Hello and thank you for opening this week’s Wheel Talk Newsletter. We (as a newsletter) celebrated our one-year anniversary last week! Crazy. Thank you to everyone who checks in every Tuesday to read my ramblings; it’s been a blast having this little outlet for the last year. Coming up with something to say every week was a bit daunting, but the world of women’s cycling has provided some great topics for us and will hopefully continue to do so for a bit longer.
Gravel Worlds is done and it’s just a handful of WorldTour days remaining in 2024. Some teams are still soaking up the dregs of the season in Italy racing some lower-level one-days, while also looking forward to new jerseys in 2025 and a slightly altered WorldTour calendar.
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Marianne Vos added a 14th World Championship title to her long list of accomplishments over the weekend, in case anyone was still questioning her GOAT status. By winning the Gravel World Championships on Saturday she also secured a rainbow jersey in a fourth discipline, after already holding three road titles, two track titles and eight cyclocross titles. All she needs now is an MTB rainbow jersey and she’ll have the whole set.
Unfortunately for the gravel pros, the roadies showed up in full force and the race came down to the newly re-crowned road World Champion Lotte Kopecky versus Vos. The two sprinted for the win after spending the final 50 km together ahead of the race, despite a strong group chasing behind.
The Dutch had the numbers throughout the race, and Lorena Wiebes and Puck Pieterse took third and fourth on the day, respectively, with Romy Kasper of Germany rounding out the top five.
Into the final 1.6 km Vos put in a cheeky but unsuccessful attack but it didn’t matter. When it came to the two-up sprint Vos not only put Kopecky right where she wanted her, on the front, but she also had the better kick to take the title. It was, as they say, textbook.
Racing continues …
… At the Simac Ladies Tour!
The penultimate stage race on the 2024 WorldTour calendar kicked off today, Tuesday, and runs through Sunday. The race started with a short time trial in Gennep, followed by five road stages, most of them for the sprinters, although, the final stage does have some spice.
The Basics
Tuesday, October 8 – Sunday, October 13
Streaming: Discovery+ 🇬🇧🇪🇺, MAX 🇺🇸, or possibly local services depending on your location
The Route
The first five stages are very flat, as you might expect from a race in the Netherlands. Last year the race included two outings on the time trial bike, the first a 2.4 km prologue won by Charlotte Kool, the second a 7.1 km time trial in Leuven won by the then-newly crowned road World Champion Kopecky. This year they’ve combined the two distances and started the race with a 10.1 km-long time trial to hand out the first leader’s jersey.
Stage 1 of the Simac Ladies Tour was held today in Gennep. The stage was won by Canyon-SRAM’s Zoe Backstedt, who has been out of racing for some time. The British rider bested Lieke Nooijen of Visma-Lease a Bike by seven seconds and Ellen van Dijk of Lidl-Trek by eight. Backstedt will wear the first leader’s jersey into stage two and also leads the Youth Classification. She finished fifth overall last year, 50 seconds behind Kopecky.
Kopecky, the new European ITT champ, finished fourth on the stage, eleven seconds down.
Stage 2 from Coevorden to Assen includes only one ascent roughly 39 km into the 154.8 km stage. The rest is pretty flat, and will likely end in a sprint finish.
The final 3 km is not technical, there is a right-hand turn with 1.5 km to go and a left-hand turn in a roundabout 500 meters later. They are the only two road changes in the finale, so there is plenty of time for teams to set up and execute a lead out for their sprinters.
The third stage starts in Zeewolde and includes one big loop north towards Kampen before heading back down to Zeewolde for two circuits of a smaller loop. The stage is again flat, with 165 metres of elevation gain over 148.4 km.
The final 1.5 km is slightly more technical than Wednesday’s stage, with two turns (one of them is a roundabout) in the final 1.2 km. The final 900 metres of the race is a straight shot to the line.
Stage 4 is another loop or rather three laps of a 40 km course. This will be the most climb-y stage so far, but that’s not saying much as there is only 351 metres of elevation gained throughout the stage.
The women start in Ede and ride north over a series of three climbs. They then circle back to the start/finish and before hitting Ede again hit the same series of climbs. Repeat x2. The finish is the in middle of the three-climb block, so for the two times they ride through the finish town, they will be racing over five climbs in succession.
As it’s slap in the middle of the climbs, the finish will be pretty entertaining. The climbs are all pretty short, with the longest just under 1 km. None of them are all that steep either; the steepest the road gets on the whole course is 3.7%. Regardless, the way they are positioned could make for some breaks in the peloton and an interesting finale.
The fifth stage is another likely bunch sprint day, with three small climbs that top out 40 km from the line, the only other likely option is a breakaway sticking. The climbs are stacked on top of each other, the first is 1.6 km long and only 3.1% average, with a maximum grade of 9.1%. The next is kind of two climbs with a little flat spot in the middle, lasting a little over 700 meters and only 2.8% average.
The final climb is 2ish km with a maximum of 5.4% grades, and as I said, 40 km from the line. These ascents are unlikely to add any real action in the race, with a lot of ground still to cover once they are done.
Like the other stages, the final is a straight line, with no real changes in direction in the final kilometre, perfect for lead out trains and sprinters.
The final stage in Arnhem has more elevation gain than the first five stages combined and will be “the big one,” the stage that really determines the general classification. Before this stage, it will likely be a race for seconds, but the circuits in the final 60 km of the final stage will make for some really exciting racing.
The race starts with two 45 km big loops outside of Arnhem that include a few minor climbs, before the race circles back and joins the final circuit that will make up the most exciting part of the race.
The final 8 km circuit consists of non-stop climbing, and although none of the climbs are very long, there is no room for rest over the final 60 km of the race.
The Contenders
With the number of sprint finishes on offer, it will come as no surprise that SD Worx-Protime is rocking up with Lorena Wiebes in addition to the winner of the 2023 edition of Simac Ladies Tour Lotte Kopecky. The two are formidable together, but there are still some sprinters who will hope to challenge Wiebes. A reminder that Wiebes will be back racing in the jersey of the European champion after spending one season in a standard issue SD Worx-Protime kit.
Elisa Balsamo of Lidl-Trek will also line up, with the assistance of a very strong team. The American unit is bringing Elisa Longo Borghini for what is likely her last race with the team before she gears up to join UAE Team ADQ in 2025.
Of course, Charlotte Kool will be Wiebes’s biggest competitor. The DSM Firmenich-PostNL rider is the only one to have bested Wiebes this season, having won the first two stages of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
Chloe Dygert is a threat not only in the time trial but also in the sprints; based on her form at the Worlds the Canyon-SRAM rider is only just realizing what she is capable of on the road. However, while the team sizes for the race are maximum seven, Canyon-SRAM is only bringing five riders to vie for the win.
Like Dygert, Ruby Roseman-Gannon will be riding high on her Worlds performance and hoping to translate that over to her Liv AlUla Jayco team. She is supported by a strong sprinting unit for potential stage victories.
Marianne Vos has called an end to her road season so Visma-Lease a Bike will be looking to Anna Henderson and Riejanne Markus to make headroads in the overall already on Tuesday. The two are good options for any breakaway that survives; Markus has won stages in this fashion, and are strong contenders for the final stage.
Other names to keep in mind: Maike van der Duin (Canyon-SRAM), Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ), Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Mobility), Thalita de Jong (Lotto Dstny)
On another note, Audrey Cordon-Ragot is lining up for her final race in the professional peloton at the Simac Ladies Tour. The Frenchwoman has been a fixture in women’s cycling for many years and will be greatly missed by the peloton and the fans, but less by the fans because she will be taking up new positions where her voice will be put to good use.
Wheel Talk Podcast
This week Gracie and Loren are back and after briefly talking to them about their takes on the World Championships we dove into the latest transfers and some of the biggest news in women’s cycling including the future of Australian road racing, the future of Grace Brown, and more.
Obsessions: Abby – Nobody Wants This, Gracie – Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Loren – A Touch More with Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe
Let’s Discuss
Christine Majerus.
Audrey Cordon-Ragot isn’t the only rider spending her last dance at the Simac Ladies Tour. Long-time domestique for SD Worx-Protime Christine Majerus will also be lining up for her final jaunt with the peloton on Tuesday.
Majerus made a career of working for others, an especially impressive accomplishment as it’s only in recent years that domestiques not only received adequate salaries but were also recognized more for their efforts. Even a few years ago it was imperative to end the year with something to show for it, but by remaining at SD Worx-Protime for the vast majority of her career Majerus became invaluable to the Dutch team and was present for a lot of their biggest results.
Throughout her ten years with SD Worx-Protime Marjerus displayed time and time again the importance of loyalty in cycling.
Off the bike, Majerus is one of the most likeable characters in women’s cycling. She illustrates children’s books and is a dog mom to two English cocker spaniels, King Rigi and Billy de Butz. She has been known to show up to team camp with hand-knitted hats for all her teammates and she loves Lego.
On the bike, Majerus has garnered a legacy that will last decades. Fourteen-time road national champion of Luxembourg, Majerus was finally dethroned this year by her SD Worx-Protime teammate Marie Schreiber after holding the jersey since 2010. She has also won the time trial title 18 times (in a row) including this year. She has a few wins outside of her National Championships including stages of the Simac Ladies Tour, the Tour of Britain (then called the Women’s Tour), and a handful of one-day victories, most of the 1.1-rated variety. She was part of the team that took home the 2016 team time trial World Championship title, but her most impressive performances can’t be summed up on her own palmarès.
She’s also a 12-time national cyclocross champion with more than a dozen other wins in international-level events. But even that pales in comparison to her effectiveness as a teammate and road captain. To list all the times Majerus was on the front riding for her teammates to win races would take more words than a newsletter should contain.
This July Majerus was decorated as a Knight of the Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolphe de Nassau by Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Henri for her years of cycling around the world, representing Luxembourg. She has flown the Luxembourg flag in four Olympic Games in London, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Paris. She is a member of the sports division of the Luxembourg Army but has not been required to serve while racing.
Majerus has not yet announced her post-racing plans but fans of the rider will have their fingers crossed that she remains in the sport in some capacity. As a super-domestique, she would make a fantastic director sportif, if she chose to go that way (and hey, SD Worx-Protime just lost another one).
Whatever happens, the sport of cycling was improved by the presence of Christine Majerus. So Christine, take a bow and enjoy your final five days riding the front for your team.
A picture worth a couple of words
Majerus has made many a fun illustration over the years but here are a few recent works:
First, her update after Schreiber bested her and claimed the Luxembourg road national champ jersey.
When she announced her cross schedule last cyclocross season.
And the game she created called Depart Lass!
Taylor Swift corner
I’ve been enjoying listening to one of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour opening acts Gracie Abrams lately. It took me a few listens to get into, but her album The Secret of Us has some solid tracks.
Until next time!
There have been some big transfers announced lately, none more impactful than Elisa Longo Borghini moving to UAE Team ADQ and bringing both Brodie Chapman and Elynor Backstedt with her.
But it’s not just riders on the move. FDJ-Suez announced on Tuesday that they will have a new driver in 2025, none other than former male professional and current SD Worx-Protime DS Lars Boom.
The musical chairs of team directors are going to be as impactful as the rider transfers, mark my words.
Thanks for reading today and also for the last year! I’ll be back next week.
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