A little note

Pausing for the off season

Hello lovely subscribers and welcome to Women’s Cycling Weekly

You might have noticed that this newsletter hasn’t been in your inbox for a few weeks, and that this isn’t the usual day for it to be published. As a new mum with other commitments alongside this newsletter I struggle to find time in my week to dedicate to collecting all of the information that goes into the weekly round-ups. My daughter was born in June, the height of the summer racing season, and I was committed to continuing to send out a weekly newsletter which is where the wonderful Lulah came in. However, with the road racing season over for 2025 and no outside help with putting the newsletter together I feel the best course of action is to pause WCW until the start of the 2026 season. This Substack began as a passion project in 2020 when my life and career were in an entirely different place (aka I had all the time in the world to curate it). Since the flow of news, content and results to share slows down considerably at this time of year anyway, WCW will take a break until the 16th of January and the return of the WorldTour racing season with Tour Down Under. Until then, below this note you will still find a few bits of content and news from the last few weeks.

Thank you for your support of this newsletter and of women’s cycling. See you in the new year ❤️

Amy

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News 📰

• The first UCI Continental Women’s Team from Africa launched last week. Team Amani is registered in Ethiopia and features riders from Rwanda, Ethiopia and across East Africa.

• Ultra-endurance legend, Lael Wilcox will take on an attempt to break the outright around the world record in 2026.

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Read 🗞️

• Stop at nothing: Sarah Gigante’s career of setbacks, perseverance and success - Rouleur

• Lauren Dickson’s journey from running and triathlon to the best cycling team in the world - Rouleur

• ‘I don’t really like racing but I like winning’ — Pauline Ferrand Prévot’s unrelenting path to the top - Rouleur

• Katie Archibald column: the categories of non-achievement - Rouleur

• 2025 Women’s World Tour team ratings: who performed best this season? - Rouleur

• ‘Can someone write it down this time?’ – lost track cycling world record sparks confusion - Cycling Weekly

• ‘My helmet saved my life’ – Zoe Bäckstedt fractures wrist in training crash - Cycling Weekly

• Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi add more strength to winning roster for 2026 – But here’s why they’re not stepping to the Women’s WorldTour - Cycling News

• ‘It’s important to show that it’s not all robotic’ — Puck Pieterse on inspiring the next generation of cyclists - Rouleur

• The top 10 moments in the women’s WorldTour season - Cyclist

• ‘Our plan wasn’t to be rowdy or reckless, we were just taking up some space’ - the women reclaiming night rides, reminding us all of the safety issues female cyclists face - Cycling Weekly

• Lotte Kopecky hopeful for 2026 road campaign after dominating on the track at the Belgian championships - Cycling News

• Finding the Perfect Woman’s Bike Saddle Isn’t Guesswork. Experts Reveal the Secrets That Actually Work - Bicycling

• Wheel Talk Newsletter: Why teams should announce rosters before team camp - Escape Collective

• Rating every Women’s WorldTour team in 2025 - Cyclist

• ‘I want to try to win Flanders and Liège’ – Pauline Ferrand-Prévot revelling in the pressure ahead of Tour de France Femmes defence year - Cycling News

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Listen 🎧

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Results 🏆

European Cyclocross Championships

Elite: Inge van der Heijden

U23: Leonie Bentveld

Junior: Barbora Bukovská

Esports World Champion: Mary Kate McCarthy 🇳🇿

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See you in January!