One week(ish) until the Tour de France Femmes 🇫🇷🥖

➕ say hello to a new addition to the WCW team!

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

We are just over one week away from the Tour de France Femmes! With the men’s race on at the moment and the hype ramping up around the women’s race it’s starting to feel real and it’s so exciting. I can’t wait to get to Clermont-Ferrand.

In case you missed it I’ll be on the ground for the whole race meaning WCW paid subscribers will get DAILY content from the TDFF (interviews, insights, BTS, and a ride up the Tourmalet 🥵) If you’re not already signed up then for the duration of the Tour WCW is offering a 20% discount on paid subscriptions 🥳.

If you are already signed up (🫶) then you can still get yourself some discounted WCW by referring a friend: 1 referral = one month comp, 3 referrals = 3 months comp, and 5 referrals = 6 month comp!

As well as bonus newsletters coming from on the ground at the race we’re 💘 bringing the WCW podcast back to life! 💘 Before you get excited about the return of Tildz, though, she won’t be able to join 💔 but I’ll be roping in a string of other co-hosts and guests throughout the next couple of weeks starting with a pre-TDFF ep!

Speaking of Tilda, while she may no longer be a part of creating this newsletter (although she is forever part of the WCW fam) I want to introduce you guys to a member of her actual fam, Lulah. OGs will remember that Tilda originally joined WCW as my intern (tbf she was never promoted x) in 2021 where she would help out with curating the news, results, upcoming races etc. while I got on with the BTS and the writing bits alongside my Actual Job™. Lulah, while on her summer break from uni, has become WCW’s very own nepo baby 🥰. Here’s some Lulah facts:

1. Just like her sister, Lulah loves downhill MTB racing 🚵

2. She also does these amazing embroideries, often of DH racers 🧵

3. She has recently taken up bouldering 🧗‍♀️

Welcome, Lulah :)

Enjoy this week’s newsletter!

Amy x

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News 📰

• Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio extends with AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep until the end of 2024.

• Liv Cycling will be hosting watch parties for the Tour de France Femmes.

• Lidl-Trek’s Tayler Wiles has announced that she has been forced to retire after surgery for external iliac endofibrosis failed to resolve the problem that has “plagued” her for the last two years. The 33-year-old said she will stop racing at the end of the 2023 season. WCW wishes her all the best.

  taylerwiles

  

  taylerwiles on Instagram: “I’m sure some of you have been a bit curious as to why I’ve been pretty absent from the peloton the last few months. I really wish I didn’t have to write these words & that this was not my story😔 As many of you know I had surgery to correct EIAE (external iliac artery endofibrosis) last year. I had high hopes that after many months of rehab I would be able to build back up and be the rider I was before this injury started plaguing me over 2 years ago. I trained hard over the fall/winter and was optimistic going into the beginning of the season, however the symptoms of EIAE persisted. I pushed through the pain in training & racing, telling myself it was nerve memory, that it would fade once new pathways formed & my body learned that it no longer needed to protect itself. But the pain only got worse, and it become harder to push through. Extreme fatigue followed the pain and both have made it nearly impossible to train at any intensity above zone 2. I knew before heading into this season that it would be my last in the sport. I have had a wonderful 12 year long career as a professional, and I am ready to focus on my family and start a new chapter of my life. The fact that it would be my last season had motivated me to make it a great one, to train hard and get back into the pointy end of races with my incredible teammates once again. I am heartbroken that my body and this injury has taken that away from me, and that my last year is being spent the way it is, in pain and unable to race. You can want something so badly, long for it every single day, dream about it even, but when you can’t force your body to do something that it won’t, all of that desire just hurts. If you’ve talked to me about this in person I have probably shrugged it off, pretended I was ok and quickly tried to change the subject. This is definitely a defense mechanism and my way of protecting both you and me from the flood of tears that would follow if I spoke openly about how hard this has truly been. But thank you from the bottom of my heart to anyone who has asked. I’m going to try to stop putting up that wall and speak more honestly about how I’m truly feeling(Cont. in comments).”

  July 14, 2023

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Read  🗞️

• Femmes En Motion Gallery & Exhibition: Honoring the Female Lens

• From domestique to doyenne: tracing Annemiek van Vleuten's transformation

• What is the Red Bull Hardline 2023 Progression Camp? 

• Vollering vs Van Vleuten: A mighty Tour battle awaits 

• Van Vleuten’s dominance, Niedermaier’s heartbreak, and goodbye Bastianelli  - key takeaways from the 2023 Giro d’Italia Donne

• From GB track coach to elite racer herself: Meet Monica Greenwood 

• Annemiek van Vleuten's path to four Giro d'Italia Donne victories 

• Sofia Gomez Villafañe soloes to the win at the Crusher in the Tushar

• Marta Bastianelli says emotional goodbye to pro cycling at Giro Donne 

• 23.2 million viewers watched the Tour de France Femmes live in 2022 

• 5 conclusions from the 2023 Giro Donne 

• Not just for the boys: women take on world’s toughest mountain bike track

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Listen 🎧

Wheel Talk on all the biggest talking points of the Giro Donne.

And more Giro Donne chat over at The Cycling Podcast

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Results 🏆

Road

Giro d’Italia Donne (2.WWT)

Stage 8: Blanka Vas (SDW)

Stage 9: Chiara Consonni (UAD)

Overall:

1. Annemiek van Vleuten (MOV)

2. Juliette Labous (DSM)

3. Gaia Realini (TFS)

2 Districtenpijl - Ekeren-Deurne (1.1)

1. Lieke Nooijen (PHV)

2. Julie Hendrickx (LDL)

3. Millie Couzens (FED)

Baloise Ladies Tour (2.1)

Prologue: Charlotte Kool (DSM)

Stage 1: Charlotte Kool (DSM)

Stage 2: Charlotte Kool (DSM)

MTB

European Championships 

XCO Junior: 🥇 Valentina Corvi 🇮🇹 🥈 Carla Hahn 🇩🇪 🥉 Katrin Embacher 🇦🇹

XCO U23: 🥇 Sofie Pedersen 🇩🇰 🥈 Ronja Blöchlinger 🇨🇭 🥉 Noëlle Buri 🇨🇭

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Upcoming races📆 

Road

12th - 16th July: Baloise Ladies Tour (2.1)

How to watch:

• Live on YouTube at the following times:

• Stage 3A: Saturday 15th from 11:00 CEST

• Stage 3B: Saturday 15th from 19:00 CEST

• Stage 4: Sunday 16th from 15:00 CEST

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Friday fun 🕺

The peloton says goodbye to Marta Bastianelli at her final race

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That’s all 👋

Thanks for reading Women’s Cycling Weekly! 💘

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Amy x