Race Preview - Page 11

The first UCI-level edition of the Women Cycling Pro Costa de Almería takes place on 29th January 2023. Held at the 1.1 level, it's...

The Women's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race has been a casualty of the Covid pandemic, similar to the Women's Tour Down Under. The last edition came at the start of 2020, just as the world was about to lock down. That year, Liane Lippert took the win with a late solo break.

Man, what a journey we've all experienced since the last Women's Tour Down Under. One of the few races held in early 2020 before the Covid pandemic kicked off properly, Australia's stringent rules since have prevented a return to international racing until now.

The Chrono des Nations is an end of season one-off time trial that holds a decent place on the calendar. After the World Championships, this is one of the few races where time trial specialists can all face off directly against each other without any other stages to have to worry about.

This is the first-ever Women's Tour de Romandie and unlike its compatriot, the Tour de Suisse, it's not a reborn event after a long gap either. It has done well to enter the Women's WorldTour in its first edition, normally a race has to earn its spot after at least one race. As an end of season race, it looks quite tasty.

The women's Giro dell'Emilia is starting to get itself a solid list of winners in its relatively short lifetime. In the previous 8 editions, it has been won almost exclusively by the best puncheurs in the women's peloton. The course is kinda like Fleche Wallonne in that it finishes at the top of a very steep, solid climb. But it also takes place in Italy at the start of the Autumn and has absolutely no proceeding climbs to worry about.

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

The Women's World Championships Time Trial has gone back and forth in recent years, with only Annemiek van Vleuten able to do consecutive victories in the last 10 years. Ellen van Dijk is the only other multiple winner in that time, winning in 2013 and last year's 2022 edition.

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

The Simac Ladies Tour is the only Women's WorldTour stage race in the Benelux this season. Formerly known as the Boels Ladies Tour, the race takes us across most of the Netherlands from the below sea-level areas to the hills of Limburg. The addition of a time trial will give the WWT peloton only its 2nd of the season