WCW on Tour

What a race so far!

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

It’s the end of the day after stage six here at the Tour and it feels like 100000 years ago since we were in Rotterdam. This race has been unreal so far with surprise winners and losers (Kool and Wiebes), the confirmation of the star status of WCW’s fav, Puck Pieterse, drama within SD Worx and Kasia Niewiadoma finally taking the yellow jersey.

All of this and the mountains are still to come!

If you haven’t already, you can catch up with the WCW ground crew (me and Rachel with the odd cameo from Tilda) via our daily podcasts.

What’s been your favourite moment so far? Who are your podium predictions?

Of course, the race being on means that there’s a whole heap of women’s racing content to get stuck into in this week’s newsletter (can it be like this every week please?) so I’ll leave you to peruse the bounty of articles, podcasts, videos and more below.

Enjoy the newsletter and the rest of the race!

Amy x

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News 📰

• Pfeiffer Georgi has been forced to abandon the Tour de France Femmes after being caught in the crash on stage 5 and suffering a broken hand and fractures in her neck.

• The women’s lineup for Red Bull Rampage has been revealed and includes 8 riders and 4 alternates. This is the first time in the event’s history that women have been invited to compete.

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Read 🗞️

• Million Euro contracts, expansive budgets and trickle-down economics - the Tour de France Femmes effect - Cyclingnews

• Gallery: A wonderfully Dutch start to the Tour de France Femmes - Escape Collective 

• 200 euro salaries, inexperienced youngsters and gaming the system: Tashkent City justify their place at the Tour de France Femmes - Rouleur

• On Tour de France Femmes debut, Puck Pieterse is already a jewel in the Dutch crown - Escape Collective 

• Servicing 21 road bikes, 9 time trial Bikes, 80 wheels in one day: The mechanical nightmare of a split stage at Tour de France Femmes - Cycling Weekly  

• 'The best day of my life' - Inside Yara Kastelijn's big day out at the Tour de France Femmes - Rouleur

• Two stages in one day? The why and how of the split stage at the Tour de France Femmes - Escape Collective 

• My stroke story should be a lesson for cycling, by Audrey Cordon-Ragot - Rouleur

• Two weeks after Olympics near miss, Blanka Vas her moment - Escape Collective 

• 'My race instinct kicked in' - Kasia Niewiadoma's bittersweet yellow jersey - Rouleur

• Kristen Faulkner On Olympics, Track Future and Inspiring Change - Velo 

• ‘I’m not the rider I once was’ - Lizzie Deignan on her new role at Lidl-Trek, retirement and changing priorities - Rouleur   

• The Tour de France Femmes is creating space for women in the bike industry - Escape Collective 

• 'Dreams come true quite fast these days' - Charlotte Kool lives up to billing at Tour de France Femmes - Cyclingnews 

• ‘Waiting wouldn’t have made a difference’ - Shameful tactics or smart racing from SD Worx at the Tour de France Femmes - Rouleur

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Watch 📺

A few teams are doing daily videos from the race starting with EF Oatly Cannondale

And FDJ SUEZ

And here’s Puck with a pre-race vlog

American football (soccer?) player Tobin Heath interviewed Demi Vollering

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Listen 🎧

There are a lot of daily podcasts coming out of the Tour de France Femmes to keep you completely up to date on what’s happening on the ground. 

First we have the WCW pod of course.

 Then the Wheel Talk team.

 And finally the Cycling Podcast Féminin.

 The Press Room Podcast also have a series of interviews coming out with:

Ruby Roseman-Gannon

 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio

 And Neve Bradbury

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Results 🏆

Road

Tour de France Femmes (2.WWT)

Stage 1: Charlotte Kool (DFP)

Stage 2: Charlotte Kool (DFP)

Stage 3 (ITT): Demi Vollering (SDW)

Stage 4: Puck Pieterse (FED)

Stage 5: Blanka Vas (SDW)

Stage 6: Cédrine Kerbaol (WNT)

Grote Prijs Yvonne Reynders (1.1)

1. Scarlett Souren (VWT)

2. Evy Kuijpers (FED)

3. Femke Beuling (VWT)

MTB

Downhill European Championships 

Junior: 🥇 Ella Svegby 🇸🇪 🥈 Lais Bonnaure 🇫🇷 🥉 Emma Bindhammer 🇦🇹

Elite: 🥇 Lisa Baumann 🇨🇭 🥈 Vali Höll 🇦🇹 🥉 Marine Cabirou 🇫🇷

Track

Sprint

🥇 Ellesse Andrews 🇳🇿

🥈 Lea Sophie Friedrich 🇩🇪

🥉 Emma Finucane 🇺🇸

Omnium

🥇 Jennifer Valente 🇺🇸

🥈 Daria Pikulik 🇵🇱

🥉 Ally Wollaston 🇳🇿

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Upcoming races 📆  

Road

12th - 18th August: Tour de France Femmes (2.WWT)

How to watch:

• Live on Discovery+ from 13:30 CEST on Saturday and 16:00 CEST on Sunday.

• Startlist here.

• Preview here.

21st - 24th August: Tour de l'Avenir Femmes (2.2U)

How to watch:

• Live on Discovery+ from 17:15 CEST on Wednesday, 13:45 CEST on Thursday and 13:30 on Friday.

• Startlist here.

Friday 23rd August: Konvert Kortrijk Koerse (1.1)

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Friday fun 🕺

And the prize for best team announcement goes to... 🥁

Puck forever bringing a bit of fun to things

letourfemmes

A post shared by @letourfemmes

The moment you realise your mate won the stage 🫶

First French winner = hugs from Marion 🇫🇷

Look, mum’s on TV!

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That’s all 👋

Thanks for reading Women’s Cycling Weekly! 💘

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Amy x