After a turbulent 2022 race that almost saw the RideLondon Classique removed from the Women’s WorldTour for not showing 3 days of live coverage, the race is back in 2023. Once again it promises to be 3 stages long and those TV issues are sorted. Focused on Essex for the opening pair of stages, the race returns to its central London roots with the usual circuit taking in some of the sights of the capital. The finish line has been moved from its 2022 home on the Embankment back to the Mall where the likes of Kirsten Wild, Lorena Wiebes and Coryn Labecki all take victories. The 2022 edition was c ..read more

Team DSM’s Pfeiffer Georgi soloed away to victory after her well-timed attack created confusion in the ranks of the, then mainly, sprinters in the rest of the front group. With no rider prepared to bury themselves to catch Georgi, only to see their rivals sprint past, the Brit was able to just push on up the road and take plenty of time over the finish line. With just 7km left to race, her teammate Megan Jastrab launched an attack that baited the front group to chase, only for Pfeiffer Georgi to counter-attack and get the gap she needed. A crash-strewn race saw proceedings neutralised earlier ..read more

Gent-Wevelgem Women History Gent Wevelgem Women has a decent shout as being one of the strongest Spring Classics races in the women’s calendar. We’ve seen both the expected sprint finishes and also the odd attack and small break contest the win. The only multiple winner of Gent Wevelgem Women so far is Kristen Wild in 2013 & 2019. The race has developed over the years and recently has become much more similar to the men’s edition. The legendary Kemmelberg is now attacked from both sides and the additional windy section through De Moeren was also added last season. Gent Wevelgem Women has ..read more

Exterioo Classic Brugge-De Panne History A women’s Exterioo Classic Brugge-De Panne has only been in existence since 2018, the same year the men’s race stopped being 3 stages long. Instead, the new women’s Brugge-De Panne helped create a festival of cycling style approach lasting for 3 days. The flat parcours means it’s a sprint heavy classic. So far in 5 editions, 4 of them have been won in bunch sprints. The one exception was a great ride from Grace Brown in 2021. The Australian stole a march in the heavy winds by ghosting off the front late on and being strong enough to hold on to take th ..read more

After a super strong cyclocross season, it’s almost no surprise to see Shirin van Anrooij begin to dominate on the road as well. The 21-year-old took her first Women’s WorldTour victory in this year’s Trofeo Alfredo Binda, crossing the line solo with plenty of advantage to a chasing pack of favourites. The U23 CX World Champion pushed off the front of the peloton on the penultimate lap and simply maintained her gap as the chasers couldn’t mount a sustained effort to bridge across the gap. A flurry of early attacks saw a powerful group containing Pauliena Rooijakkers, Anna Shackley, Gaia Realin ..read more

As Mathieu van der Poel raced down the Via Roma to secure his first Milan-San Remo victory, it brought back visions of his grandfather Raymond Poulidor achieving the same accolade back in 1961. After an emotional Tour de France 2 years ago, where Van der Poel also followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, it’s another major achievement ticked off by the Dutch star. As with all Milan-San Remo editions of the modern age, the racing didn’t get hot until the climb of the Cipressa but it was the final climb of the Poggio that saw the race decided. UAE Team Emirates’ Tim Wellen pushed a big gear ..read more

The Dutch superstar Marianne Vos will take on her first road race of the 2023 season this weekend. We’ve become used to seeing her pick and choose races, not doing any racing that doesn’t serve her goals but this time it’s down to some late pre-season surgery. Vos originally had surgery on her pelvic artery back in 2020 but had to revisit it this pre-season Vos’ cyclocross season was definitely not as successful as the year before when she won Worlds, Nationals, World Cup races and more. This season, there was a win at Kortijk’s Urban Cross but slightly disappointing results elsewhere as she s ..read more

Determined to race at Nokere Koerse after the death of her brother last weekend, Lotte Kopecky was a huge presence all race in the Flandrian race. The Belgian made numerous moves off the front of the peloton, most of which came back but she still had enough left in the tank to make the crucial move when it mattered. The winner of Omloop het Nieuwsblad attacked on the Lange Ast and pushed home her advantage on Huispontweg, Kopecky never really looked like being caught by the peloton and crossed the finish line as the only rider in sight. Raced over 129.1 kilometres and featuring repeated ascent ..read more

Trofeo Alfredo Binda History The Trofeo Alfredo Binda has been around for what feels like forever, it’s one of the crown jewels of the women’s cycling calendar. With all the talk the other week of whether Strade Bianche is a monument (it isn’t), the Trofeo Alfredo Binda is unarguably one in women’s cycling. First held in 1974 and won by Giuseppa Micheloni it has been held every year since bar a small break at the end of the 1990s and 2020 with the Covid pandemic. The route often changes slightly but is characterised by small punchy climbs with a descent back to the finish in Cittiglio ..read more

Tadej Pogačar took the 2023 Paris Nice crown with a solo victory, riding away from his rivals to take a solo victory on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. It was the Slovenian’s 2nd stage win in a row and 3rd in the race. The stage win added more time gaps to what is normally quite a close final stage at Paris Nice. Pogačar finished 33 seconds ahead and so claimed victory in the GC by a commanding 53″ over David Gaudu and a confidence-inspiring 1’39” over last year’s Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard. The early racing was to decide who would win the King of the Mountains jersey with Jonas ..read more