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Women’s Cycling Weekly: Issue 19

Hello! Welcome to Women’s Cycling Weekly issue 19 ‍♀️

It’s been a really exciting week of racing yet again and with Flanders coming up on Sunday there’s still plenty to look forward to. As you’ll find out later on in this newsletter it’s also been a great week for women’s cycling content. PLUS this week I have a cheeky little competition for you. So now I’ve added that sneaky little teaser, have a read on to find out more!

News 

  • Scratch out the 11th April from your diary because it’s official, Paris Roubaix is postponed. The inaugural women’s race will now take place on Saturday 2nd October, a day before the men’s event on Sunday 3rd. 
  • The Lotto Belgium Tour organisers have decided to bring the race forward so as not to clash with La Course. The new dates are 22nd-25th June. 
  • Zwift Academy winner Neve Bradbury had her first race in Europe with her Canyon//SRAM teammates at Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday.
  • A group of UK cyclists have launched an equal prize money kitemark for events. the EPiC (Equality and Parity in Cycling) kitemark was launched by the group of campaigners who petitioned for equal payouts for time trial events in the UK after the disparity at hill climb races was revealed. Find out more via their website here. 
  • The much-anticipated Battle of the North is one step closer to becoming a reality! The Tour of Norway organisers announced on Monday that the event is pencilled in for August 16-21 2022 and will feature across Denmark, Norway and Sweden. However, the organisers of the two Vårgårda WWT events in Sweden opted out of the partnership meaning that the event cannot run across the originally-planned 10-day time frame. (We’ll be hearing more from LToN later in the newsletter).
  • The race director of the 2022 cyclocross world championships in Arkansas, Brook Watts, has appealed to fans not to boycott the event after the state governor, Asa Hutchinson, signed a bill to ban transgender women and girls from competing in school sports. Watts described the bill as ‘hateful.’ 
  • Great news for Team Coop – Hitec Products who — as a result of the additional sponsorship from Coop — have been able to increase their riders’ salaries in line with the men’s team who share their sponsors. Manager Karl Lima said in a press release: “The arrival of Coop as a sponsor allows us to support the riders and provide them with equal opportunities as the men’s team.” Love to see it.
  • The UCI is set to announce at this year’s Worlds whether Rwanda or Morocco will become the first African nation to host the World Championships in 2025 after sending staff to inspect the course in May.
  • The first-ever women’s Tour de Suisse is facing jeopardy before it has even begun after the race organisers have come up against financial trouble, (Switzerland ain’t cheap, who knew). The problem lies in the fact that the Swiss federation has not been reimbursed for the cancellation of last year’s cancelled Swiss worlds. A crowdfunding campaign has been set up with a number of Swiss female pros showing support.

Results

  • At Gent Wevelgem 1.WWT last Sunday it was Marianne Vos who took her first win of the season with Jumbo Visma — and the first win for the team — beating Lotte Kopecky and Lisa Brennauer in a sprint to the line after a failed breakaway attempt from Elisa Longo Borghini and Soraya Paladin was reeled in with 2km to go. Missed the race? Watch the highlights here.
  • Wednesday marked the return of Annemiek van Vleuten to the peloton at Dwars Door Vlaanderen 1.1 after the European Champion took time away after Strade Bianche to train at altitude. Van Vleuten launched an attack — as Movistar teammate Leah Thomas was getting caught from an earlier break — which only Kasia Niewiadoma could follow. The two broke away together with around 36km to go and stayed clear, with van Vleuten winning the sprint for first and Niewiadoma’s Canyon//SRAM teammate Alexis Ryan winning the bunch kick for third. View highlights here.

Upcoming Races 

  • The Big One: Tour of Flanders is coming up this Sunday. Round five of the 2021 WWT kicks off at 14:00 CET with a live broadcast from 16:45 CET. View the start list here. View a preview of the race here. View last year’s highlights here. 
  • On Monday it’s the UCI 1.1 Ronde de Mouscron (also in Belgium). View the start list here.
  • Another day another Flanders Classics race, on Wednesday it’s the first-ever women’s Scheldeprijs 1.1 which will also be broadcast live (no further info is available just yet). View start list here.

Read ️

Listen 

  • Alright you know the drill, it’s the Freewheeling podcast. This week featuring Easter egg chat, race reviews and a Flanders preview as well as an (as promised last week but it wasn’t actually there — sorry) interview with Cecille Uttrup Ludwig. 
  • Elsewhere (BBC balance), Canyon//SRAM have just dropped their very own podcast hosted by retired cyclocross legend Helen Wyman, check it out on Spotify.

Watch

Three videos to share this week so grab the popcorn and settle in: 

First off it’s All Bodies on Bikes, an inspiring story and a long-overdue dig into the culture of body shaming and the lack of inclusivity for people in bigger bodies within cycling.

Next, a brand new women’s cycling show that popped up this week, The Bunnyhop featuring Rebecca Charlton, Molly Weaver and Rose Manley as hosts with contributions from Lizzy Banks and Ruth Winder. An absolute joy to watch and a definite future staple!

Plus: “I really want to help make cycling for everybody” Muslim cyclist and lawyer Shuhena Islam on her story and her ambitions to get more people of colour into the sport.

Names You Should Know

Alright so that competition I mentioned? Here we go.

No ‘Names You Should Know’ this week because there’s a whole book’s worth here! 

I had the privilege of reading a proof of Revolutions by Hannah Ross before it came out this week and let me tell you: I. learned. so. much. It was so insightful and interesting on the women who have shaped what it means to be a female cyclist and highlights some incredible stories from women on two wheels. Ross links issues that have faced female cyclists both past and present and reveals some extraordinary details and legendary figures. I bookmarked so many pages I might as well have just turned the whole book into one big post-it note.

So, if you want a free copy of Revolutions here’s the deal:

  • Share WCW on either Twitter or Instagram (or both if you fancy) 
  • Use the hashtag #wcwrevolutions 

I’ll announce the winner in next week’s issue — good luck!

Honourable Mantion

Allowing a man in the NL this week to give a shout out to Jake Stewart for highlighting this straight-up bullsh*t situation to his sizeable following and helping to fight the good fight.

Feel Good Friday – Easter Edition

This needs no introduction.

That’s All

Happy Easter if that’s your jam, if not just have a great weekend, enjoy the extra days off, I hope it’s sunny and you get to eat loads of chocolate — egg-shaped or otherwise. 

As ever, thanks for reading and for supporting women’s cycling and if you like what you see you can support WCW on Ko-Fi.

Until next time,

Amy x

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