I have a bone to pick.
The couch peloton is jumpy! Gent-Wevelgem finishes, and pundits exclaim unimaginative racing, handing Lorena Wiebes of SD Worx-Protime her 100th victory. The Tour of Flanders comes around, and again, the couch peloton is questioning the appetite of the other teams to really take it to SD Worx. 'How can they just RIDE with Lotte Kopecky to the finish?!' they exclaim.
Yet Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, not one week later, displayed the textbook for bettering the seemingly insurmountable Dutch outfit. We have a detailed recap on Escape Collective by Dane Cash spelling out just how they were outwitted.
SD Worx is beatable. The peloton is doing their best. Trust the process. Let this be a lesson for the remainder of the season, and to quote Douglas Adams: Don't panic.
Racing roundup
Scheldeprijs
This race is a sprinter's paradise. Fast, flat and the last hurrah for the fast finishers before the peloton heads into Roubaix, then the Ardennes. If there is wind, it's carnage. However the unseasonably lovely weather continued for this mid-week hit out.
The pressure was on the likes of Charlotte Kool (Picnic-PostNL) to finally notch up a win on the board. Without the only winner of this race – Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) – lining up, Kool must have fancied her chances.
The race looked fated for a sprint finish until 21 km to go, when a group went clear including Marie Schreiber (SD Worx-Protime) and her teammate Femke Gerritse. Joining them was Anna Henderson (Lidl-Trek), Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), Sarah Roy (EF Education-Oatly) and Julie De Wilde (Fenix-Deceuninck).
Picnic-PostNL then took matters into their own hands, with a clear intent on getting Kool up for the win. Once the break was caught, it was Lidl-Trek who took over control of the peloton and leading into the final kilometer, Elisa Balsamo was in perfect position. Kool was forced to open up her sprint from far back (sixth wheel) and looked like she was going to do it until Balsamo inched ahead by the checkered flag.
A result still eludes the Dutch team of Picnic. That was their last chance at a sprint race before the peloton moves to Spain. It took Kool until middle of last year to hit her straps, so perhaps we just need to be more patient.
Racing continues ...
De Brabantse Pijl - La Flèche Brabançonne
Time for the warm up into the Ardennes Classics. Nowadays, cyclists emerge from the throes of altitude camps and final preparations at the start line of De Brabantse Pijl.
Riders coming down from altitude, testing the form before Ardennes. There are 19 hills across the ~125 km of racing, so a perfect testing ground for the legs before Amstel Gold. The race has been won in a variety of ways, including Elisa Longo Borghini's (UAE Team ADQ) long-range breakaway in 2024.
This race will no doubt be full of drama. Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) will have a chance to assert herself before the Ardennes kick off proper. Fem van Empel (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) is back racing after her period of time off. Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck) is clearly keen to see how she stacks up against her competitors before the Grand Tour season starts in earnest.
Distance: 125 km through the Flemish countryside, with the riders conquering 19 hills along the way. The fireworks start to go off on the local laps after a long lead in.
When: 11.25 CET, Good Friday, 18th April 2025
Where to watch: TNT Sports (UK), FloBikes (US/CAN)
Weather: A mild day, with not much wind about and temperature appropriate for jersey and bibs.
Riders to watch: The start list is as long as it is stacked. 136 riders will front up to the race, with the likes of Anna van der Breggen, Puck Pieterse and Fem van Empel. Elisa Longo Borghini is a recent addition, lining up after suffering a concussion in De Ronde on April 6th. Her form will be in question before Amstel Gold Race, and one can only hope she has been given space to heal. Similarly with Van Empel. Visma looked to be supporting her appropriately as she took a break from racing, so I hope she comes back fresh and ready.
Lidl-Trek are coming in force with their climbing squad. No Elisa Balsamo to prop up their results sheet here. Lidl is definitely trying to find different ways to win, so let's see what they come up with on Friday. Cat Ferguson (Movistar) is another exciting prospect, and this could be a good race for her, but there is a question mark over her form after crashing out of Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift.
Amstel Gold Race
If you ask riders of the 2024 edition what they thought of the Amstel Gold Race, they would liken it more to a hard and fast criterium. The race was plagued with traffic issues, meaning the course was shortened and riders left to slug it out for less than an hour.
Traditionally, this race is an attritional showcase. Won by rouleurs, sprinters and climbers alike, it really is hard to pick a winner. Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) has won two editions (including the shortened edition last year), while Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) and Marta Cavalli (Picnic-PostNL) have also won it. Let's not forget Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) and her win in 2023. It's been a long time between wins for Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), and she will be keen to kick off her Ardennes campaign, perhaps, with her first win here since 2017.
We are leaving the flat roads behind us. Now those riders who hope for GC glory in the summer start to show themselves.
Let's go.
When: 9.55 CET, Easter Sunday, 20th April 2025
How to watch: TNT Sports (UK), FloBikes (US, CAN), SBS (AUS)
Distance: The riders have 85 km circumventing Maastricht Airport before beginning the punishing local laps. Each lap is 18 km in length, featuring three climbs of the Geulhemmerberg, Bemelerberg and Cauberg. The latter proves to be the decisive moment each year.
Weather: Unfortunately, the riders might need a few extra layers on board for the 2025 edition of Amstel Gold Race. The Ardennes are known for their cold temperatures, with riders pulling out of races due to frigid temperatures, usually exacerbated by rainy skies and early starts.
Riders to watch: On the Wheel Talk podcast, the team discuss the load many of these cyclists bear as they race through the spring. We are seeing a lot of top riders doing the full spring program, including the Flandrian Classics and Ardennes. Teams are getting smaller, and smaller. Teams are looking for top results. The percentage of 'star' riders doing it all is increasing. A topic for another time, but we might see the cracks starting to show.
Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) are fronting up after a heavy Spring Classics campaign. Wiebes has competed in Brugge-De Panne, Gent-Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and now Amstel Gold Race. Kopecky has done the same, except Dwars door Vlaanderen instead of De Panne. Sure, they will be accompanied by stellar support in Van der Breggen, Mischa Bredewold and Blanka Vas. However, those cracks must be getting fairly sizeable, and the whole outfit will have to be on top form against a charging FDJ-Suez, Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto and Visma-Lease a Bike who present their biggest threats.
The months of March and April are arguably more taxing on the body than a Grand Tour. Recovery is what wins bike races. Let's see who has mastered that game on Sunday, or left searching for their legs instead of Easter eggs.
Other sporting news
2025 Araxá XCC & XCO World Cup #2
The women at the XCC & XCO World Cups continue to astound, with Evie Richards (Trek Factory) making history with her seventh World Cup win in the discipline, surpassing Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's record. Whilst the short track racing has not been around super long, it's no mean feat to overtake a rider of class like Ferrand-Prevot.
In the XCO (long course) racing, Swede Jenny Rissveds (Canyon CLLCTV) managed to topple the endearing Kiwi Samara "Sammie" Maxwell (Decathlon-Ford) by 28 seconds. Maxwell has enjoyed an extraordinary run of form, and her raw personality comes through naturally in her post-race press conferences.
Wheel Talk podcast
It is ALL about cobbles this week. The team talk about the rough ride SD Worx-Protime inflicted upon themselves, the class displayed by Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), Lidl-Trek's creativity and, lastly, Ferrand-Prévot stomping her way to victory in Roubaix.
So what's my take...
I’m here for the villain era in women’s sports
Have you ever heard the phrase: 'good girls play nice'? Like many things from recent times, it hasn't aged well. This idea was caught up in the trope of what a female athlete 'should be.' Playing nice. Being kind. Polite. We don't rock the boat.
Our modern female athletes have set fire to that idea. Lit it up. There is drama and scandal. We see emotion typically labelled as bad. Anger, frustration and arrogance is all on show. Women's sport is done playing nice. The villain era of women's sport has begun.
Now, I mean villain not in the psychodrama type you see in films (or recently on the season finale of Yellowjackets ... wow), but instead it's a sportsperson with an immense amount of confidence and unabashed advocacy for their craft.
Extended now to women's cycling, finally we have some colour in the emotion.
There are a few plot lines that add to this narrative. The most recent one is Demi Vollering versus her SD Worx team at the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. In that fateful stage which saw Vollering crash out on a fast left turn, she claimed that her team left her. Her frustration was evident. It was Vollering versus her team, and on the final stage, she publicly showcased her mental struggles as she crossed the finish line – losing the race by four seconds.
Then you have her former teammate in Lorena Wiebes. On that very day in 2024 where Demi crashed out, Wiebes was quoted in admitting she saw something yellow on the ground, but kept riding nonetheless. No sympathy, only the result. Indeed, as a team, they have embraced the label of 'villain' by the cycling media. It makes for great drama.
Then the queen of marginal gains herself: Annemiek van Vleuten. We all remember stage six of the Vuelta Femenina in 2023, where Van Vleuten and her team attacked Vollering and SD Worx whilst the Dutch woman took a nature break. Before a known crosswind section. I say, fair game. Van Vleuten usurped Vollering and took the lead. The latter then lost that Tour by a slim margin. When questioned about this tactic, the Olympic and World Champion responded, "That's racing."
Sport is entertainment. 'Nice' does not make for great TV. Drama does. Finally female athletes are leaning into their inner villain. Using it as a performance enhancer at times, creating scenarios that entice a reaction. We can't look away. That's power.
A picture worth a couple of words
Pour one out for Marianne Vos. Paris-Roubaix, one day.
Who runs the world?
Demi Vollering has cracked into Forbes' Europe 30 under 30 list for this year's cohort. She sits in a list of 30 under the category Sports & Games. Accompanying her on the list include Chelsea soccer star Naomi Girma; Olympic track and field gold medalist Femke Bol; eSports broadcast host & interviewer Keltoum Baddaje; and, Olympic gold medalist in the pool Léon Marchand.
Vollering's biography espouses her cycling achievement, but at the end, it reads:
Off the bike, she became the first female investor with Apex CP, also bringing her IP value to their fund.
This is phenomenal, and what I celebrated in an article about commercialisation of women's sport. However, Vollering's IP is not the most useful asset brought to an investment fund like Apex CP. That asset usually has dollar signs in front of it. What I would have liked to see here instead is this: Off the bike, she became a champion for the enhancement of her IP and brand in a full portfolio of sponsors including Nike, Specialized bikes and Polestar cars – the first female cyclist to so publicly partner with brands. She is the first female investor of Apex CP, showing intention in her brand and commercial strategy.
But I'm sure Vollering's marketing team have this all in hand. A massive plus for the sport of women's cycling and esteemed company on that list. Hopefully we get more representatives in next year's cohort.
Until next time
Finishing how this newsletter started, there has been some rhetoric about the peloton being 'lukewarm' thus far this year. Not really a standout spring. Despite Longo Borghini's brave attack in Milan-San Remo Donne, Ferrand-Prevot's remarkable return to the road scene, Kopecky's brilliance and hubris on full display, Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) finally showcasing her watts are not afraid of the Roubaix cobbles and incredible performances by the likes of Letizia Borghesi and Noemi Ruegg (EF Education-Oatly).
Lukewarm? Tough crowd. This has been an excellent spring season. And there is plenty more to come.
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