It's officially on 🏁
+ One whole year since Zlatana came into our lives 🐎
Hello lovely subscribers and welcome to Women’s Cycling Weekly! 🚴♀️
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Aka the start of Spring, aka the start of the Classics and Very Good Races every weekend! If you had Marianne Vos winning (her first ever!!) Omloop Het Nieuwsblad from a sprint against an out-numbered Lotte Kopecky on your 2024 bingo card then well done you (and pls tell me your lottery numbers).
More thoughts on all of that in the latest episode of the WCW podcast featuring the lovely Rachel 🫶
Opening Weekend has come and gone and the ✨real✨ season is now well and truly upon us meaning Strade Bianche is here already. Can you believe it’s a whole year since we became acquainted with the legend that is Zlatana? I hope she’s doing well. Demi Vollering’s scream at the sight of her is my Roman Empire, tbh.
With a new, hillier and gravel-lier (??) route and the potential for rain its looking like an already chaotic and exciting race could be even more chaotic than usual. I cannot wait.
Enjoy the newsletter!
Amy x
News 📰
At Red Bull Hardline, Gracey Hemstreet won the Rider of the Week award which is voted for by her fellow athletes.
Belgian police have arrested a spectator who threw beer on Marianne Vos as during Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig fractured her sacrum in a crash at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
The UCI will be implementing a series of rule changes for the Cyclocross 2024-25 season with the aim to tighten "obligations" for highly ranked riders to compete in World Cup events. These rules will include that top 20 ranked riders will no longer be able to compete in national events and that up to 50% of World Cup races will be made “protected events” which will allow the UCI to refuse registration of other events on the day before or the day of the World Cup race.
Read 🗞️
From WorldTour Soigneur to Pro Gravel Racer, This is Geerike Schreurs - Velo
Alison Jackson embracing the 'chaos' of return to the cobbled Classics - Cyclingnews
Grace Brown Going All-In on Olympic Glory: 'I'll Take Any Medal' - Velo
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: Why Vos's victory shows SD Worx dominance will be tough to maintain in 2024 - Rouleur
Gracey Hemstreet makes mountain bike history at Red Bull Hardline Australia - Red Bull
Gallery: Opening Weekend 2024 (aka The Visma-Lease a Bike Show) - Escape Collective
Strade Bianche: Kopecky, Vollering vow no bad vibes from 2023 - Velo
'You get to a certain age and you start experiencing harassment': Campaign demands safer cycling for women in London - Cycling Weekly
'They all know who I am' – Puck Pieterse takes aim at Strade Bianche podium - GCN
Watch 📺
Who else but Puck to preview Strade Bianche.
Listen 🎧
The WCW pod is back! Rachel and I talked all things Opening Weekend as well as our pre-Strade thoughts.
Abby, Gracie, and Loren are joined by Matt de Neef and Matilda Reynolds for an NFL-style draft.
It’s time for the Cycling Podcast Féminin! This month exploring motherhood in the peloton.
Results 🏆
Road
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (1.WWT)
Marianne Vos (TVL)
Lotte Kopecky (SDW)
Elisa Longo Borghini (LTK)
Clasica de Almeria (1.1)
Lauren Stephens (CYN)
Yuliia Biriukova (HPH)
Linda Zanetti (HPH)
Omloop van het Hageland (1.1)
Kristen Faulkner (EFC)
Mischa Bredewold (SDW)
Pfeiffer Georgi (DFP)
Le Samyn des Dames (1.1)
Vittoria Guazzini (FST)
Anniina Ahtosalo (UXM)
Christina Schweinberger (FED)
MTB
Red Bull Hardline, Tasmania 🇦🇺
Women do not have a separate category at Hardline, but in the mixed results they finished:
22. Gracey Hemstreet 🇨🇦
25. Louise Ferguson 🇬🇧
Upcoming races 📆
Road
Saturday 2nd March: Strade Bianche (1.WWT)
How to watch:
Sunday 3rd March: Trofeo Oro in Euro (1.1)
How to watch:
Wednesday 6th March: GP Oetingen (1.1)
Friday fun 🕺
Nothing can stop Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig
That’s all 👋
Thanks for reading Women’s Cycling Weekly! 💘
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Amy x