Wiebes saves the bacon 🥓
+ Millie gets her moment 🇮🇲
Hello! Welcome to Women’s Cycling Weekly 🚴♀️
When you get this newsy Tilda and I will be gallivanting around Les Gets (hopefully not in the rain 😭) watching MTB worlds meaning that this is a rare case of me being ✨prepared✨ ahead of time.
Since last time, Lorena Wiebes was crowned European champ and tbh it was unsurprising. Which is no shade to Lorena cause I think she’s the absolute bomb and I will die on the hill that she is the ONLY pure sprinter in the women’s pelo atm (if u disagree reply to this email I want to hear it!!). But how cool to see Elisa Balsamo actually give her a bit of a run for her money? Also Elisa, girl you can’t hog all the jerseys!!
Although we had become so used to the Dutch sticking it to everyone all the time in recent years, as Sadhbh O’Shea rightly points out in this piece, Wiebes’ win has actually redeemed the national squad of some recent monumental cock ups (remember Tokyo? 😬)
P.s I hate their new kit bring back the bright orange 🍊.
Apart from that it’s been pretty quiet on the road front but we’ve got some WWT racing coming up next week whooop!!
See you then,
Amy x
News 📰
Lisa Brennauer (Ceratizit-WNT) officially closed out her career on Sunday after making the European Championships in Munich her final race.
National federations have started to reveal their squads for the upcoming World Championships in Wollongong, with the USA first up. The Australian announcement was delayed after two riders appealed the selection but is now official.
A headline is the non-selection of Megan Jastrab - the USA team in fact fields no U23 riders, despite a U23 rainbow jersey being on offer for the first time this year.
Ellen van Dijk has extended her contract with Trek-Segafredo through to the end of 2024.
Head here for the latest transfer news.
And not to turn this into a ‘classified’ section but:
And, The Cyclists’ Alliance are hiring! Could you be their new director?
Read 🗞️
I had the privilege of interviewing Zahra Atayee last week. Zahra is a 24-year-old from Afghanistan who set up a cycling club, studied law, and joined an all-female demining team helping to rid her province of landmines. When the Taliban took over in August 2021 Zahra was forced to flee, fearing for her life. Now, she is resettled in Italy thanks to the efforts of Shannon Galpin, who worked with female cyclists — including Zahra — in Afghanistan in the early 2010s, who I also spoke to last week. You can read Zahra’s story here, and my interview with Shannon here, and here is the link to Shannon’s ongoing GoFundMe campaign.
'Young female athletes need to know what's normal and what's not' - Evie Richards
THIS piece by MTB world champ Evie Richards is a must-read. Evie has been vocal before about the pressures around weight in the sport and how that as led her to disordered eating in the past. Before you’re all like ‘not MORE MTB content’ this is an issue that reaches beyond one discipline and even cycling and it’s just great to see an athlete give an honest account of her own journey.
See also: Pauline Ferrand Prevot on that and much, much more in conversation with Pinkbike.
Millie Robinson, the ACTUAL first ever winner of a women’s Tour de France, (if you followed our pre-TDFF ‘Tour of Yore’ segments you might remember her!!) has been paid her dues in this lengthy — and fascinating — piece in Cyclist.
This brilliant first-person account of what it’s like as an Aussie racing in Europe by Matilda Raynolds.
One for the tech heads and also the Betsy Welch fans (aka us). ‘Bitsy’ gives us a run-down on all the gear she used on her post-TDFF bikepacking trip from Torino to Nice!
And another one for tech fans — it’s been a hot minute since we heard from Olympic Champion, Anna Kiesenhofer, who famously hates racing in the peloton (although we know she’s getting a guest ride for Madrid Challenge!! Here’s all the deets on her custom Factor bikes, which are gold-themed, natch.
We’re probably the least business-y people alive so I’m pretty confident this is the first time that WCW has linked to Forbes but they have done a lengthy Q&A with Ashleigh Moolman Pasio which you can find here.
And, finally! Here’s this week’s subscriber-only newsy all about MTB! If you want to get more from WCW then you can become a subscriber and we will love you forever!! 💘
Watch 📺
We forgot to add this last week but ICYMI a 40 min doco by DSM on their TDFF 🍿
One of the fastest women in DH, Marine Cabirou, talks about her journey through injury and setbacks as she shreds on home trails.
An Australian crowdfunded women’s pro cycling team??
Listen 🎧
ICYMI they let us loose to talk all things MTB worlds 🌈 on Freewheeling!!
Georgia Baker on the Press Room Podcast.
Results 🏆
Road
🇪🇺 UEC European Road Race Championships, Munich 🇩🇪
🥇 Lorena Wiebes 🇳🇱 🥈 Elisa Balsamo 🇮🇹 🥉 Rachele Barbieri 🇮🇹
MerXem Classic: 1. Eleonora Gasparrini (VAL) 2. Megan Jastrab (DSM) 3. Silvia Persico (VAL)
Kreiz Breizh Elites Féminin: 1. Emma Norsgaard (MOV) 2. Silvia Persico (VAL) 3. Marie Le Net (FSF)
MTB
🇪🇺 UEC European XCO Championships, Munich 🇩🇪
🥇 Loana Lecomte 🇫🇷 🥈 Pauline Ferrand-Prévot 🇫🇷 🥉 Anne Terpstra 🇳🇱
🌈 UCI Mountain Bike (XCC/XCO/DHI/EMTB) World Championships, Les Gets 🇫🇷
XC Mixed team relay: 🥇 Switzerland 🇨🇭 🥈 Italy 🇮🇹 🥉 USA 🇺🇸
XCO junior: 🥇 Monique Halter 🇨🇭 🥈 Lea Huber 🇨🇭 🥉 Natalia Grzegorzewska 🇵🇱
Upcoming Races 📆
Road
27th August: Classic Lorient Agglomération - Trophée Ceratizit (1.WWT) (the race FKA GP de Plouay)
30th August-4th September: Simac Ladies Tour (2.WWT)
All stages live on Eurosport/GCN+
Provisional start list here
MTB
26th-28th August: 🌈 UCI Mountain Bike (XCC/XCO/DHI/EMTB) World Championships, Les Gets 🇫🇷
Full schedule of races and entry lists here
Friday: XCC at 17.00 CEST
Saturday: Downhill juniors at 9.30 CEST, elites at 13.15 CEST
Sunday: U23 XCO at 9.00 CEST, elites at 13.00 CEST
Watch live on GCN/Eurosport and RedBull TV, SBS in Australia and FloBikes in the US
Friday fun
This is a Lightning McQueen inspired bike I REPEAT a Lightning McQueen inspired bike — we TOLD you MTB was fun.
Giving the people who work hard BTS some spotlight:
PLOT TWIST! 🥺❤️
That’s all 👋
Thanks for reading Women’s Cycling Weekly! 💘
If you want to see more from us then you can now become a paid subscriber!
And ICYMI we want to hear from you about how we can improve WCW!!
Amy and Tilda x
This issue was raining content! Many interesting things to click on and learn about. I’m glad I’m retired.
And yes, the Dutch kit color seemed afraid to be ANY color.