Voxnews
Get your week started with the latest news in women’s cycling:
- Bingoal-Wallonie-Bruxelles has announced that they will have a women’s team in 2021, which will be led by Ann-Sophie Duyck. The Belgian outfit already has a men’s ProTeam, a development program, and a para-cycling team. The new women’s team will focus on Lotto Cycling Cup races, including 12 UCI events, as well as the Women Cycling Series calendar across Belgium and the Netherlands.
- The US Crit Series has announced its host cities. Although this year’s series had to be cancelled, the organisers are hopeful that the races will be able to be staged in 2021. All events will be live streamed for an international audience.
- DROPS Pro Cycling has extended its partnership with the clothing brand Le Col, and added TEMPUR, a mattress and pillow manufacturer, to their sponsors. Next year, the squad will race under the new name Drops-Le Col supported by Tempur.
- Neve Bradbury won the Zwift Academy finale. The young Australian rider from Melbourne will join Canyon//SRAM Racing in 2021.
- Swiss rider Elise Chabbey has signed a two-year deal with Canyon//SRAM. The team also extended contracts with British rider Alice Barnes, US rider Alexis Ryan, Australian Tiffany Cromwell and German Lisa Klein.
- A. R. Monex Women’s Pro Cycling team has added the Spanish rider Eider Merino, formerly of the World Tour Movistar Team, to their roster. The team will be lead by the Cuban rider Arlenis Sierra.
- The 21-year-old Canadian rider Emilie Fortin will join Bizkaia-Durango in 2021. She has racing experience experience in Europe, Asia and America, and is a versatile rider on a variety of different terrain.
- The director of the Vuelta a España, Javier Guillén, announced that the Ceratizit Challenge by la Vuelta – which was a three-stage race in 2020 – will be expanded to a race of five or seven days in the future.
- Zwift has revealed that it will become a sponsor of the L39ION of LA team through to the 2022 season. The U.S. squad will also have a women’s team in 2021.
- USA Cycling has announced its Olympic Development Academy with the aim of identifying and developing riders in the junior and U23 divisions. However, selected participants will have to pay US$10,500 to attend the program, which also includes the opportunity to participate in races at home and overseas.
- The future of the EKZ Cross is uncertain, with the main sponsor EKZ having not extended its contract after supporting the event for seven years.
- The Bay Crits in Australia have been cancelled due to COVID-19. The race, which is normally held in January and attracts a mix of domestic and international riders in preparation for the Tour Down Under, has been postponed until 2022.
- In order to avoid clashes with WT races, The Healthy Aging Tour has been brought forward from April to the new date of 9 – 12 March 2021. No decision has been made yet on running the junior race, which was scheduled for 10 – 12 March 2021.
- Despite the lockdown in the Netherlands, the UCI World Cup, de Vestingcross, de Wereldbeker Cycocross Hulst will be held on 3 January 2021.
- Lotte Kopecky finished third in the Belgium Sportswoman of the Year category, an award that is decided by members of the Belgian Professional Association of Sports Journalists and past winners.
- While some of the budgets for other sports has had to be cut, British Cycling has been granted £35.4m (39m Euro) to fund preparations for the Paris Olympics in 2024, representing a 12 per cent increase from the Tokyo Olympic Games budget.
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