The Emakumeen Bira is one of the oldest continually running Women’s stage races. It’s taken place each year since 1988 in the Basque region of Spain. For 2019, the time trial is gone – replaced instead with more climbing. The first stage is lumpy but expected to finish in a bunch sprint. The start of the 2nd stage has two decent climbs but their positioning...
The Women’s Tour de Yorkshire includes two hilly 132km stages on 3 and 4 May. Both stages will be broadcasted live in full on ITV4 from 9am-1pm The 2019 Women’s Tour de Yorkshire is a World Tour race in all but name. It’s got a stacked startlist, live coverage of the full stages, the race is on equal footing with the men’s in prize money...
This Sunday’s Liege Bastogne Liege will be the first with the new finale. Gone are the late climbs of Saint-Nicolas and Ans and replaced instead with a more or less flat run into the centre of Liege. The old favourites are still in there though – the Cols and Cotes of Stockeu, Haute-Levee, Rosier, La Redoute and Roche-aux-Faucons. With such a climb-heavy route but a...
Wednesday 24th April sees the men and women’s pelotons tackle Fleche Wallone. Unlike Amstel Gold the women’s race has a solid continuous history since the first race in 1998 and similarly to the men has had a single rider dominate the finish in recent years. Alejandro Valverde’s run of 4 wins in a row was broken in 2018 by Julian Alaphilippe. The Mur de Huy...
Sunday’s Amstel Gold Races see the men and women take on the hilliest part of the Netherlands – the enclave of Limburg tucked away in the very bottom corner with Belgium and Germany on either side. The men’s race is one of the major classics, although not a monument. The women’s race originally started in the early 2000s with a few editions but then stopped –...
The women’s Tour of Flanders has been taking place since 2004 and takes place again on Sunday 7th April. Its podiums have always been a who’s who of the strongest cyclists in female cycling. 2018 saw Anna Van der Breggen take the crown, finishing just over a minute ahead of Amy Pieters and Annemiek Van Vleuten. 2017 saw more of a smallish bunch sprint finish...
