After the Tour de Suisse Women, the UCI Women’s WorldTour continues with what promises to be an exhilarating European summer. A new Danish event, Copenhagen Sprint (21 June), will capture attention ahead of the prestigious stage races, the Giro d’Italia Women (6-13 July), the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (26 July - 3 August) and the Tour de Romandie Féminin in Switzerland (15-17 August).
Who will power to victory in the very first edition of the Danish one-day race? Will Elisa Longo Borghini (winner of the 2024 Giro) and Kasia Niewiadoma (the defending champion in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift) retain their Maglia Rosa and Maillot Jaune respectively? Recent weeks have seen a varied and impressive cast of special talents come to the fore, promising to challenge last year’s winners.
A delighted Reusser
Most recently, it was Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team) who ruled her home roads in the Tour de Suisse Women, following up on her success at the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas last month. On both occasions, she won two stages and the overall standings. Not only is the Swiss powerhouse back to her winning ways, after struggling with post-Covid syndrome, she’s now a serial winner, triumphing again and again against the biggest stars.
“I’m just back in life and super happy,” Reusser celebrated. “I don’t think about last year, I just enjoy these days. I enjoyed the race, I enjoyed the crowds… I was really impressed at how many people we had on the side of the road. I heard my name and encouragement all over the place and it was really nice.”
In Burgos, Reusser ruled the ascent of Picon Blanco and the final individual time trial (ITT) to open a gap of 1’50’’ over Longo Borghini in the overall standings. In Switzerland, she showed how much strength and confidence she has regained, launching daring attacks to win the yellow jersey by a margin of 36 seconds over Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez).
Last year, the two of them were teammates at Team SD Worx-Protime. They’re now racking up successes for their new outfits: six victories each this season in UCI Women’s WorldTour races, Vollering’s latest successes at this level coming four weeks ago at Itzulia Women, before she ruled the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Femenina (a 2.1-class event).
Wiebes keeps winning
Only one rider has scored more than Reusser and Vollering this season: their former partner Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime), sprinting to her 7th and 8th UCI Women’s WorldTour successes in the opening stage of the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas and in the closing stage of the Tour of Britain Women.
The Dutch arrow then won the Elmos Dwars door Hageland (class 1.1) and also recently made an off-road detour to claim victory in the Marly Grav Race (Netherlands), part of the UCI Gravel World Series, thus qualifying for the UCI Gravel World Championships, at which she claimed the bronze medal in 2024.
Wiebes is a natural favourite for the Copenhagen Sprint, before heading to the Giro d’Italia Women (where she’s already won three stages) and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (where she has also amassed three stage victories) but the competition heats up everywhere.
Ferguson impresses at Tour of Britain Women
Wiebes won the fourth and final stage of the Tour of Britain Women (5-8 June), which also crowned other exciting talents. Kim Le Court de Billot (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) surged to victory on day 1 for yet another landmark victory after her success in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The following day, 21-year-old Mara Roldan (Team Picnic PostNL) made the most of a punchy finish in Saltburn-by-the-Sea (stage 2) and then it was Cat Ferguson (Movistar Team) who stunned the world, the 2024 Junior road race UCI World Champion claiming her first UCI Women’s WorldTour victory at only 19 years old. The next day, Wiebes finally took her win, while overall victory went to Ally Wollaston (FDG-Suez), who finished third in stages two, three and four.
There are plenty of serious contenders for the next events of the UCI Women’s WorldTour, starting this weekend with the Copenhagen Sprint.