The Women’s World Championships road race had been dominated by Dutch riders in recent years, with 4 in a row between 2017 and 2021. Elisa Balsamo broke that run last year in Flanders by being able to outsprint Marianne Vos to the line. Such is the Dutch dominance in women’s cycling
Annemiek van Vleuten secured the win at the Ceratizit Challenge today after not losing any time, with Elisa Balsamo winning the final stage. In her final race in this spell in the rainbow bands, Elisa Balsamo comfortably took the sprint, arms aloft as she crossed the finish line. The centre of Madrid saw the final …
Aussie Grace Brown won the 3rd stage of the 2022 Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta. The FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope rider beat Elise Chabbey in a head-to-head sprint for the finish line. Behind them, Elisa Balsamo was 3rd, leading the peloton home. Annemiek van Vleuten finished safely in the group and is still the leader in the general …
Grace Brown wins Stage 3 with an attacking ride, Van Vleuten remains leader Read More »
The Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta has had quite a developmental history. Originally a one-day race in Madrid that saw sprinters take victories, it has slowly grown into the 5-day race that it is this year. A team time trial was added to the sprint stage in 2018
Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes has won her first European Women’s Cycling Championship in today’s race in Munich. She finished around half a wheel ahead of Elisa Balsamo on the finishing line as the other nations took the race to the Netherlands. Rachele Barbieri was 3rd after continuing her lead out for Balsamo to the line. …
Lorena Wiebes beats Elisa Balsamo to become European Champion Read More »
Women’s European Championships Road Race History The European Championships is one that the Dutch national team have a strong hold over. They’ve won 5 of the 6 races that have taken place, with only Marta Bastianelli in 2018 the outlier. Strangely for such dominance, no rider has ever won more than once. The different parcours …
Women’s European Championships Road Race 2022 Race Preview Read More »
Stage 6 of this year’s Tour de France Femmes looks like one for the sprinters but again a late climb will make them work hard for it. Anyone wishing to contest the finish will have to scale 2km at 4.4%. It’s not the toughest climb in the world but anyone distanced won’t have much time …
Tour de France Femmes 2022 – Stage 6 Route & Detail Read More »
The Tour de France Femmes has a long and convoluted history. The first race that could be considered a Women’s Tour de France was the La Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale, held in 1955. That race was won by the Brit Millie Robinson, who would also go on to be a women’s hour record holder. Held over 5 stages, the race ended up being a one-off event.
The Giro Donne GC battle wasn’t affected by Stage 2 with no time lost at all by the contenders. Stage 3 however is a different matter after a late confusion about the correct route in the last few kilometres. There’s a chance the times from that stage are still altered but for now, I’m taking …
How the Giro Donne 2022 GC battle looks after Stage 3 Read More »
Kristen Faulkner took an amazing victory in the short 4.7km time trial that opened the Giro Donne yesterday. She was 4 seconds ahead of her teammate Georgia Baker and 6 seconds ahead of the next competition in Elisa Balsamo and Lotte Kopecky. On a short stage, like yesterday’s, that’s a huge margin of victory. Giro …
How the Giro Donne 2022 GC battle looks after Stage 1 Read More »