Great Women Riders

Greatest Spring Classics Riders – Zulfiya Zabirova

Zulfiya Zabirova Rider History Rider Type: All-round Classics Specialist Zulfiya Zabirova earned her first international result in 1994 when she took 3rd place in the Individual Pursuit at the World Junior...

Greatest Spring Classics Riders – Ellen van Dijk

Like quite a few Dutch riders (Demi Vollering, Femke Markus etc.), Ellen van Dijk began as a speed skater before transitioning to a cyclist...

Greatest Spring Classics Riders – Trixi Worrack

Trixi Worrack announced herself as a rider with great potential by winning the 1998 World Juniors Time Trial. She beat Olga Zabelinskaya and Geneviève...

Greatest Spring Classics Riders – Diana Žiliūtė

Diana Žiliūtė was like a prototype version of Marianne Vos. A sprinter with some climbing ability who could win flat races and harder hilly races too...

Greatest Spring Classics Riders – Judith Arndt

Judith Arndt started her career mainly as a track cyclist and time triallist. She took a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta in the Individual...

Greatest Spring Classics Riders – Mirjam Melchers

Mirjam Melchers turned pro in 1998 for the Rabobank Women's Team, aged 23. In her first pro season she won the Ronde van Dordrecht and a stage of the...

Greatest Spring Classics Riders – Chantal van den Broek-Blaak

Chantal Blaak turned pro in 2008 for the AA-Drink Cycling Team. She was already a 2-time winner of the Dutch Junior National TT Championships by that time.

Greatest Spring Classics Riders – Fabiana Luperini

Fabiana Luperini started racing at the highest level in 1993, aged 19. She started well with a 4th place in the Trofeo Alfred Binda and a respectable...

Greatest Spring Classics Riders – Emma Johansson

Emma Johansson turned pro in 2005 for the Spanish Bizkaia–Panda Software–Durango team. There weren't too many international results yet.

Greatest Spring Classics Riders – Annemiek van Vleuten

Annemiek van Vleuten's career has 3 main periods in it, just like Marta Bastianelli. That middle period though is very very different for Van Vleuten.

Greatest Spring Classics Riders – Nicole Cooke

Nicole Cooke turned professional in 2002 (aged 19) and won the Commonwealth Games in her first season. She'd already won the National Championships twice (once winning the Seniors as a Youth) and had started a run where she won it every year between 2001 and 2009.

Greatest Spring Classics Riders – Marta Bastianelli

Marta Bastianelli has really had a career of three distinct periods so far. There's the instant young talent taking the biggest results stage early on. Then the middle part after a 2-year ban where she struggled for results. We're now in the 3rd part, since 2016, where Bastianelli is one of the strongest riders in the peloton for one-day races.