The women's road racing thread 2015

[Jonhard]

Good win for Coryn Rivera yesterday, sprinting from a small group and fancying her form for UHC at La Course. Orica look strong too – wonder if Emma J can pick up those 30 secs and get close to Brennauer. There will be eyes on her no doubt.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Turns out she could! Orica managed to get different riders to the podium almost every day. Very strong race from them. As you say, a strong win for Coryn Rivera, when healthy she's had a fabulous season. In fairness though, from the group she was in, the onus was on the others to beat her as she was by far the strongest sprinter in the group!

1 Coryn Rivera (USA National Team) USA 3'16'14
2 Jermaine Post (Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental) NED +st
3 Chloe McConville (Orica-AIS) AUS +st
4 Martina Ritter (BTC City-Ljubljana) AUT +st
5 Miriam Bjørnsrud (Hitec Products-UCK) NOR +st
6 Sofie de Vuyst (Lensworld.eu-Zannata) BEL +st
7 Katarzyna Wilkos (TKK Pacific Toruń) POL +st
8 Kristabel Doebel-Hickok (Team TIBCO-SVB) USA +st
9 Lucy Coldwell (Matrix Fitness) GBR +4"
10 Kathrin Hammes (Team TIBCO-SVB) USA +4"

Stage 6 saw another breakaway triumph as Velocio looked to manage Brennauer's lead; with the group being constantly reduced by undulating routes, they looked to let the break go once Orica had somebody in it to try to prevent Johansson from getting bonus seconds given that the terrain favoured her for the closing stages over Brennauer. Katherine Hall took the second straight win for the US national team, and the second for United Healthcare riders on borrowed duty!

1 Katherine Hall (USA National Team) USA 3'45'40
2 Amanda Spratt (Orica-AIS) AUS +1"
3 Amy Pieters (Netherlands National Team) NED +40"
4 Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) SWE +40"
5 Lotta Lepistö (Bigla) FIN +40"
6 Lauren Kitchen (Hitec Products-UCK) AUS +40"
7 Lisa Brennauer (Velocio-SRAM) GER +40"
8 Lauren Stephens (Team TIBCO-SVB) USA +40"
9 Alexis Ryan (USA National Team) USA +40"
10 Stephanie Pohl (Germany National Team) GER +40"

The stage was set, then, for the final showdown as Brennauer sought to defend for one final day in a difficult stage around the town of Greiz, on a hilly course going constantly into and out of the Elstertal. Lepistö was close at hand on GC but given her specialisms, Brennauer could keep her on a leash. Johansson, 30 seconds behind, was the big question mark. What would she do? The answer, of course, was attack. With another highly placed GC rider in Lauren Stephens (who had been second in the ITT behind Brennauer) alongside her, and teammate Amanda Spratt there to sacrifice herself for the Swede, Velocio's hand was forced, and they dispatched Karol-Ann Canuel up the road to sabotage the move. It didn't work, but Canuel was close enough on the GC to snatch it from her teammate if she could get a few seconds late. The Canadian tried, but it was futile. Canuel eventually took the win to salvage 2nd on the GC and restore some pride for Velocio, but the defeat will be deflating for Brennauer. Emma J for her part was typically aggressive and thought through the plan for how to dethrone the German; her teammates have been picking up wins and stage podiums all week, making Velocio chase them hard but keeping her own strength in reserve. There were only 12 riders left in the Brennauer group at the end of the stage including no Velocio riders other than the maillot jaune; the racing had been that hard.

1 Karol-Ann Canuel (Velocio-SRAM) CAN 2'42'10
2 Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) SWE +st
3 Amanda Spratt (Orica-AIS) AUS +22"
4 Lauren Stephens (Team TIBCO-SVB) USA +22"
5 Amy Pieters (Netherlands National Team) NED +1'26"
6 Alexis Ryan (USA National Team) USA +1'26"
7 Joëlle Numainville (Bigla) CAN +1'26"
8 Lisa Brennauer (Velocio-SRAM) GER +1'26"
9 Polona Bagatelj (BTC City-Ljubljana) SLO +1'26"
10 Tatiana Guderzo (Hitec Products-UCK ITA +1'26"

This means that the overall GC at the end of the race is as follows:

1 Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) SWE 19'46'01
2 Karol-Ann Canuel (Velocio-SRAM) CAN +10"
3 Lauren Stephens (Team TIBCO-SVB) USA +18"
4 Amanda Spratt (Orica-AIS) AUS +26"
5 Lisa Brennauer (Velocio-SRAM) GER +1'04"
6 Joëlle Numainville (Bigla) CAN +2'41"
7 Lotta Lepistö (Bigla) FIN +3'02"
8 Martina Ritter (BTC City-Ljubljana) AUT +3'10"
9 Amy Pieters (Netherlands National Team) NED +3'13"
10 Eugenia Bujak (BTC City-Ljubljana) POL +3'26"

 

[el_angliru]

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's La course. It'll be a highlight of this year's Tour. I loved last year's race and it's one of the few women's races that are broadcast in my part of the world.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I have mixed feelings about La Course. On the one hand it's good because it's a high-profile race, it gets a strong field and some of the best coverage the women will get all year, a huge live crowd and atmosphere. On the other hand, it's a token gesture to the women from the ASO, the least they could have done, and because it's a pan flat race on wide open roads it's not very visually arresting and is highly likely to end in a sprint, which will only add fuel to the fire of those who like to dismiss women's racing as boring. I'm happy that it exists, but I still have a great many reservations about how beneficial it truly is.

 

[Jonhard]

Good end to Thuringen.

I'm looking forward to La Course too I must say, despite the tedious parcours. Odds favour a power sprinter showdown with Kirsten Wild some bookies' favourite despite uncertain form this year. Jolien Dhoore (Wiggle Honda) is my tip, has the form and speed and a stronger team than Wild's Hitec lineup, but there are plenty of others in the sprint mix... Guarischi, Cecchini, Lepisto in good form, maybe Roxanne Fournier on home roads. I have a theory that the US teams ride tracks like this all year and should thus place Coryn Rivera and Leah Kirchmann well in the final, but they don't ride against fields like this too often.

Rabo, Boels, Orica (among others) will presumably make the race hard if they can, hoping to get a small group away.

 

[Jonhard]

Re:

I have mixed feelings about La Course. On the one hand it's good because it's a high-profile race, it gets a strong field and some of the best coverage the women will get all year, a huge live crowd and atmosphere. On the other hand, it's a token gesture to the women from the ASO, the least they could have done, and because it's a pan flat race on wide open roads it's not very visually arresting and is highly likely to end in a sprint, which will only add fuel to the fire of those who like to dismiss women's racing as boring. I'm happy that it exists, but I still have a great many reservations about how beneficial it truly is.

Very fair points to make, but I think for some teams the exposure is valuable and welcome whatever their feelings on developing the sport and the ASO's offering. Rochelle Gilmore was speaking most positively recently, others less so to be sure. But for a team like Matrix, reportedly running on £300k this year, that global tv coverage must be priceless.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Great win by Anna!!

Must admit to have never taken much interest previously in womens road racing, but I think that a weaker peleton (or weaker teams) can lend itself to great racing, and in this case this 'Vino' result.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

Great win by Anna!!

Must admit to have never taken much interest previously in womens road racing, but I think that a weaker peleton (or weaker teams) can lend itself to great racing, and in this case this 'Vino' result.

Large number of races come with smaller teams, so you get unexpected results more often. Have to say I expected the bunch finish, but in weather like this, things can change. Definitely good to see a win from off the script, and caps a pretty amazing July for Anna. She's now won a GT and a pan-flat one-day race within a couple of weeks of each other (!). Pauline Ferrand-Prévot crashed at exactly the same spot she crashed last year, although this year she was hardly alone, it was carnage out there.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Rab Austen ‏@RabAusten 24m24 minutes ago
Rab Austen retweeted Mario van der Ende
For anyone who didn't see Marianne Vos cheering on Anna van De Breggen's win, from the ITV4 commentary position. Rab Austen added,
0:29
Mario van der Ende @MariovanderEnde
Winst voor @AnnavdBreggen maar @marianne_vos mag voor mij ook een plekje op het podium. #LaCourse via @RabAusten

 

[gregrowlerson]

Re: Re:

Great win by Anna!!

Must admit to have never taken much interest previously in womens road racing, but I think that a weaker peleton (or weaker teams) can lend itself to great racing, and in this case this 'Vino' result.

Large number of races come with smaller teams, so you get unexpected results more often. Have to say I expected the bunch finish, but in weather like this, things can change. Definitely good to see a win from off the script, and caps a pretty amazing July for Anna. She's now won a GT and a pan-flat one-day race within a couple of weeks of each other (!). Pauline Ferrand-Prévot crashed at exactly the same spot she crashed last year, although this year she was hardly alone, it was carnage out there.

Damn right about the carnage; crashes left, right and centre. Tough day out for the peleton. Haven't even watched the men's final stage, not sure if there were any incidents on the Champs for them too.

Anna sounds very versatile. Can't see Froome now going to the Eneco Tour and winning "worthless flat stages"

 

[Jonhard]

It was brutal at lunchtime but much drier when the men arrived.

Van der Breggen is an absolute beast, but I think the lack of any coherent train in the last few kms made the difference. Jolien Dhoore finished second just a bit behind AVDB, having momentarily lost the three riders who’d been near her for most of the race. But Hosking and Bronzini in front of her for 500m near the end and it might have happened for them.

Whatever, she held them off and deserves the credit. 10th win this year if you include GCs, and they’ve been good ones too.

 

[Trev_S]

Re:

Great win by Anna!!

Must admit to have never taken much interest previously in womens road racing, but I think that a weaker peleton (or weaker teams) can lend itself to great racing, and in this case this 'Vino' result.

All the women's races have smaller teams and shorter races, I think this helps encourage riders to escape even the stronger favorites can get away.

Unfortunately yesterdays race was wet and so slippery, but they took it on and raced hard.
It's a pity there was so many crashes as a result of the roads and hopefully all who were injured recover well.

 

[Jonhard]

Next up, the World Cup returns with the Sparkassen Giro in Bochum. It's a massive field with teams of nine, which seems unusual for the women's calendar. Peloton Watch has the provisional startlist here http://www.pelotonwatch.com/calendar/2015/women/sparkassengiro/startlist.html

Being a World Cup, the big teams are all there with stars and strong teams, many of whom have spent the past weekend bouncing off the tarmac in Paris. 26 teams on the start list, which will make for a peloton bigger than a grand tour, rather oddly.

Usual suspects... van der Breggen seems unstoppable, Boels and Orica will probably look for longer range raid or small selection for Lizzie A or Emma J, but Wiggle, Lotto and Hitec will look for a sprint and the big teams will help there. Wiggle have solo attack options too, and Bigla, Velocio and Liv Plantur are simarly strong outfits that could profit in a bunch kick, a smaller selection or just chaos.

Wildcards, for me, include Janneke Ensing (Parkhotel), Shelly Olds (Ale Chip), Emily Collins (Tibco) and Pascale Jeuland (France ). There are no doubt others among the many teams I know nothing about.

Two previous winners start: Christine Majerus (Boels) who's going rather well this year, and Mieke Kroeger (velocio) who has no notable 2015 results apart from the German TT title.

Fun fact: three Druyts sisters line up for Topsport. Is that a record?

The race tends to be on earlier in these shorter women's races - this one is 124km - and I would expect the race to split fairly early on with stronger teams looking for space on the road. 220-odd girls jostling through city streets will make things pretty dodgy.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Bigla will probably also be looking, like Boels and Orica, to thin the pack out, as Lotta Lepistö looks like their best chance of victory here (parcours certainly doesn't really suit Moolman-Pasio - in fact there are quite a few climbers on the startlist who you would think will struggle to impact the race with the size of the teams exceeding what we typically see in the women's peloton. Then again the likes of Lichtenberg nearly won a stage of the Aviva Women's Tour which is hardly a mountainous one...) but they will probably need to drop a few of the likes of Jolien d'Hoore to be in with a good shout. Floortje Mackaij is in good form but it remains to be seen if she can replicate the performances against a full-strength World Cup lineup. I expect her to be the hare the greyhounds have to chase, with Amy Pieters the other bullet in Liv's gun as she is presently sprinting well after a strong performance in Thüringen and at La Course. Alé have Shelley Olds but I've no idea what her shape will be like as she's barely raced since Philadelphia and is on a new team after Bigla replaced her with Carmen Small. Velocio based on recent form I would anticipate will be expecting a somewhat reduced kick from which Brennauer will probably be top billing, or Cromwell. Elise Delzenne will be involved in an attack move with around 20km to go. And surely Rossella Ratto will attack at some point? Valentina Scandolara will attack at some point (no need for the question mark). In fact, Valentina Scandolara will probably attack at several points. I would not be surprised if a few versatile sprinters try and get into an attack move in this one to be honest, as several teams have more than one sprinting bullet.

 

[Jonhard]

It should be quite a mad race I reckon, and there'll be highlights before long as it's WC. So many strong riders... my rough preview didn't do the field justice.

Olds rode La Course - fell twice I think, retired with a snapped rear mech. All but 20 of the starters hit the deck apparently.

 

[Jonhard]

Interestingly, quite a few of the Sparkassen start list for Sonntag are also slated for Ride London GP the day before. Some big names for what is really an average criterium - a strong Wiggle contingent as you might expect, with all their domestic riders plus Hosking, Edmondson and Bronzini, but also Emma J and four each from Velocio (inc. Brennauer) and Ale Cipolini (Olds).

I guess some of those could drop off one list or other, but i expect some will do both. Quite a long transfer. Would there be starting money in London? Seems odd that a rider like Johannson is there otherwise...

It'll be interesting to see if any of the domestic teams can hack it. There is some quality there: Trott, with her knack of winning things, Katie Archibald, Charlene Joiner and Nicola Juniper in her brand new national crit champ top. She's been good in the UK races this year.

Edit: perhaps worth a mention is that Emma J, Trott and Bronzini will carry live broadcast cameras... that is, live footage from inside the race during the live broadcast. Quite cool and a world first apparently. The small course makes this possible I guess.

 

[DBotero]

Emma changing team.http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/johansson-joins-wiggle-honda-for-2016-season/

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Some pretty horrible news to have to report now: Tuttobici are now reporting that during the Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo team's journey from Italy to northwestern Germany to compete in the Sparkassen Giro Bochum, Chiara Pierobon was taken ill suddenly and rushed to hospital in Ingolstadt, and it is now confirmed that the rider, who was just 22, has sadly died. The suspected cause of death according to Tuttobici is a pulmonary embolism. Obviously this has come completely out of the blue and a lot of the team are in shock; their status regarding participation in Bochum is currently unclear, but members of the team are likely to be given the choice as to whether they wish to race or not. Pierobon had literally this morning been confirmed as part of the national team for the European Championships.

Pierobon was a young prospect known as a tough gregaria with good capabilities in hilly terrain; she was a veteran of three Giri, and in the midst of her best season to date, including career best results and top 10s in the Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria, the one-day race preceding the Emakumeen Bira, and the Giro del Trentino, and was also prominent in the Giro Rosa as part of the breakaway that led to Lucinda Brand's first stage win.

Chiara Pierobon 21.01.1993 - 01.08.2015 †22 RIP

 

[lemon cheese cake]

In more positive news, Barbara Guarischi has won the RideLondon GP with Shelly Olds second and Annalisa Cucinotta in third. 2014 winnner Gorgia Bronzini rounded out the top five in fifth with Annette Edmonson in fourth.
With a lap to go, the back half of the peloton was wiped out by a crash in the middle of the pack rippling out to the barriers. When they came round to finish, some riders were still on the deck being tended to.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

After winning the RideLondon GP crit, Guarischi and her girls promptly hopped on the plane to Germany to compete in the Sparkassen Giro, and obviously weren't the worse for wear for it, since the Italian took her second win of the weekend (this time a more important one, since the SGB is not only UCI-categorized unlike London but is a World Cup). After a series of short-lived attacks, the most noteworthy coming from the veteran Hanka Kupfernagel, the race went to the expected sprint. It seems to have been quite a tricky one as well, as there are some surprising names up near the front and a few riders who are strong sprinters in excellent form further back than you might have expected. Quite a few DNFs, including most of the Swiss and French national teams, all three Druyts sisters, some youngsters who might have hoped to have an impact (Stricker and Garner most notably) and a couple of high profile Orica riders in Elvin and Hoskins. Lizzie Armitstead managed to defend her lead in the overall World Cup with an 11th place finish, as closest rival Emma Johansson came in in the bunch. The reigning World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot elected to skip the race, instead swapping her rainbows for her national jersey and finishing on the podium of the weekend's MTB World Cup race.

1 Barbara Guarischi (Velocio-SRAM) ITA 3'04'19
2 Lucinda Brand (Rabo-Liv) NED +mt
3 Emilie Moberg (Team Hitec Products-UCK) NOR +mt
4 Lotta Lepistö (Bigla) FIN +mt
5 Elena Cecchini (Lotto-Soudal) ITA +mt
6 Christine Majerus (Boels-Dolmans) LUX +mt
7 Marta Bastianelli (Aromitalia-Vaiano Fondriest) ITA +mt
8 Jolien d'Hoore (Wiggle-Honda) BEL +mt
9 Lizzie Williams (Orica-AIS) AUS +mt
10 Anna Trevisi (INPA-Sottoli Giusfredi) ITA +mt

 

[Jonhard]

Velocio are cooking with the proverbial gas at the moment.

Route de France coming up... no Boels, Rabo or Bigla on the start list, which seems a bit odd for a 2.1 race.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Rabo have the problem that Anna VDB is resting up post-Giro, Vos and Knetemann are both injured, PFP has been moonlighting in the MTB World Cup looking to see if maybe one day she can complete the set of rainbow jerseys, and several of their domestiques and helpers have been busy the last couple of days in the European U23 Road Championships, which were held in Tärtu in Estonia, using a similar course to the old Tärtu GP that has been subsumed into the men's Tour of Estonia.

Unlike with the men, the U23 Euros tend to be taken pretty seriously by the women, with a lot of pro teams using them as development opportunities and of course with the comparatively high turnover of talent due to the lower amount of money in the sport, there are often a large number of top names in the sport among the youngsters.

First up, on Friday, was the ITT. There's a good history of time triallists who've won this, with former victors including Linda Villumsen, Ellen van Dijk and Anna van der Breggen (also Hanna Solovey two years ago, but we'll gloss over that one). Both Villumsen and van Dijk won back to back time trials, and defending champion Mieke Kröger (who back in June beat World Champ Lisa Brennauer to take the German national championship too) was looking to join those elite time trialling ranks. She managed to achieve that goal, but it was a bit tougher than she might have hoped, being pushed all the way by Ukraine's Olga Shekel, who doesn't have a UCI team but her previous results show she is very much an ITT specialist. She was able to push the German all the way, finishing just 8" down on her. The only other non-pros in the top 10 were Corinna Lechner, who rides for an elite-am team on road and in the field (Maxx Solar) and Anastasiya Iakovenko, who has been doing top level races with the Russian national team all season. Interesting to see the climbing prospects Niewiadoma and Stultiens so closely matched there - both stating they are aware that their chrono needs work to be able to compete for more GCs than they can at present.

1 Mieke Kröger (GER) Velocio-SRAM 24'57
2 Olga Shekel (UKR) - +8"
3 Corinna Lechner (GER) Maxx-Solar +19"
4 Thalita de Jong (NED) Rabo-Liv +32"
5 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (POL) Rabo-Liv +33"
6 Sabrina Stultiens (NED) Liv-Plantur +44"
7 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (ITA) Alé-Cipollini +52"
8 Anastasiya Iakovenko (RUS) - +52"
9 Sheyla Gutiérrez Ruíz (ESP) Lointek +53"
10 Floortje Mackaij (NED) Liv-Plantur +57"

In the road race, the rolling-but-not-really-hilly circuit gave a few opportunities for a break to form but no real hills to produce a decisive gap. As a result attrition was the main decisive factor at first, but eventually an attack featuring two riders from the strongest two teams - the Netherlands and Italy - got away, with Anouska Koster and Ilaria Sanguinetti doing the leg-work. The Russians therefore did the majority of the chasing, but with the course being very technical and a few crashes breaking the field up they couldn't get the duo back. Late on, when the bunch got the pair back in their sight, Kasia Niewiadoma tried to spring across to them, with her trade teammate Thalita de Jong acting as an anchor to give the Dutch a second bullet in their gun with Koster already up the road. The fading lead duo were quickly caught by Niewiadoma, at which point de Jong started helping to work given the Dutch now had two in the group of four and wanted to help stay away; with the Dutch holding the numbers card, Kasia and Sanguinetti let them do the work, and the poor Dutch must be having flashbacks to the European Games, when they managed 3rd and 4th from an attack group of 4: they did the same today. Normally, you wouldn't back Kasia Niewiadoma in a sprint; it's perhaps the weakest part of her game. She was beaten in Baku in the sprint by Alena Amialiusik, hardly a sprinter herself. However, against a spent Sanguinetti, and two Dutchwomen who had thrown everything into staying away from the péloton (which they only just managed, the bunch 10" behind) she had just enough to pip Ilaria at the line and follow up her European Games elite silver with gold at the European U23s, on a course which really shouldn't have been to her liking - she seems to have a good tactical mind and if she does improve her chrono as well, she'll be a formidable force in the near future; the next couple of World championships don't suit her, but Rio might... the Netherlands' production line of talent continues apace as well, as soon as they can develop some tactical awareness so that they can actually play the numbers game effectively after a couple of recent high profile issues with that, they'll be destroying the field. It may have been a problem for a while, of course, we just wouldn't know because VOS.

1 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (POL) Rabo-Liv 3'16'15
2 Ilaria Sanguinetti (ITA) BePink-La Classica +st
3 Thalita de Jong (NED) Rabo-Liv +st
4 Anouska Koster (NED) Rabo-Liv +st
5 Riejanne Markus (NED) Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental +10"
6 Demi de Jong (NED) Boels-Dolmans +10"
7 Mieke Kröger (GER) Velocio-SRAM +10"
8 Kelly Markus (NED) Team Rytger +10"
9 Iris Sachet (FRA) - +10"
10 Floortje Mackaij (NED) Liv-Plantur +10"

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Is Corinna Lechner any relation to mountain bike and cyclocross rider Eva Lechner?

 

[Jonhard]

The Dutch U23 squad is pretty fierce. They do produce riders in abundance... is it down to a more enlightened approach to gender matters than e.g. Belgium I wonder? Similar countries with strong cycling culture but the national squads don't really compare. Perhaps it's luck or cultural differences like the Flemings favouring 'cross or Dutch speedskating nurturing cyclists as a by-product.

In France, Amy Pieters won the prologue today for Liv-Plantur but at 3km the gaps are not large. Six stages follow.

Stages 1 and 2 look like sprint days... although nothing is certain with teams of six, and sprinters are not heavily represented, I expect Wiggle and Liv to be thinking of Bronzini and Pieters/Garner. That said, Wiggle look to have brought a team to support ELB.

Stage 3 is rolling with some nasty kicks and stage 4 starts up a hill but finishes flat, one for a break perhaps. 5 is one for the climbers with a possibly decisive MTF on the Planche des Belles Filles. One imagines a frenchman chuckling at that.

That said, stage 6 looks very hard to control with plenty of climbing, so overall it's a hard one to predict.

 

[Jonhard]

RDF stage 1 did indeed end in a bunch kick, a photo finish taken by Lucy Garner (GB, Liv-Plantur) ahead of Aussie Nettie Edmondson for Wiggle Honda. Roxane Fournier got third for Poitou etc-Futuroscope, not bad and some cheer for the home fans.

Best result for some time for Garner, who's been improving this year (some podiums) after injury trouble and is starting to make good on the promise of her two junior Worlds wins.

Interesting to see Bronzini not sprinting again for Wiggle, she's supported DHoore and occasionally Hosking in many races and now Edmondson sprints. She's got some power to be fair.