, Soraya Paladin, Maria Martins, and Maike van der Duin to face terrain that contrasts sharply with the other Flandrien classics.

Lorena Wiebes sprinted to another victory at the Classic Brugge-De Panne on Thursday. After winning Sanremo at the weekend, the Dutch sprinter showed her rivals a clean pair of heels in a chaotic final to claim her 99th win of her career. Read more about how the race unfolded here. Also on the podium was Olympic Madison Champion Chiara Consonni, who demonstrated her sprinting prowess and positioning ability as she clinched her first World Tour podium of the season at the race.

Puck Pieterse has proposed making the women’s Milano-Sanremo course more challenging. She suggests increasing the distance to at least 200km rather than sticking with the 156km route used this year. She adds that a race lasting five hours or more would add excitement and make the event feel even more special.

Tiffany Cromwell crashed at Milan-Sanremo and suffered a broken collarbone, the first broken bone in her long cycling career. Fortunately, surgery is not necessary at this stage. We wish her all the best in her recovery.

Three years ago, former Irish champion Imogen Cotter was struck by a car while training in Girona. She had a contract with a professional team, but in an instant, all of that was taken away. After undergoing a long recovery, she tried to pick up where she left off. However, she eventually had to give up her dream. She admitted that she struggled to ride her bike due to the fear of crashing or being involved in another accident. Since making the decision to leave professional cycling, Cotter has come to terms with the accident and became a passionate advocate for road safety in cycling. She now uses her platform, along with the Road Safety Authority in Ireland, to speak out on behalf of cyclists everywhere, calling for the implementation of crucial changes to ensure that fewer people suffer from the same experience she did.

After six rounds of the new Australian ProVelo Super League, the overall winner Sophie Marr earned a contract with the Liv AlUla Jayco Continental team for next season. The League has seen the best young riders from Australia battle it out to win this unique opportunity to kickstart their international cycling career.

At this year’s World Championships, it will be the first time the U23 category will have its own race. Each nation can nominate five riders for the U23 race. In addition, the champions of each continent will also join. From next year onwards, U23 riders who chose to compete in the elite category cannot fight for the U23 title.

After a crash-marred men’s Brugge de Panne, the organisers took notice and put in place extra precautions for the women’s edition.  The course remained the same but the road narrowing in the finale was straightened with fences, and signallers warned riders about this stretch of road.  A move of the finish away from the narrow village centre to a more spacious area in the coastal municipality is being considered for future editions of the race to ensure greater safety for the riders.

The host cities for the Tour de Suisse Feminin from 12 to 15 June have been revealed. The race opens with a stage around Gstaad. Following that, the peoton will ride from Gstaad to Oberkirch and the next day from Oberkirch to Küssnacht. The event will then come to a close with a stage around Küssnacht.

The UCI and its partner Warner Bros. Discovery Sports have confirmed that the UCI Track Champions League was held for the last time in 2024, and that following this decision, the UCI Track Nations Cup will be revitalised from 2026. Katie Archibald and Alina Lysenko were the last winners of the event. From 2026, the UCI Track Nations Cup will be renamed the UCI Track World Cup, a competition playing a crucial role in the qualification of nations and their athletes for the UCI World Championships for track cycling and for the discipline’s Olympic events. This series will consist of three rounds, with a program that will feature the Olympic events as well as the elimination race, a format that is always very popular with the public.

The British National Road Championships will take place in Wales for the next three years. This year’s event will take place in Aberystwyth, commencing with the time trial on 26 June, followed by the circuit races on 27 June, and closing with the road races on 29 June. Last year’s elite road race was won by Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic PostNL) and the time trial was taken out by Anna Henderson (Lidl-Trek).

As previously reported, the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour, the oldest women’s stage race, has unfortunately been cancelled. In a newly released statement, issued a few days ago, the organisers expressed their deep frustration, delivering a sharp critique of the state of Thüringen for withdrawing support at the last moment. This unexpected move left the organisers, led by Vera Hohlfeld, with no choice but to cancel the race, as the limited timeframe made it impossible to secure new sponsors.

After nearly 40 years, the Superprestige round in Merksplas will not return to the calendar this winter. The organisers are citing the difficulties they face as a small local establishment to stage the event in the context of cyclocross having now become a big business.

The European Marathon MTB championships will head to Casella, Genoa, on 8 June with the women’s elite event starting at 9.30 am for a 83 km long race that features 2550m elevation gain. More details can be found here.

In an attempt to provide Irish riders with greater opportunities, Sport Ireland has funded ten cyclists for 2025 after they met the criteria for high performance funding with their results over the last 12 months. European champion on the track Lara Gillespie, riding for UAE Team ADQ, and Mia Griffin of Team Roland, will be funded for international track cycling with Є40,000 and Є25,000 respectively.

Classic Brugge-De Panne: Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) ahead of Chiara Consonni (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto) and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)

Mandy Jones

Mandy Jones, born on 23 March 1962, is a former British rider who made history in 1982 by winning the World Road Race Championships in Goodwood at the age of twenty. As one of the top riders of her generation, Jones’ victory was a significant achievement for British cycling. Her win at the World Championships was particularly notable because she triumphed in front of a home crowd and was the first British woman to win a World Championship title in 15 years. At just 20 years old, Jones’s talent promised a long and successful career. But after her win, injuries followed and her motivation suffered.  Support was also hard to come by and as she said: “There was no major support, bits of grant money from Sports Council and local authorities and that. Racing abroad, we kept the skinsuit, but the rest you had to give back. The shorts and jersey we raced in were men’s most of the time. It was nothing like it is now, British Cycling just didn’t have the money.” After her retirement from racing, she ran a cycle shop in Oldham, Greater Manchester area with her husband until 2015. She has also been involved with the Dave Rayner Fund for several years, which raises money for young riders to race abroad.

Rebecca Twigg

Rebecca Twigg, born on 26 March 1963, in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a celebrated rider from the USA who made a lasting impact on the sport. Her competitive cycling journey began in her teenage years, and she rapidly gained recognition when she won her first national championship at just 18 years of age. A year later, she claimed her first World Title. Throughout her career, Twigg amassed an impressive collection of achievements, including six World Championship titles in the 3,000-meter individual pursuit and 16 National Championship titles in the United States. She also earned two Olympic medals. However, her life has not been without challenges. After earning a degree in computer science, she transitioned into a career in programming, but the shift from professional sports to a new field proved difficult, particularly as she faced ongoing struggles with mental health. These challenges led to periods of homelessness. Despite these personal hardships, she has shown remarkable resilience, rejecting government assistance and instead advocating for more affordable housing. Her story stands as a testament to perseverance, highlighting both her achievements in cycling and her advocacy for social change.