The opening stage of the 2022 Tour de France Femmes sees a return to a classic. The first 3 editions of La Course were held on the Champs Élysées and saw 3 different winners – Marianne Vos, Anna van der Breggen and Chloe Hosking. Only one of that trio will be racing in the 2022 …
Tour de France Femmes 2022 – Stage 1 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 »
The Giro Donne has always had a reputation for some interesting route quirks, including late changes and one stage in 2020 where no-one quite knew where the finish line was going to be until Marianne Vos rode over it. Yesterday’s Stage 3, the final stage in Sardinia, saw GC riders affected by a roundabout around …
Riders complain after Giro Donne Stage 3 finish affects the GC battle Read More »
Marianne Vos is pretty much the undisputed ‘greatest of all time’ in women’s cycling. Current sat on 240 UCI wins, she’s had great fun over the years at the Giro Donne, the Giro Rosa and the Giro d’Italia Femminile. They’re all the same race but various re-brandings over Vos’ career. 2021 saw Vos reach a …
Mara Abbott was the first American rider to win the Giro Donne in 2010. Then went out to repeat the victory in 2013. A natural climber, Abbott was able to put in huge amounts of time on the major climbs and hang on during the time trials. With Marianne Vos at the peak of her …
A look back at former Giro Donne winner Mara Abbott Read More »
The Giro Donne’s status has seen the GC riders of recent generations all spar off to take the victory in Italy. So in recent years, honours have been shared between Anna van der Breggen and Annemiek van Vleuten, with Megan Guarnier the last another rider to win in 2016. Multiple wins are a regular occurrence, with Vos taking 3 wins in the early 2010s
Liege Bastogne Liege Femmes is another relatively new race on the women’s calendar. First held in 2017, it gives riders the chance to cover roads raced by the men’s peloton in one of their monuments. Although the race is called Liege Bastogne Liege still, the women’s race starts in Bastogne and before heading to Liege.
It was a long time coming but the first women’s Paris Roubaix finally took place in 2021. We’d been teased that Paris Roubaix Femmes was taking place after the COVID lockdown in 2020 but further measures derailed the race. It was the same story in the spring of 2021 but finally, in October 2021, we saw a women’s peloton on the cobbles.
The first Women’s Tour of Flanders took place in 2004. The route followed the last 55km of the men’s race with a bit before it to take the distance up to 94km. The finish parcours from that time is now used for Omloop het Nieuwsblad. Riders climb Kapelmuur before riding the tree-lined Bosberg. Zulfiya Zabirova won the first race with an attack on Kapelmuur itself.