While the hiatus in the UCI Women’s WorldTour’s continued, the women’s peloton enjoyed a busy week of racing.
In the Basque region of Spain, the riders conquered the hills in the one-day Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria and the five-day stage race that followed, Euskal Emakumeen Bira.
However, hills were not the only option over the weekend. Many of the big teams remained in the Netherlands following the Energiewacht Tour to contest two one-day Dutch races – Omloop van de IJsseldelta and Ronde van Gelderland.
The first winner of the week was Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team), who outsprinted Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle High5) to the line in Durango. Emma Johansson (Wiggle High5) led home the chase group to round out the podium.
Johansson soon got her revenge, however, taking the overall win in the stage race that followed, in front of Guarnier (2nd) and Ashleigh Moolman (Cérvelo-Bigla Pro Cycling Team). The Swedish Champion claimed two stage victories on her way to her second overall Euskal Emakumeen Bira win.
Meanwhile, Rabo-Liv Women’s Cycling dominated a Dutch weekend of racing with Anna van der Breggen winning an incredibly tough Omloop van de IJsseldelta in Zwolle and European Champion Kasia Niewiadoma claiming the top step of the podium at Ronde van Gelderland.
La Flèche Wallonne Féminine > Wednesday April 20th
Last year’s results – 2015 Flèche Wallonne Féminine
1. Anna van der Breggen (NED) 2. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) 3. Megan Guarnier (USA)
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Double race weekends
Although the sizes of teams vary, most UCI Women’s Teams average out at 10 to 12 riders. Of these, around six line up at any one race.
When the occasional double race day or weekend rolls around, most teams opt to start in only one race: fielding two squads of six is either physically impossible, or would stretch resources beyond comfort.
For example, last weekend Wiggle High5, Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team, Cérvelo-Bigla Pro Cycling Team and Cylance Pro Cycling raced in the Basque Country, while Rabo-Liv Women’s Cycling Team, Liv-Plantur, CANYON//SRAM Racing and Hitec Products focused their efforts on the one-day races in the Netherlands.
With fewer top teams in each race, smaller teams and national squads get a chance to participate in and make their mark on these events.
Hannah Barnes
After months of rehabilitation, Hannah Barnes returned to racing at the Omloop van de IJsseldelta, her first race since crashing and breaking her ankle at the USA Pro Challenge last August.
Barnes, 22, turned professional with UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team in 2014, and has moved to CANYON//SRAM Racing for the 2016 season. The Briton cut her teeth racing criteriums in her native Great Britain and has progressed naturally up the ranks.
Her biggest win to date was the fifth and final stage of the 2015 Aviva Women’s Tour where she sprinted to victory ahead of Jolien d’Hoore (Wiggle High5) and Simona Frapportini (Alé Cipollini).
Key results:
1st, Tour Femenino de San Luis – stage one (2014, 2015) 1st, Tour Femenino de San Luis – stage two (2014) 1st, Silver City’s Tour of the Gila – stage four (2015) 1st, Aviva Women’s Tour – stage five (2015) 2nd, Amgen Tour of California Women’s Race presented by SRAM – stage three (2015) 1st, youth classification of 2015 Tour Femenino de San Luis 1st, youth classification of 2015 Amgen Tour of California Women’s Race presented by SRAM 1st youth classification 2015 Aviva Women’s Tour.
On the 18th of April we are 110 days from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
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