Women's Cycling Weekly issue 32
A weekly curation of women's cycling news and content straight to your inbox
Hello! Welcome to Women’s Cycling Weekly issue 32 🚴♀️
It’s Giro time! While some men’s race is going on around France at the moment 🤷♀️* the women’s peloton are gearing up for the (apparently) new-and-improved Giro d’Italia Donne taking place over the next 10 days and starting with a TTT later today. PLUS dear reader, we get to watch the race live..
wait,
sorry,
we get 15km(?!) of live coverage 😑. And so we come back to the perennial question: should we be eternally grateful for every scrap and crumb that women’s sport is thrown and not complain when it’s inadequate? I think you know where I stand on that, dear reader. But what does 15km of coverage mean, anyway? Will cameras abruptly turn on as soon as the peloton hits 15km to go? Will we end up with far less because the women are faster than the organisers think — à la Burgos? Time will tell. The Giro Rosa giveth, and the Giro Rosa taketh away.
*I watch the Tour, too, don’t @ me.
News 📰
Bike brand Liv have committed to sponsoring the eponymous WWT team Liv Racing for a further three years (up to 2024).
In further bike sponsorship news: Cervélo have extended their sponsorship of the men’s, women’s and junior Jumbo-Visma teams ‘indefinitely.’
Stages 3, 4, and 5 of the 2.2 Škoda Auto Tour de Feminin (8th-11th July) will be broadcast live. More details via race social media and website.
Canyon//SRAM rider Hannah Ludwig has been selected to race at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Chloe Woodruff has resigned her spot on the U.S Olympic MTB team citing ‘personal reasons.’ Erin Huck will take her place.
52-year-old Leah Goldstein has made history by becoming the first woman to win the Race Across America. She completed the 3,000 mile route in 11 days 3h and 3 minutes.
The UCI are now officially hiring for the promised ‘Integrity & Education Manager’ to be appointed as part of their changes to the Ethics procedure.
Some sad news:
Results 🏆
Demi Vollering won the last (?) edition of 1.WWT La Course by Le Tour de France on Saturday. The Dutch rider won the sprint from a reduced bunch after Marianne Vos was forced to lead it out, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig took second forcing Vos into third place. Vollering now leads the WWT overall classification ahead of Annemiek van Vleuten (who didn’t race). Watch race highlights here.
National champs:
Eritrea: ITT - Adyam Tesfalem. Road race - Bisrat Ghebremeskel
Puerto Rico: ITT and RR - Donelys Cariño.
Bosnia and Herzegovina ITT and RR: Martina Čondra.
Antigua and Barbuda: ITT - Lindsay Duffy. Road race - Vanessa Kelsick.
Mongolia: ITT - Anujin Jinjiibadam. Road race - Tserenlkham Solongo
Bermuda RR: Caitlin Conyers.
Upcoming Races 📅
Giro Donne 2.Pro
The 10-day Giro Donne starts TODAY. Now, there is absolutely no point in me going through a stage-by-stage breakdown here because it’s been done already here, here, and here. As I’ve already moaned about extensively, and yet we must also be thankful for, you can catch the final 15km of each stage live, here’s a list of everywhere it’s being shown:
See you on #girodonne on Twitter, yeah?
MTB Les Gets 2nd - 4th July
Les Gets MTB World Cup:
Today at 17:30 short track race.
Saturday at 10:50 Downhill final.
Sunday 8:30 women U23 XCO.
Sunday 12:30 women elite XCO.
All races live on Red Bull TV!
Elsewhere
There’s the 1.2 Districtenpijl - Ekeren-Deurne on Sunday. Startlist here.
The 2.1 Baloise Ladies Tour 8th-11th. Startlist here.
The 2.2 Škoda Auto Tour de Feminin also 8th-11th. List of teams.
Read 🗞️
Giro stuff:
A stage-by-stage preview here.
Who are the contenders for each classification?
What *might* happen at the Giro Donne.
Five things to expect from the race.
Past winners of the race.
“My relationship with the Giro is a bit strange" says Elisa Longo Borghini.
Amanda Spratt has had a slow build up this season, but she’s ready to go at the Giro.
Anna van der Breggen is hoping to win a fourth Giro Donne.
La Course stuff:
Was Saturday the last La Course? Hopefully.
A La Course debrief.
Question time with Demi Vollering.
Philippa York on the journey to a Tour de France Femmes.
‘Demi Vollering isn’t the next best thing, she’s already there.’
“I need to have a chat with ASO about getting up that early. I would like to sleep more.” says Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig. Same, tbh.
Misc:
Introducing: Niamh Fisher-Black.
Qualified vet, and now Team GB Tokyo Olympian, Neah Evans on making up for lost time.
On the damage caused by the macho glorification of suffering in cycling.
Be more like this club.
Watch 📺
TW: my face 👽
The Bunnyhop
The Bunnyhop is back! This month featuring ex-pro and former world TTT champ Katie Colclough and…me (soz). 🚨Earnestness warning: Everyone behind this series is so brilliant and, I can confirm, a right laugh. It’s fantastic to have such a well-produced series like this dedicated to women’s cycling so if you haven’t watched/followed/generally supported The Bunnyhop yet then get 👏 on 👏 it!
Please send all hate mail for me to Tilda Price.
Giro preview
More of me, sorry. This time chatting to the lovely editor of Rouleur, Andy McGrath, ahead of the Giro d’Italia Donne. Missed u, Joe.
Listen 🎧
The last thing with me in it, promise. The Freewheeling Podcast, featuring a chat between the three of us straight off the back of La Course in which we ponder the impact of the forthcoming Tour de France Femmes — ft. some on-the-ground reporting from Abby.
Giro dog watch 🐶
An excuse to include a pic of a very good boi we saw on last year’s gravel stage of the Giro Rosa.
Sadly I will not be at this year’s race which means that while I’m safe from rental cars breaking down on me and losing two (yes, two) pairs of shoes by leaving them at a hotel, I also won’t get to fill in the blanks on what’s happening at the race, either. We’re in the same boat, here, with nothin’ but 15(ish)km of live coverage to go by.
That’s all 👋
Thanks for reading Women’s Cycling Weekly.
If you liked what you read you can buy WCW a ‘coffee’ on Ko-Fi. A huge thanks to everyone who has done so already!
Have a great weekend!
Until next time,
Amy x