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Tour Of Flanders
Tour of Flanders, Belgium. 4th of April 2010ur of Flanders, Belgium. 4th of April 2010
Grace Verbeke Wins Flanders!
Last year Grace finished 4th in two World Cups, Drenthe (Holland) and Plouay (France) as well as winning the first stage and the overall Tour Du Limousin (France). Following these outstanding results in 2009 Grace was highly sort after by some of the World’s strongest cycling teams and she was faced with a tough decision leading into 2010. It’s was an expression of Grace’s personality and loyalty when she decided to stay with Lotto while working hard towards her ultimate goal of winning the Tour of Flanders.
Tour Of Qatar: Day Two & Three
Doha Qatar from the 3rd to the 5th of February
Credit © CJ Farquharson/WomensCycling.net
Day two was much better, no crashes! I decided I would relax during the race and sit back for the intermediate sprints and give everything for the stage win. I gave it my best shot, a really good shot actually! I had Kirsten Wild’s wheel and she hit the front 200m from the line, I kicked off her wheel with 150m to go and felt explosive but there was someone holding my wheel, Giorgia Bronzini. Giorgia waited until 50m to go and came off my wheel like dynamite! It was a headwind finish so her timing was perfect. I was happy with my sprint but I was not content with 2nd, I was feeling good for day 3!
Tour Of Qatar: Day One
Doha Qatar from the 3rd to the 5th of February
Credit © CJ Farquharson/WomensCycling.net
The pace was high due to the flat terrain and nervous riders with fresh legs, the crosswinds were adding to the risk of a high speed tangle so it was soon inevitable. Somehow something happened and I found myself doing a wheelie over a few fallen riders, I was lucky to have rolled across the top of a few riders, I was able to tug my bike out of the jumble and then I continued running and mounting my bike in one motion… wait, it wasn’t that good- I remember stopping to adjust my handlebars, then I was on my way. I believe the bunch continued to apply pressure and hold the pace high after the 1st sprint; this made my task to get back to the group a ‘do or die effort’.
Tour Of Qatar
Doha Qatar from the 3rd to the 5th of February
2009 Start Location
The 90 women field will engage in combat throughout the stages where they will also have to duel with the wind and the environment. Their daily struggles will unfurl among the splendid settings of the Museum of Islamic Art, the Al Khor Corniche, the Al Zubarah fort, the Oryx Farm, and the Sealine Beach Resort, culminating with the last act on the sumptuous Doha Corniche.
Stage Four And Wrap-Up
Stage Four, Williamstown, Victoria. 5th of January 2010
Stage 4 Win (photo: Shane Goss)
Gilmore and Honda set new standard
Rochelle Gilmore took out the final stage of the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic in an almost perfect performance that saw her win the overall series and the sprint competition along with her Honda Dream Team securing the teams classification.
After the stage Gilmore made it clear that the bar has now been raised for women’s cycling thanks to the support of her team.
“Honda wants to set a standard that says ‘hey let’s support our women like we support our men’ and they’ve certainly done that,” Gilmore said.