Cyclingnews Women's Week: A post-ride recap

Strade Bianche women's race 2023
(Image credit: Getty Images)

You may have noticed by now that each month, we have a dedicated themed week here at Cyclingnews. Some of these are chosen to coincide with a season or trend, such as November's 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Winter Week or January's 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Travel Week, but others are chosen based more on the topic itself. 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Gravel Week, which came in June, is an example of the latter; it doesn't really have a 'season' and we cover it year-round, but it's a subject worth 🐭focussing on with lots to discuss. Women's Week was the same. 

From March 6 - 12 (conveniently coinciding with International Women's Day on March 8) Cyclingnews welcomed our readers to Women's Week. Throughout the week, we r𒀰an🔯 a series of exclusive interviews, features, blogs, tech, advice and more. 

Lotte Kopecky's bike

To kick things off, here's a closer look at 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lotte Kopecky's bike, the S-Works Tarmac SL7. The Belgiไan's season has got off to a flyer, with a win at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad ahead of teammate Lorena Wiebes and 2nd at Strade Bianche behind teammate Demi Vollering, will the 2022 Tour of Flanders winner regain her crown this year?

Zoe Backstedt's bike

We also took a look at 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Zoe Backstedt's bike last week - the junior road world champion shows huge promise in her debut season at WorldTour level, and she's doing it aboard the brand new 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Cannondale SuperSix Evo 4

you don't start a family to break boundaries

Next up, "you don't start a family to break boundaries," says Lizzie Deignan. We've been speaking to the Paris-Roubaix win𒁏ner about a variety of topics including motherhood, unexpected💮ly becoming a role model and her 2023 return to racing. 

Annemiek Van Vleuten's bike

More tech next, and this time it's the World Champion, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Annemiek Van Vleuten's bike at the end of our camera lens. 

We photographed this bike at the busy paddock ahead of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and luckily found a very brief break in the crowds to get our gallery. To prove how popular the Dutchwoman is, within minutes the bike was swarmed wit🦩h fans taking selfies with it. 

Alison Jackson, about her Spring Classics aspirations

We also spent time talking to EF Education-TIBCO-SVB's new Canadian, Alison Jackson, about her Spring Classics aspirations

Jackson, who has earned a following f🍃or making "silly videos" on her social channels, also talks about the pressures of bike racing and how her balance of "silliness and serious" helps to "keep🤪 the heart happy."

challenges that women face when new to cycling

For anyone new to cycling, it can be a fairly daunting and complex sport, with endless lists of equipment, safety concerns to contend with and all sorts of jargon to decipher. To help, one of our esteemed contributors, Issy Ronald, took a look at some of the common challenges that women face when new to cycling, and provided a heap of tips to overcome them.

16 of the incredible women cyclists

Elsewhere, Dan Challis has focussed attentions on Africa. More specifically, 16 of the incredible women cyclists transforming the sport on the continent. These women, hailing from seven different nations, are facing the highest of glass ceilings in their bid for sportiꩲng success, and here are each of their stories. 

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The first of those was hybrid bikes, the halfway-happies between road and mountain bikes, o﷽ften with fast tyres, comfortable geometry, and flat handlebars for maximum comfort and co♈ntrol. 

Check out her roundup of the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:best women's hybrid bikes available this year. 

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Next came e🐈lectric bikes, the motor-driven pedelecs that boost your pedalling input. Here, she looked at electric road bikes, electric hybrids, and even electric mountain bikes, to cater to everyone's motorised cycling desires. 

Check out the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:best women's electric bikes now. 

cycling on your period

A question that a lot of women face when getting into cycling is what to do when their period arrives. Luckily, it doesn't have to be arduous, as Mildred says in her detailed '168澳洲5最新开奖结果:cycling on your period' explainer. There, she answers whether you can exercise at all (the answer is yes), how menstruation works, how to work with your hormones, and how to troub🍎leshoot common symptoms. There's also some excellent expert insight from pro mountain biking coach Rachael Wight. 

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Some brands make women's specific helmets, and others don't, but why? Do you actually need a women's helmet at all or is a unisex one just fine? To answer the questio𒁏n, Charlotte Broughton spoke to a neuroscientist. 

Read do women need women's specific helmets to find out the answer. 

Nancy Neiman Baranet

In July 1956, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Nancy Neiman Baranet of Detroit rꦡode as the lone American in the eight-day Criterium Cycliste Féminin Lyonaise-Auve🦋rgne in hilly central France.

In March 2023, aged 90, she spoke to Cyclingnews to recount her experience. The resulting feature is, quite ♔frankly, a must read. 

excellent news on Ellen van Dijk's part

Finally, a bit of good luck on our part, and some excellent news on Ellen van Dijk's part helps us t🔥o wrap up Women's Week with a smile. 

“Me and Benjamin are super excited to share the news that we are expe🦩cting our first child in Sept🐓ember. It has always been our wish to start a family, and so to have this wish come true still feels a bit unreal right now,” explained The current time trial World Champion and UCI Hour Record holder. 

Josh Croxton
Associate Editor (Tech)

Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to th🐽e latest tech news and reviews. 

On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based𝐆 Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitnes🌳s, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.