WM3 VICTORY Marianne Vos has won her first WWT stage race in quite an unusual way: she has not won any single stage, which is quite a novelty in her winning style, precisely known for the inmumerous amount of partial victories she gets. Besides, it is the confirmation of the great WM3 momentum, and in Norwegian roads the team has worked extremely well to aim at the leader’s jersey and to keep that privileged position afterwards. Great team work and an experienced handling of every race situation. It is not a coincidence that stage victories or 1 day races are…
Autor: Yolanda Álvarez
These European Championships held in Herning (Denmark) have been one of the most exciting events of the year. Here we highlight some of the reasons: DENMARK IS COMING Danish riders are coming. Home soil played an extra- motivating role for the Danes, and they delivered some stunning results: 5 medals (1 bronze, 2 silvers and 2 golds) in 6 races is unparalleled for the red & white team. It shows the extraordinary work being done by the Danish national federation and Catherine Marsal. A labour of love, patience, experience and female psychology. Denmark is a force to reckon in women’s…
Siempre es tarea complicada resumir en unos párrafos lo vivido “entre bambalinas” cuando seguimos una carrera. Esta Emakumeen Bira 2017 nos ha subido el listón muy alto: ha sido una edición sublime, tanto por la resolución emocionante del último día como por las experiencias vividas. Aquí os dejamos algunas de ellas. Día 1- Iurreta Tras el aperitivo perfecto de Durango, nos dirigimos hacia Iurreta y allí nos encontramos a Peter van der Veen, posiblemente el mejor analista de ciclismo femenino a nivel mundial, que decidió visitar la carrera vasca por 1ª vez. Otro que también se estrena es Balint Hanvas,…
Gene Bates, Orica-Scott’s D.S., told us the first day of racing that they were ambitious, and their aim was to win several stages plus the general classification. So far, I think the whole team cannot be happier with the results. Maybe some riders are not feeling in top shape, but the power of the whole group is being, no doubt, a clue to their success in the Basque roads. This said, the spectacular views from San Miguel de Aralar ended up with a bit disappointing stage, not as decisive for the GC as we would have thought before. The gradients,…
The fierce climb of the day just 10 kilometres before the final could predict the arrival of just a small group of contenders for the victory. But both the rain in the final part and the short stage (50 kilometres) made the riders take the stage with caution and think about the days to come. Nothing to win and much to lose was probably the motto for the GC contenders. Thus, the group of favourites who crossed the QOM in the first positions saw themselves caught in the flat final kilometres by a 20 rider bunch who had both Alé-Cipollini…
Llegar a mi alojamiento de Durango y encontrarme allí con las chicas del Río-Miera Meruelo sólo podía deparar cosas buenas. Saludo a Cris San Emeterio desde el coche y cuál es mi sorpresa cuando subo a las habitaciones y me encuentro a Paula Díaz, Laura Tenorio, Ane Iriarte, Sandra Trevilla … y mi habitación “asignada” ocupada por Cris San Emeterio. Sin problema, yo a Cris le cedo la habitación que ella quiera, ¡faltaría más! Risas en recepción y nueva suite para mí. Nunca un cambio de planes se solucionó tan fácil. El día, por lo climatológico, fue de un calor…
As we previewed yesterday, Orica-Scott was coming to the Basque roads to win. And so they did. Annemiek van Vleuten did not seem to be the main card of the Australian squad today as the race went on, as we saw her working in front of the bunch when the race really started. Femke Vertichelen, the Belgian from Bizkaia Durango, was the one to survive the longest to the thirst of the peloton. She was joined by Margarita Syrodoeva (BePink Cogeas) and Marta Bastianelli (Alé Cipollini) later on, who managed to cross first the only bonus sprint of the race…
The difficulties which Emakumeen Bira went through last winter also affected its sister race, so UCI’s weird decisions were about to cause the disappearance of this event as well. The delayed answer from UCI regarding Bira’s World Tour category made most of the teams plan their calendar long before Basque races knew if they were even going to be held. This explains the absence of most of the top-teams this year. A real shame, as Bira is the oldest race of the women’s calendar (30 years with no interruption, a real performance in the sport) and very much loved by teams…
En la reciente inauguración de la Copa de España Féminas Cofidis que tuvo lugar en Noja, se le rindió homenaje a la que ha sido una de las impulsoras de esta Copa en sus cuatro últimas temporadas: Cristina San Emeterio, natural de la villa y Presidenta de la Comisión de Féminas de la Real Federación Española de Ciclismo. Como ella misma refiere en la carta de despedida que reproducimos íntegra más abajo, han sido cuatro años de implicación para que el ciclismo femenino crezca en calidad y cantidad en nuestro país. A partir de ahora, Cris deja su puesto en…
Please remember this name. Please remember it correctly. In Denmark, like in Spain, family names come from the father (the 1st) and the mother (2nd). Once a proper introduction is done, let’s stick to the racing. Gandia, 35ºC. Day 2, queen stage of Setmana Ciclista Valenciana. The new leader is enjoying a drink and some shade in the Cervélo-Bigla van, accompanied by Thomas Campana and a guy from Cervélo staff whose name I do not know (and believe me I am sorry for that). The first thing that strikes me is her smile and open attitude. Everything comes smoothly: a…
When the top teams are not present in a stage race, we all know there is a chance for smaller teams to shine. Irish Lydia Boylan (WNT) proved that to be true today in the deserted streets of Valencia, when she launched the perfect attack in the last kilometre leaving the bunch sprint preparation unable to catch her. Probably a crash in that final kilometre prevented the big sprinting teams (Alé-Cipollini and Wiggle-High5) to prepare the final metres as they would have liked. Prior to that, a couple of attacks (2 riders first and then a most dangerous one with 5) tried…
Alicante witnessed today the 3rd and penultimate stage of this Setmana Valenciana. Not as hot as yesterday (“only” 28-29ºC), the peloton started to roll with two features to be noticed by riders and teams: Bussot, the 3rd category climb (quite steep just at the end, but 9 km long) and the probable wind when hitting the coast. Fortunately for the riders, the last did not have any impact on the resolution of the stage, and the 78 kilometres went with no attacks to be mentioned. Cervélo at the front, Drops working at the front on the climbs to keep Ann-Sophie…
The splendid summerish day in Gandia witnessed a clever and gutsy ride by 2 riders. Prior to the decisive move from the Danish Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, the peloton had gone at a high speed all through the stage, but, as the feared wind did not appear, the natural selection came to leave the strongest riders at the front after the 1st climb of the day (3rd category). The young Cervélo-Bigla rider succeeded in going solo after a second attempt, and after a few kilometres the Belgian Ann-Sophie Duyck (Drops Cycling Team) managed to catch her and they worked very well…
The 1st stage of the 1st edition of Setmana Ciclista Valenciana turned out to be a slightly technical 6.6 kilometre TTT where the top teams probably did not want to risk too much. BePink grabbed a relatively surprising victory and become the team to be beaten tomorrow, although it seems unlikely any of the Italian riders can hold the jersey. But that story has to wait another day. The actual start was too eagerly awaited, as a technical problem (the chronometer crashed and it took around 20 minutes to fix it) delayed the start of the Russian National Team, 1st…
SHEYLA GUTIÉRREZ RUIZ, EL LÍMITE NO EXISTE Charlamos con la joven ciclista riojana (1 de enero de 1994, Varea-Logroño), que acaba de revalidar su título de campeona de España Sub-23. Sheyla posee una fuerza y unas cualidades extraordinarias que la convierten en una de las jóvenes ciclistas más prometedoras del ciclismo femenino estatal. Durante la conversación mantenida demuestra una gran claridad de ideas y se presenta tal y como es. Bicicletista por ilusión y vividora de profesión Así es como se presenta Sheyla en su cuenta de twitter. «Me suena, jeje… Empecé con el ciclismo desde muy pequeña y no…
El 30 de mayo del 2015 nos costó creérnoslo. Delante del ordenador seguíamos, los 4 locos de siempre, el desarrollo del Grand Prix de Plumelec, con menos información aún de la que hemos tenido hoy. Entre incrédulos y emocionados, leíamos por twitter que Sheyla iba en la fuga y que iba a llegar. Información con cuentagotas y la confirmación definitiva de la victoria al ver su foto, exultante y de aquella todavía vestida de Lointek. Nuestro sueño de una nueva victoria de una española en una carrera UCI se hacía realidad. Hoy, 1 año y 9 meses después, ya no…
Para muchos la victoria absoluta de la sub-23 Alicia González Blanco puede ser una sorpresa. Pero no para los que la conocemos bien y llevamos varias temporadas viendo su progresión y cualidades. Allá por diciembre del 2015, Alicia le ganó a su paisana Aida Nuño en Torrelavega, en el que al año siguiente sería el circuito de los Campeonatos de España. La carrera celebrada hoy me recordó en todo momento a aquella que presencié en directo: Alicia aguantando perfectamente a Aida pese a sus fuertes acelerones . El final, distinto, eso sí. No por la ganadora sino por la resolución.…
Since the beginning of the season, we’ve known that this would be the last season of one of the greatest. As a fan, I’ve had the privilege of chatting to Emma Johansson several times and her honest, friendly approach sank on me deeply. Spanish is one of the many languages she speaks, by the way, and this explains the choice of this article’s headline. Hasta Luego means See you later. This probably is one of the most emotional things I have ever written on women’s cycling. And I am an emotional writer. The Swedish stands for a whole generation of…