Viva La Vuelta 🇪🇸

+ the Tour of Scandinavia has been cancelled :(

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

What a race La Vuelta has turned out to be! From a chaotic start with crashes and a super tight TTT, two great stage wins for EF Education Cannondale and a classic from Marianne Vos. Plus, the return to winning form of Demi Vollering yesterday (and very questionable tactics/team support from SD Worx on today’s stage), and a stunning win from Évita Muzic today.

Being terrible at predicting winners is kind of WCW’s MO at this stage, and this time was a real doozy: on Wednesday morning I sent out a newsletter to paid subscribers predicting Gaia Realini for GC 🫣. Hoping she heals up fast from that nasty crash yesterday. It’s also such a shame to see Kasia Niewiadoma out after struggling to come back from an illness she had before the race, especially after the form she was in this Spring. Hopefully we see her back in action soon!

So, Demi Vollering has asserted herself as Stage Race Queen once again after a slower start to the season than usual. Anything can still happen in these final two stages but from the way she’s been climbing and the fact that the crosswinds on stage three put a few other favourites out of contention it looks like her race to lose now.

Enjoy this week’s newsletter and have a great weekend!

Amy x

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News 📰

• Demi Vollering has signed a partnership with Nike.

• Thanks to fundraising efforts from Lifeplus - Wahoo and the Lifeplus Foundation, the Bishop Sulumeti Girls High School now has access to clean and safe water.

• The Tour of Scandinavia has been cancelled due to a lack of funding.

• Evie Richards has been dealing with concussion symptoms since the Araxá world cup.

• Gaia Realini and Kasia Niewiadoma were both unable to start the Vuelta Femenina today.

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Read 🗞️

• Demi Vollering reaffirms her dominance with Vuelta Femenina stage win - Rouleur

• Sarah Gigante blog: Keeping that never-give-up attitude in the Vuelta Femenina - GCN

• Llori Sharpe hones 'full gas' criterium skills with L39ION of LA in 2024 - Cyclingnews

• SD Worx-Protime boss: Teams are closing the gap, but that's good for cycling - GCN

• Maddy Nutt diary: Inside the preparation for a 360km gravel race - Rouleur

• 'I want it a lot more' - Kim Le Court puts Mauritius on the map - Cyclingnews  

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Listen 🎧

Listen 🎧

Business Daily has been looking into the Tour de France Femmes.

 And also talking to female bike mechanics from across the world.

 The team at Wheel Talk are discussing the opening of the Vuelta España Femenina.

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Results 🏆

Road

Vuelta España Femenina (2.WWT)

Stage 1 (TTT): Lidl Trek

Stage 2: Alison Jackson (EFC)

Stage 3: Marianne Vos (TVL) 

Stage 4: Kristen Faulkner (EFC)

Stage 5: Demi Vollering (SDW)

Stage 6: Évita Muzic (FDJ)

La Classique Morbihan (1.1)

1. Eleonora Gasparrini (UAE)

2. Marta Lach (WNT)

3. Jade Wiel (FDJ)

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Upcoming races 📆  

Road

28th April - 5th May: Vuelta España Femenina (2.WWT)

How to watch:

• Live on Eurosport/Discovery+ from 14:30 CEST Saturday and 12:00 CEST Sunday.

Saturday 4th May: GP de Plumelec-Morbihan (1.1)

How to watch:

• Live on Eurosport/Discovery+ from 10:15 CEST.

• Startlist here.

Wednesday 8th May: Navarra Elite Classics (1.Pro)

How to watch:

• Live on Eurosport/Discovery+ from 15:30 CEST.

• Startlist here.

10th - 12th May: Itzulia Women (2.WWT)

How to watch:

• Live on Eurosport/Discovery+ from 12:30 CEST.

• Startlist here.

MTB

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 UCI MTB World Cup: Fort William, Scotland DHI #1 

Saturday 4th May: DHI Elite Semi Finals

Sunday 5th May: DHI Junior and Elite Finals

How to watch:

• Junior: Live on Eurosport/Discovery+ or Staylive from 12:25 CEST.

• Elite: Live on Eurosport/Discovery+ or Staylive from 14:00 CEST.

European Championships

Thursday 9th May: Junior and Elite+U23 XCC

Friday 10th May: Team Relay

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Friday fun 🕺

Is it even WCW without dogs?

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That’s all 👋

Thanks for reading Women’s Cycling Weekly! 💘

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Amy x