The women’s Olympic road race returns in 2021 for the first time since 2016. The Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games were delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic (but you already knew that let’s face it) and that’s made it feel like an age has passed. Anna van der Breggen took the gold medal …
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The Baloise Ladies Tour has also been known as the BeNe Ladies Tour in the past. First run in 2014, that year’s race was won by Emma Johansson. Jolien d’Hoore finished 2nd that year before taking a pair of wins and Marianne Vos a pair of victories herself. Lisa Klein won in 2019, a year …
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Each year a new set of women’s national cycling champions are crowned. The opportunity to take a win in a one-day race against other riders from their own country. The winners then get to wear a national jersey for the following 12 months until the next national championships. Because of Covid, some countries haven’t had …
The SPAR Flanders Diamond Tour is the next round in the Lotto Cycling Cup, the year-long national competition in Belgium. The race is set at the 1.1 level, so a healthy amount of WorldTour talent can mix it up against domestic talents. It takes place around the town of Nijlen, situated just outside the major …
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Dwars Door de Westhoek takes place in the corner of Belgium, next to the French border, called Heuvelland. It’s the area most commonly associated with the Gent Wevelgem races. Starting and finishing in Boezinge, the riders are treated to 3 ascents of the Rodeberg before heading back into town. The Rodeberg is just under 1km …
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The Festival Elsy Jacobs is the first race to take place after the Spring Classics part of the season has come to a close. This race is a homage to Luxembourger Elsy Jacobs, the first-ever women’s world road race champion. The second stage is hosted by her own town of Garnich and the country is …
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The Women’s Tour of Flanders holds bona fide monument status in the women’s calendar. Taking place each year since 2004, De Ronde has seen a host of major riders take victories. The female version of the race doesn’t include the long flat section out of Antwerp but starts in Oudenaarde and gets straight into things. …
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Nokere Koerse is still a new race on the women’s calendar. The first edition took place in 2019 and saw Lorena Wiebes power up the Nokereberg to take the overall win. Canyon’s Lisa Klein and Lotto Soudal’s Lotte Kopecky joined Wiebes on the podium. 2020’s race was cancelled amid the COVID pandemic but we’re lucky …
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The Healthy Ageing Tour is 10 years old in 2021. After unfortunately missing out on 2020’s edition due to COVID-19, the race is back albeit in a reduced, controlled way. 2019 saw the riders tackle 5 stages (technically 6 with Stage 4 split in 4a and 4b). Whereas the 2021 edition sees just 3 stages …
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Le Samyn des Dames returns in 2021 with a strong line-up. 7 of the 9 Women’s WorldTour teams will be attending, with only Canyon-SRAM and Team BikeExchange not racing. Le Samyn is known for its cobbled sections, which come into play as the race becomes attritional in its latter stages. You have to go back …
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