Race Preview - Page 7

RideLondon Classique History After a tumultuous off-season, RideLondon Classique returns in 2023 still just about as a Women's WorldTour level race. Last year, only the...

The Thüringen Ladies Tour is another race with a long storied history in the women's peloton but probably without the top-drawer race level that would normally bring. Hosted since 1986, it has never made it to the highest level of the women's cycling calendar, although moves are being made to change that now. The race can look back on a list of winners that includes greats like Ina-Yoko Teutenberg, Mirjam Melchers, Hanka Kupfernagel, Zulfia Zabirova, Judith Arndt, Emma Johansson, and Lisa Brennauer.

The men's Veenendaal Veenendaal has a long history but in contrast, there have only been 2 women's editions. The first took place in 2018...

Vuelta a Burgos Feminas sprung up from a national-level race in 2019 to 2.1 level. The first edition was won by Norwegian Stine Borgli with a bit of a different parcours to the race it has now become. There was no major summit finish...

The Itzulia Women took over as one of the major Spanish stage races once Emakumeen Bira closed its doors and was able to get off the ground in 2022 straight into the Women's WorldTour. That was largely in part due to the race being an expanded version of the Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa which took place either side of Covid.

A very long-running race, the Bretagne Ladies Tour can trace its origins back to 1987 when Cecile Odin won. Since then, it's always kept a low level but has just started to move up in the last couple of years after a patchy record since 2016. It's no longer a 2.2 race but has reached 2.1 level.

New last year, Leiedal Koerse is effectively the E3 Classic for Women. For now, it remains not quite on the same level but there...

La Vuelta Femenina is very much the junior member of the women's grand tours and riding the coattails of the men's race whilst trying to catch up. It's had a slow, measured progression from a one-day race, similar to La Course on the Champs Elysees was, into something bigger. After 3 editions, a second stage was added which was somewhat strangely a team time trial to effectively decide the GC.

The Festival Elsy Jacobs is a long-running women's race that is the high point of the calendar in Luxembourg. First held in 2008, it began life as a one-day race won by Italian Monia Bacaille. It stayed that way for a few years before growing in 2012 to a three-day format that always started off with a prologue. That shifted the balance to riders who were strong against the clock

A women's Liège Bastogne Liège hasn't been raced for too long with a history going all the way back to 2017. Anna van der Breggen took a pair of Ardennes Classics in the first two editions - winning Flèche Wallonne on the Wednesday and then Liège Bastogne Liège on the Sunday.