The women's road racing thread 2015

[lemon cheese cake]

Sad news. Velocio Sram will end as a team at the end of 2015. They want to end on a high with the TTT world champs.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/end-of-the-road-for-velocio-sram/

 

[Jonhard]

Re:

Sad news. Velocio Sram will end as a team at the end of 2015. They want to end on a high with the TTT world champs.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/end-of-the-road-for-velocio-sram/

It's poor news. They often struggled for cash after the HTC days but I'm not sure if that's the reason this time. Maybe just Kristy Scrimgeour moving on to pastures new.

Plenty of really good riders on the market now, tough for them.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Yes, and a lot of teams are already looking stacked for talent. I mean, how much room is there likely to be at, say, Wiggle, if they keep everybody? I mean, Bronzini, Emma J, ELB, d'Hoore and Mara? I know Mara only rocks up for a few big stage races, but still needs the helpers at them, while there's a lot of competition for places the rest of the time. Liv have Lichtenberg in the stage races and a whole host of young developing riders in Pieters, Stultiens, Mackaij and Garner. Boels have Armitstead, Stevens, Blaak and Guarnier. Bigla have Annemiek, Moolman and Lepistö though they may be able to house a couple more name riders, and Rabo are deeper than the Marianas Trench. Lotto or Hitec with a bit more cash might be able to provide a home for them, but I can't see many of the Italian teams having enough funding to support riders of the level of the Velocio girls in addition.

 

[Jonhard]

Indeed. The teams with money have pretty fat rosters, although Wiggle may lose some during 2016... Bronzini is retiring at some point (maybe to stay as a DS) and Mara is kind of part time as you say. I think they will keep the young Brits on philosophical and sponsorship grounds. The other thing is Rio - 4 or 5 have track ambitions which could affect the teams they can put out. So there may be room for someone.

Tiff Cromwell will surely get a ride somewhere, and is great mates with Armitstead so maybe Boels if not Orica. Oddly in a way, a rider like Brennauer may be harder to fit in? But she's too good to miss.

Anyone know how the new calendar-slash-quasi-world-tour plans are going? Some of the Velocio girls have a lot of UCI points...

 

[Jonhard]

In other news, Bronzini won stage two in RDF from Amy Pieters. Dr Kimberly Wells, riding for Australia, got third.

Pieters retains the GC lead, but things are surely going to change with 20 seconds covering the top 25. The hills are not huge tomorrow but there are plenty of them and it'll be hard to keep the race together; it may happen nonetheless, with the two strongest teams (Liv and Wiggle) likely to be keen.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Actually, given that they're losing Emma J, Orica probably have a fair bit of cap room they can use. Certainly a couple of the bigger names on the Velocio roster could end up there. I just hope the top level doesn't lose Delzenne, her backstory is great, and given that it seems Wiggle aren't likely to keep Audrey Cordon on ( ) it does mean that beyond PFP the French presence at the top of the sport will take a huge dent.

 

[Jonhard]

Didn't know that about Cordon. I thought she'd done pretty well on various fronts. It's a precarious business for the women isn't it.

Liv is still NL registered, but aren't they also still linked with now-German Giant-Alpecin? I wonder if that might have an impact, thinking about Brennauer but perhaps more Mieke Kroeger or Worrack.

 

[Jonhard]

I see Scrymgeour has said Velocio-SRAM may continue in some form, without her (or the Velocio name). The team manager and one of the DSs are apparently trying to put something together.

 

[Jonhard]

RDF stage 3 update:

Wiggle Honda win again, this time with ELB who also takes the race lead from Pieters by a few seconds. ELB and Hagiwara were given freedom to attack in the final technical, hilly laps and, after Liv-Plantur had smashed the race up a bit, ELB got away at the second time of asking with only Lichtenberg for company. She was dropped on the last climb for Elisa to win by 13 seconds, enough for the GC. Liv and Wiggle are the class of this field.

Bronzini crashed but rode home in one of the small bunches that formed on the final circuit. Whether this affects her for stage 4 remains to be seen…

… results just in: Loren Rowney for Australia from Edmondson (Wiggle) and another 3rd for Roxane Fournier. There was late crash but not sure what effect that had.

Edmondson continues to impress, and a great result for Rowney after getting totalled by a spectator in Drenthe earlier this year.

ELB keeps the GC. Demain, la Planche des Belles Filles.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

ELB vs. Claudi on Planche des Belles Filles should be fun. ELB is generally in stronger form at the moment it seems, but Claudia is awesome in a great many ways, and is a very good climber in her own right (former Giro winner) who I can't imagine will die wondering. She'll certainly want to attack ELB on the climb, if not on Chevrères beforehand to try and rid the group of as many Wiggle domestiques as possible (I can't imagine the likes of Hagiwara will be easy to shake but if she's having to work early in the final climb rather than being able to carry ELB as close to the finish as possible, this could get tougher). Without Stultiens, Liv don't really have any bullets in the gun bar Lichtenberg though so I think she'll be ploughing a lone furrow.

 

[Jonhard]

I'm betting on ELB for tomorrow. If the pace is hard up Chevrers she'll still have Hagiwara. Although I think they will defend, an attack from Hagiwara would be interesting, only 30s down and really going well this year.

It's the queen stage tomorrow I guess, but not sure it will be decisive. Stage 6 looks like a tough circuit with enough climbing to make a difference, potentially.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

How decisive stage 6 is will depend on how tough tomorrow is raced though; ideally, you'd have Lichtenberg take the jersey tomorrow by a handful of seconds and then have to try to defend against the Wiggle onslaught on stage 6 given that Liv-Plantur haven't got that much in the way of climbing strength beyond Claudia herself (Stultiens is perhaps the only other genuine strong climber on their squad and isn't in the race). If ELB holds on to the lead then she should be safe as Wiggle have enough durable engines to keep Claudia in check on stage 6 if needed - unless Riabchenko goes nuts on the climb tomorrow and wins back everything she lost to Avallon and more, I'm not sure who else I can reasonably see deposing Elisa. And in fairness, Tetiana took a minute on Claudia and 3 on Elisa on San Domenico di Varzo in the Giro, but she'd been quiet all race whereas they'd been very active, and we know Elisa doesn't get on with that climb at all despite it being local to her. PDBF is much shorter too.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

I see Scrymgeour has said Velocio-SRAM may continue in some form, without her (or the Velocio name). The team manager and one of the DSs are apparently trying to put something together.

Canyon are setting up a team, Lauke (the team manager) has been on a sponsor hunt and is apparently able to cover the rest of the funding needed, and though a new team they are hopeful of signing a few of the higher profile Velocio riders to leverage more signings.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

I'm betting on ELB for tomorrow. If the pace is hard up Chevrers she'll still have Hagiwara. Although I think they will defend, an attack from Hagiwara would be interesting, only 30s down and really going well this year.

It's the queen stage tomorrow I guess, but not sure it will be decisive. Stage 6 looks like a tough circuit with enough climbing to make a difference, potentially.

And you would be right to bet on ELB as well, taking all the shots the opposition could give her and still coming out trumps solo. Lichtenberg threw everything she had at the Italian, as did the now 40-year-old Amber Neben, who has in the last couple of weeks re-emerged from her self-imposed mini-exile in the US national scene to sign with BePink-La Classica of all teams, and as expected Riabchenko. Perhaps after the return to the top end of the results table for Neben the most interesting result is the 6th place on the French national team for Fanny LeLeu - she's a part-timer with no UCI team, but this comes off the back of her impressive 4th place in the national RR, when she went away with Rivat and PFP before Cordon rode across to them (catching them only after Pauline had disappeared). She's 26 so not exactly a new discovery but, given that she's never raced a full-time schedule and is proving useful uphill, she could angle for a spot at at least a team like Futuroscope next year.

1 Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-Honda) ITA 2'42'12
2 Amber Neben (BePink-La Classica) USA +45"
3 Claudia Lichtenberg (Liv-Plantur) GER +1'03"
4 Tetiana Riabchenko (INPA Sottoli-Giusfredi) UKR +1'36"
5 Carlee Taylor (Lotto-Soudal) AUS +1'57"
6 Fanny LeLeu (France) FRA +2'01
7 Marina Likhanova (Russia) RUS +2'07
8 Polona Bagatelj (BTC City-Ljubljana) SLO +2'09"
9 Jenelle Crooks (Australia) AUS +2'29"
10 Eugenia Bujak (BTC City-Ljubljana) +3'16"

 

[Jonhard]

ELB took it at a canter by the sound of it, and to be fair deeper fields would provide more of a test on the climbing front. You'd have to think Wiggle can defend 1:10 tomorrow.

Great analysis of lesser known riders as usual.

For my part I think Aussie Jenelle Crooks is worth keeping an eye on. 21 and hardly raced (she did Thuringen last year) and holding 7th on GC and the white jersey, which she also won in Thuringen this year. You don't see so many climbers coming out of that AIS programme... seems it's track-biased, like GB's.

Ladies Tour of Norway tomorrow and Sunday.

Edit: or today and tomorrow indeed. Good sprint win from Olds back at Ale Cip.

 

[RedheadDane]

I like the concept of the new Women's World Tour.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/08/news/womens-worldtour-takes-shape-improves-media-presence_381396

Especially if it means more live coverage.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re:

Sad news. Velocio Sram will end as a team at the end of 2015. They want to end on a high with the TTT world champs.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/end-of-the-road-for-velocio-sram/

Good news! Its has effectively been saved!
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vel...-to-launch-new-top-level-womens-team-in-2016/

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re:

I like the concept of the new Women's World Tour.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/08/news/womens-worldtour-takes-shape-improves-media-presence_381396

Especially if it means more live coverage.

And more news on the World Tour starting next year.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/201...rganizers-requirements-and-live-broadcasting/

 

[Jonhard]

It looks interesting, the new World Tour. The primary focus seems to be providing stability for teams and riders, perhaps because of the lack of a powerful stakeholder among race organisers. What’s emerged confers some new rights on teams but mostly obligations on race organisers (as to invitations, but more importantly video coverage and promotion).

They say all World Cup races will appear in the WT… missed opportunity to downgrade Chongming? Strade Bianche would make a nice addition imo, but perhaps it’s a bit new for that.

 

[Jonhard]

Canyon/Ronny Lauke will give a home to the Germans from Velocio I guess? I think there will be some changes to the lineup though.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The Vårgårda TTT took place yesterday, following on from the Tour of Norway the riders head in for the Swedish World Cup weekend (smart planning by the LTON organizers!), which consists of the Crescent Vårgårda World Cup Team Time Trial on the Friday and the Open de Suède Vårgårda GP on Sunday. As ever, we get a strong set of teams for these, but rather less conventionally given that this is a TTT, the monstrous unit that is Velocio, who usually dominate proceedings in this style of event, were unable to take the win despite an extremely strong unit. Are people nursing illness or injury? Are riders lacking a bit of motivation given the recent ins and outs regarding their team? Are they simply not in form as they look to build up to the Worlds? It will be interesting to find out.

What wasn't confusing was the victory. Rabo-Liv have long been just about the strongest women's team in most disciplines, having locked out the podium at some large races in 2014 and winning some of the biggest stage races this year (including the biggest of them all) even without Vos and with PFP having missed part of the season through injury as well. Now, we can add the one discipline they had never truly mastered to the mix, as they took advantage of the technical sections through the towns to help open up a lead, and put enough power down on the more straightforward, flatter power test sections to hold off all challengers. What's more, this is also not a full strength Rabo lineup either, as if healthy Roxane Knetemann and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot would no doubt be subbed in for non-specialists Niewiadoma and Tenniglo who were dropped during the route.

Rabo built their advantage in the second section of the course and consolidated it in the last, but behind them a very tense battle had broken out between Boels and Velocio for second, with the German squad eventually winning by just 2,4 seconds after being almost exactly matched at both intermediates with Boels slightly ahead at the second. This is a Boels squad with neither Megan Guarnier nor former ITT World Champion Ellen van Dijk, who you could reasonably otherwise expect to be their strongest single time trial rider, so they have scope to improve as well... Bigla without van Vleuten were a little off where they would hope as though they have some very strong leaders they're lacking the same degree of depth that the superteams like Boels and Rabo have; Wiggle in 5th and Liv in 6th are both lacking in time trial specialists but have strong enough squads to still be competitive, but a Johansson-less Orica will no doubt be concerned that they were pipped by the BTC City-Ljubljana team, which is a smaller operation and only started with five riders.

1 Rabo-Liv (Lucinda Brand, Thalita de Jong, Shara Gillow, Anna van der Breggen / Kasia Niewiadoma, Moniek Tenniglo) 52'51

2 Velocio-SRAM (Alena Amialiusik, Lisa Brennauer, Karol-Ann Canuel, Trixi Worrack / Elise Delzenne, Mieke Kröger) +26"

3 Boels-Dolmans (Lizzie Armitstead, Chantal Blaak, Christine Majerus, Evelyn Stevens / Romy Kasper, Katarzyna Pawlowska) +28"

4 Bigla Pro Cycling (Vera Koedooder, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Joëlle Numainville, Doris Schweizer, Carmen Small / Lotta Lepistö) +49"

5 Wiggle-Honda (Jolien d'Hoore, Annette Edmondson, Dani King, Elisa Longo Borghini / Audrey Cordon, Amy Roberts) +1'31"

6 Liv-Plantur (Claudia Lichtenberg, Floortje Mackaij, Sara Mustonen-Lichan, Amy Pieters, Julia Soek / Molly Weaver) +2'10"

7 BTC City-Ljubljana (Polona Bagatelj, Eugenia Bujak, Olena Pavlukhina, Ursa Pintar / Martina Ritter) +2'55"

8 Orica-AIS (Gracie Elvin, Katrin Garfoot, Amanda Spratt, Lizzie Williams / Sarah Roy, Valentina Scandolara) +2'55"

9 Hitec Products-UCK (Charlotte Becker, Tatiana Guderzo, Cecilie Gotås Johnsen, Emilie Moberg / Miriam Bjørnsrud, Thea Thorsen) +3'08"

10 BePink-La Classica (Anastasia Chulkova, Ana Maria Covrig, Ilaria Sanguineti, Silvia Valsecchi, Georgia Williams / Ilaria Bonomi) +3'39"

11 Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental (Riejanne Markus, Jermaine Post, Rozanne Slik, Natalie van Gogh / Marijn de Vries, Ilona Hoeksma) +3'58"

12 Alé-Cipollini (Beatrice Bartelloni, Elena Berlato, Maria Guilia Confalonieri, Małgorzata Jasińska, Marta Tagliaferro / Flavia Oliveira) +4'00"

13 Team Tibco-SVB (Emily Collins, Kathrin Hammes, Kendall Ryan, Lauren Stephens / Sara Headley, Jo Hogan) +4'15"

14 Lensworld.eu-Zannata (Sofie de Vuyst, Annelies Dom, Nina Kessler, Marissa Otten / Kim de Baat, Evy Kuijpers) +6'38"

15 Finland (Antonia Gröndahl, Heini Salovaara, Maija Syrjä, Rosa Törmänen, Veera Väkeva / Katri Lehtonen) +10'38"

 

[Califootman]

I'm not completely shocked that Velocio didn't get the victory since they lost three strong riders from last year's winning squad. Boels picked up two of them, and had a strong showing despite missing Guarnier and Van Dijk. I'm a little surprised Rabo beat both of those squads while missing some of their top riders. Maybe they just had a subpar performance last year in the rain? This result has to give them confidence going into Worlds.

At least the day wasn't a total loss for Velocio... Taylor Wiles won the road stage at the Women's USA Pro Challenge in Colorado while guest-riding for DNA Cycling p/b K4.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Great for Wiles to get a win, seeing as she got screwed by a moto in the Thüringen Rundfahrt leading her the wrong way when way out front. When she recognized it and got back on the course she was stuck behind the attack group all the way to the line.

 

[SmorgCycle]

Re:

The Vårgårda TTT took place yesterday, ...+6'38"

Cyclingnews should ask you to post for them on the main page. They've only got the results with a disgracefully short half a paragraph recap. Women races can really use more meaningful media coverage!

 

[Jonhard]

Not a great TTT for Orica at all, bad day at the office for them. Wiggle Honda were satisfied with the result given that it’s not a priority for them. With my local hat on it was nice to see Amy Roberts and Dani King ride the TTT. A good show from Rabo indeed.

In Sunday’s road race, a new large loop had been added to the multiple small circuits that previously made up the race. That, and the sunny and calm conditions, helped to keep things together for a sprint (albeit a slightly messy one). And if you see something like a bunch kick in a 2015 women’s race, the chances are that you will also see Jolien D’Hoore cross the line first, in this case with Bronzini in her wheel for a Wiggle 1-2.

After targeting a World Cup win for this season, D’Hoore now leads the WC standings with just GP de Plouay to go. AVDB is second and in fair shape for the overall as D’Hoore will probably skip the last round. Thinking of Richmond.