All my posts that a probably race previews in some way.
Le Samyn des Dames is the delayed third race of an elongated opening weekend. Whilst Omloop het Nieuwsblad and Omloop van het Hageland take place on Saturday and Sunday, we only have to wait until Tuesday for another big race. Relatively flat but with a couple of short steep climbs
Omloop van het Hageland is the second part of the Opening Weekend for the women’s peloton. With no Kuurne Brussels Kuurne, the long-running Omloop van het Hageland fills the gap nicely instead. More often than not the race comes down to a sprint, with the parcours just hard enough to drop any unsuspecting rider.
Omloop het Nieuwsblad Women will be part of the Women’s WorldTour for the first time in 2022! A long history back to 2006 has seen the race slowly elevate itself through the levels from 1.2 to 1.WWT. The honours board contains some of the very best riders in the women’s peloton
Setmana Ciclista Valenciana has turned into a proper early-season test for the GC stars of women’s cycling. The race has developed over the years too as more attention has been placed on it. Originally a 2.2 that Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig won in 2017, Hannah Barnes won the 2nd edition in 2018.
There isn’t much of a history of the Clasica de Almeria, mainly because it hasn’t been held before! There isn’t even a note of a national level race that this year’s event has risen up from. There is a men’s Clasica de Almeria and it’s no doubt come about as a result of the success of that race. Unlike the Vuelta CV Feminas which packed a serious punch
2023 sees the first-ever edition of the UAE Tour Women, which jumps straight into Women’s WorldTour level. It’s a bit of an evolution of the Dubai Women’s Tour that was held once, in 2020, before Covid claimed it. Lucy van der Haar won the GC there in her final year as a pro.
The Vuelta CV Feminas was the UCI season-opener in 2022 but with the return of the Australian calendar, we’ve already caught a glimpse of riders before heading to the Spanish coast. Indeed, in 2023 it’s not even the first Spanish race of the year after the Women Cycling Pro Costa de Almeria last weekend
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 a jump up for the race that was a national level race in 2022, won by Aranza Villalon. 16 teams are due to take part in this race with 4 of …
Looking at the Women Cycling Pro Costa de Almería 2023 Read More »
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.