Another junior joins the WorldTour
➕ Carmen Small is confirmed at EF, RideLondon really said 'copy + paste' and which rider is learning Russian?
Hello lovely subscribers and welcome to Women’s Cycling Weekly! 🚴♀️
It’s the second week of November and it really feels like it in the cycling world. That said, while road racing is on pause that doesn’t stop the news from trickling in. This week, it was announced that Carmen Small would be the latest ex-Jumbo-Visma member to join the new EF team where she will take up the role of head DS. With former colleague Esra Tromp at the helm and a few ex-Jumbo riders joining the team it’s a move that just makes sense, and it’s great to see that Small, as an experienced former pro, will continue to fly the flag for the still scant few female directors in the peloton.
In other transfer news, another teenager (I feel so old) has been signed to the WorldTour. 19-year-old German rider Justyna Czapla will step up from the Canyon//SRAM Generation team to the WWT team and is the latest rider (basically) fresh out of the junior ranks to join a WWT squad after Lidl-Trek scooped up five (5!) 18-year-old riders for 2024. It’s a phenomenon that’s happening across the sport but with very little in the way of an U23 development pathway on the women’s side seems like even more of a giant leap, but hopefully one that these super talented girls can weather.
Elsewhere, I gave paid subscribers a little sneak peak of the content that will be landing in your inboxes and your headphones over winter — they will get access to exclusive rider Q&As and other interview/analysis content. The podcast will continue to run in an interview format and this-here newsletter will keep on rolling (with a lil break for Xmas) all off-season. If you don’t want to miss out on hearing from some of your fav faces from the peloton and other interesting women in the sport then
Enjoy this week’s issue!
Amy x
News 📰
Carmen Small will be joining EF Education-Cannondale as head sports director.
RideLondon is returning to Saffron Walden, Colchester, Maldon and London in 2024.
Lotte Kopecky has won the Flandrienne trophy for the 4th year in a row.
Read 🗞️
New team, new philosophy: how EF Education-Cannondale are plotting Tour de France Femmes success - GCN
Women’s WorldTour transfers we love for 2024 - Escape Collective
'I'm happy not to have it all planned' – Van Vleuten on life after retirement - Cyclingnews
Women’s WorldTour team ratings 2023: Who shone and who faced difficulty? - Rouleur
Special agent Barnes: A retiring rider's passion to support female athletes - GCN
'I Really Wanted to Use Cycling as a Way of Empowering African Women' – Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio - Velo
Frenchwoman Laurianne Plaçais wins the ultracycling world championship… ahead of the men - Ouest-France
Ranking the 2023 Classics - Women’s Cycling Weekly
UAE Team ADQ Team Talk: Reaping the rewards of new development pathway - GCN
From Gaia Realini to Charlotte Kool: Female Road Riders That Broke through in 2023 - Velo
'I miss the pressure' - Lizzie Deignan targets Tour de France Femmes and Olympic Games - GCN
Watch 📺
Listen 🎧
Interview szn continues on the WCW pod and this week I have an IRL chat (!!) with Lizzie Stannard which is a novelty and a v. nice contrast to endless Zoom pixels but also means a lil bit of background noise at the cafe so pls forgive me if the sound quality isn’t top notch the whole time 🙏 I really enjoyed chatting to Lizzie about a year which began with the disastrous B&B Hotels saga and got worse with the Zaaf shambles but ended with her having raced all three grand tours and 61 (!!) race days with Israel Premier Tech Roland before getting snapped up by the new EF squad.
Results 🏆
Track
🇫🇷 Track Champions League Round 3: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
Elimination Race: 🥇 Katie Archibald 🇬🇧 🥈 Anita Yvonne Stenberg 🇳🇴 🥉 Lara Gillespie 🇮🇪
Keirin: 🥇 Alessa-Catriona Pröpster 🇩🇪 🥈 Nicky Degrendele 🇧🇪 🥉 Ellesse Andrews 🇳🇿
Scratch: 🥇 Sarah Van Dam 🇨🇦 🥈 Maggie Coles-Lyster 🇨🇦 🥉 Katie Archibald 🇬🇧
Sprint: 🥇 Ellesse Andrews 🇳🇿 🥈 Kelsey Mitchell 🇨🇦 🥉 Martha Bayona Pineda 🇨🇴
🇬🇧 Track Champions League Round 4: London
Elimination Race: 🥇Katie Archibald 🇬🇧 🥈Anita Yvonne Stenberg 🇳🇴 🥉 Lara Gillespie 🇮🇪
Keirin: 🥇 Martha Bayona Pineda 🇨🇴 🥈 Ellesse Andrews 🇳🇿 🥉Emma Finucane 🇬🇧
Scratch: 🥇Danielle Khan 🇬🇧 🥈Lily Williams 🇺🇸 🥉Sophie Lewis 🇬🇧
Sprint: 🥇Alessa-Catriona Pröpster 🇩🇪 🥈 Katy Marchant 🇬🇧 🥉
CX
UEC European Championships: Pontchâteau 🇫🇷
Junior: 🥇 Célia Gery 🇫🇷 🥈 Cat Ferguson 🇬🇧 🥉 Viktória Chladoňová 🇸🇰
U23: 🥇 Zoe Backstedt 🇬🇧 🥈 Marie Schreiber 🇱🇺 🥉 Kristýna Zemanová 🇨🇿
Elite: 🥇 Fem van Empel 🇳🇱 🥈 Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado 🇳🇱 🥉 Sara Casasola 🇮🇹
Upcoming races 📆
Track
Saturday 11th November: 🇬🇧 Track Champions League Round 5: London
How to watch:
Live on Eurosport/GCN+ from 18:30 CET.
CX
Saturday 11th November: Superprestige #3: Niel - Jaarmarktcross
How to watch:
Live on Eurosport/GCN+ from 13:30 CET.
Startlist here.
Sunday 12th November: 🇧🇪 UCI Cyclocross World Cup #3: Dendermonde, Belgium
How to watch:
Live on Eurosport/GCN+ from 13:30 CET.
Startlist here.
Friday fun 🕺
Happy birthday, Lotte Kopecky! 🎈
Is this some sort of hostage situation?
Cat & mouse 🐱🐭
That’s all 👋
Thanks for reading Women’s Cycling Weekly! 💘
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Amy x