Hello 2024 👋

+ the answers to Tilda's emoji quiz enclosed 👀

Hello lovely subscribers and welcome to Women’s Cycling Weekly! 🚴‍♀️

A happy new year to you! I hope you all had a lovely festive period. I’m just about getting back into the swing of things after a break which has left me feeling refreshed and ready to bring you all another season’s worth of content from the world of women’s racing! I can’t believe the WWT season kicks off next week already!

I bet if you squint, you can just about see the Classics in the distance…

For now, here’s the latest news, some reading, and a bumper round up of results to tide us over until the racing kicks off!

Enjoy,

Amy x

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News 📰

• Marianne Vos' winter training has been disrupted by contracting COVID.

• After taking the win in Koksijde, Fem Van Empel will take a break from cyclocross racing to join the Visma-Lease-a-Bike training camp and focus on defending her world title in Tabor. She will return to racing on the 21st January at the Benidorm World Cup.

• The new EF team kit has been launched and it is characteristically ✨funky✨

  efprocycling

  

  A post shared by @efprocycling

• The Monster Energy Pro Downhill Series will begin in April and consist of four races across the United States.

• Kiwi downhill racer Jess Blewitt will be joining CUBE Factory Racing this season.

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Read  🗞️

• Protecting your lady bits: 6 tips to a comfortable ride - Endurance Collective 

• The weight of gold - Anna Kiesenhofer on managing expectations after Tokyo Olympics shock victory - Cyclingnews 

• Disrupting dominance: Annemiek van Vleuten’s advice on how to challenge SD Worx - CyclingNews

• The Queens of the Mountains, a reflection on stage seven of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift - by Julia Bea for Bridge Eight Press

• Jess Allen: The Next Step - GreenEDGE Cycling

• 'As a little girl I didn't know what sprinting was' - Emma Finucane on her path to becoming world champion - Cycling Weekly 

• The top 10 riders of the Women’s WorldTour in 2023 - Rouleur 

• 'It was a daunting experience' - Lizzie Holden on the ups and downs of settling into WorldTour life - GCN

• 'Jumping in the deep end of the pool' - The speedy rise of Lidl-Trek's Felicity Wilson-Haffenden - Cyclingnews 

• Yara Kastelijn is ready for the next step up - Escape Collective 

• 'I never wanted to be known as the TikTok cyclist' - how Alison Jackson wrote her legacy at Paris-Roubaix - Cycling Weekly 

• Check out the Women’s WorldTour Team Kits for 2024 - Velo 

• Brodie Chapman – The highs and lows of a year as Australian champion - Cyclingnews

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Listen 🎧

Queen Lizzie had a wide-ranging chat to the Brother UK Cycling podcast from the Lidl-Trek training camp in Spain.

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Results 🏆

Road

🇦🇺 Australian national ITT championships: Elite

1. Grace Brown (FDJ)

2. Brodie Chapman (LTK)

3. Georgie Howe (JAY)

🇦🇺 Australian national ITT championships: U23

1. Ella Simpson (ARA Skip Capital)

2. Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (LTK)

3. Neve Bradbury (CSR)

🇦🇺 Australian national criterium championships

1. Ruby Roseman-Gannon (JAY)

2. Georgia Baker (JAY)

3. Alexandra Manly (JAY)

CX

🇧🇪 UCI Cyclocross World Cup #9: Antwerpen, Belgium

Junior:

1. Cat Ferguson 🇬🇧

2. Imogen Wolff 🇬🇧

3. Célia Gery 🇫🇷

Elite:

1. Fem van Empel 🇳🇱

2. Lucinda Brand 🇳🇱

3. Puck Pieterse 🇳🇱

🇧🇪 UCI Cyclocross World Cup #10: Gavere, Belgium

1. Puck Pieterse 🇳🇱

2. Fem van Empel 🇳🇱

3. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado 🇳🇱

Superprestige #6: Heusden-Zolder

1. Fem van Empel 🇳🇱

2. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado 🇳🇱

3. Inge van der Heijden 🇳🇱

Superprestige #7: Diegem

1. Puck Pieterse 🇳🇱

2. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado 🇳🇱

3. Inge van der Heijden 🇳🇱

🇳🇱 UCI Cyclocross World Cup #11: Hulst, Netherlands

1. Puck Pieterse 🇳🇱

2. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado 🇳🇱

3. Lucinda Brand 🇳🇱

X2O Trofee #4: Baal

1. Fem van Empel 🇳🇱

2. Lucinda Brand 🇳🇱

3. Ava Holmgren 🇨🇦

X2O Trofee #5: Koksijde

1. Fem van Empel 🇳🇱

2. Lucinda Brand 🇳🇱

3. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado 🇳🇱

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Upcoming races 📆  

CX

Sunday 7th January: 🇧🇪 UCI Cyclocross World Cup #12: Zonhoven, Belgium 

How to watch:

• Live on Eurosport from 13:30 CET.

• Startlist here.

Road

12th - 14th January: Tour Down Under (2.WWT)

How to watch:

• Live on Eurosport from 1:30 CET.

Startlist here.

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Friday fun 🕺

First cycling puppy of the year!

Riding into the new year

The twins are twinning

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Emoji quiz answers ❔❓

If you had a crack at Tilda’s famed emoji quiz from the Christmas issue and have been scratching your head ever since then don’t fear, the answers are here! Let us know how you got on in the comments!

 1.⁠ ⁠🚴‍♀️🐎

 2.⁠ ⁠⏱️🇮🇹⛈️☔⛔

 3.⁠ ⁠💨💨💨🪨🇬🇧💪

 4.⁠ ⁠👧🏼🇮🇹🏆👧🏻🇳🇱😡

 5.⁠ ⁠🇦🇺👧🧡🔁🇨🇳

1: Zlatana the horse, of course!

2: The Giro Donne ITT getting cancelled due to flooding.

3: Pfeiffer Georgi wins Brugge De Panne after she and teammate Megan Jastrab take it to the others in the De Moeren crosswinds

4: Gaia Realini beats Annemiek van Vleuten on stage 6 of La Vuelta

5: Daria Pikulik wins both the first and last race of the WWT season at TDU and Tour of Guangxi.

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That’s all 👋

Thanks for reading Women’s Cycling Weekly! 💘

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Amy x