Women
Latest news, races, and stories from women's professional cycling
50 articles
Feature
Women’s cycling is faster and better funded than ever. So why is the Grand Tour speed gap growing?
Investment, salaries and coverage have transformed the women’s peloton. An analysis of Grand Tour stages and World Championship time trials finds clear progress in speed, but no evidence of convergence with the men.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
Tour de France Femmes reaches 23.2 million French viewers as full-stage broadcasting case grows
France 2 recorded the race’s highest average audience share yet, while 5.1 million viewers watched at the Ventoux stage’s peak. Full-stage coverage remained limited and the reported totals conflict.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
Show every kilometre first before adding more stages - What next for the Tour de France Femmes?
The nine-stage race already delivers close, aggressive racing. Better live coverage and wider free access offer a clearer route to growth than immediately stretching the format.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
‘This déjà vu came back’ – Vollering turns tables to her favour after seizing Tour de France Femmes lead with stage 8 win
The FDJ United-Suez leader turned a 15-second deficit into an eight-second advantage in Nice, then disclosed the knee problem that disrupted her winter preparation.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
'It's gonna be brutal, 100%' - Marlen Reusser takes her 12-second Tour lead onto Mont Ventoux
The yellow jersey has ridden the Tour’s summit finish only once, but believes its long, sustained gradient may suit her better than the climbs already faced.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
'I was asleep. I don't know what I did', Reusser keeps yellow but sprint lapse leaves Vollering just 12 seconds back
Vollering cut her deficit to 12 seconds with an aggressive victory, while Reusser retained yellow but blamed herself for losing momentum in the decisive sprint.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
Mont Brouilly leaves the Tour de France Femmes podium race looking like a three-rider contest
The first major climbing selection gave the race a clear leading tier, but Mont Ventoux still stands between Wednesday’s evidence and a settled podium.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
Why Tour de France Femmes stage 5 could break the GC race open
Time-trial losses have given several powerful teams an incentive to attack on a twisting Beaujolais route where positioning and descending may matter more than altitude.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
French viewers embrace women's racing as 2.17 million watch Tour de France Femmes opener
France 2 secured a 27.6% audience share for the Lausanne opener before its post-stage programme retained 1.65 million viewers in a competitive evening slot.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
The Tour de France Femmes deserves better than a paywall and five-minute YouTube highlights in the UK
British viewers can watch every stage through TNT Sports and HBO Max, but the free evening programme offered for the men’s Tour has disappeared from the schedule.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
Wiebes survives rivals' best chance to crack her, and four more Tour de France Femmes stage 1 talking points
Late attacks could not dislodge the sprint favourite in Lausanne, while crashes, early GC losses and a fruitless Lidl-Trek move shaped a tense opening stage.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
How to watch the Tour de France Femmes 2026: Free live stages, TV coverage and streaming from anywhere
Every stage is available live in several major markets, with free coverage in Australia and parts of Europe. Find the correct broadcaster, subscription price and daily start time, plus guidance for following your usual service while travelling.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
Tour de France Femmes 2026 route and favourites analysis: Ventoux towers over nine days of racing drama
The 1,175km route combines a Dijon time trial, repeated technical climbs, a Mont Ventoux summit finish and four ascents of the Col d’Èze. Here is every classified climb, each finish approach and the leading jersey contenders.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
Canyon-SRAM's new Tour kit launches ten-year push to bring 1,000 women to cycling events each year
We Femmes will begin with free, no-drop rides before moving into a wider programme shaped by participant feedback and annual public reports.
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026
After missing an Olympic medal by 0.13 seconds, speed skater Sandrine Tas gets Tour de France Femmes debut
The 30-year-old Belgian only began her professional road career in April, but two stage wins in Brittany have secured her place in Lotto Intermarché Ladies' seven-rider squad.
Racing
'I didn’t expect to reach World Tour level so quickly': Kate Courtney turns road experiment into immediate FDJ United-Suez deal
The mountain-bike world champion and new USA road champion has secured a contract through 2028, with her first WorldTour start scheduled for August.
Feature
From the peloton to the people: Iris Slappendel's mission to build cycling's most welcoming brand
The former Dutch national champion launched IRIS in 2017 to make women's cycling kit she actually wanted to wear. Nine years later, the clothing may be the least important thing she sells.
News
Blanka Vas steps back from racing over health problems, ending six-year run as Hungarian champion
The SD Worx-Protime rider said on Instagram that she had stopped training and could not start the Hungarian national road championships this weekend, ending her title defence before it began.
Racing
Lael Wilcox abandons around-the-world record bid after 14 days as European heatwave triggers heat exhaustion
Wilcox stopped near Fontainebleau on her support team's advice after being nauseous every day and vomiting on her final ride. She had been targeting Mark Beaumont's outright record of 78 days.
Tour de Suisse Women
'I just don't feel satisfied about my performance,' Longo-Borghini loses yellow to Reusser but stays within 10 seconds ahead of mountain finale
Marlen Reusser won the 23.7km Aarburg time trial and took yellow, but Elisa Longo-Borghini's frustration was with her own execution rather than the GC gap, and she heads into the decisive final stage in striking range.
Tour de Suisse Women
'It was now or never': Bäckstedt claims second win of the year after surviving Tour de Suisse sprint chaos
Bäckstedt credited her Canyon-SRAM teammates for the stage 3 victory in Bad Ragaz, but it was her own improvisation inside the final kilometre that turned a messy lead-out into a decisive long-range sprint.
Tour de Suisse Women
'We stay humble and we keep working', Elisa Longo-Borghini remains grounded after going into Suisse lead with solo stage win
The Italian champion went clear on the final climb to win stage 2 solo and pull on the yellow jersey, with family and friends watching close to her home near Verbania, as a difficult season continues to turn.
Tour de Suisse Women
Tour de Suisse Women 2026 preview: Reusser defends on home roads with 23.7km time trial as major GC factor
A talent packed startlist is set to race on Swiss roads as Demi Vollering takes break after winning the Giro, but a demanding five-stage route with a flat TT and a brutal mountain finale means the GC battle is far from settled.
Giro d'Italia Women
'My finish line was on the top of that climb', Demi Vollering reveals how FDJ United-SUEZ's all-in gamble delivered the maglia rosa
Vollering explained the tactical raid that turned a 49-second deficit into a Giro d'Italia Women title, describing how she told Niedermaier to go up the road, accepted the risk of losing even her podium place, and treated the final climb as the only finish line that mattered.
Giro d'Italia Women
'The weirdest finish line of my life', Vollering wins as ice sheet forces queen stage to end 1km short of the Finestre summit
An unstable ice sheet above the road forced organisers to cut the queen stage short on the Colle delle Finestre, removing the descent and Sestriere summit finish entirely. The late change reshaped tactics, fueling and the GC battle with one stage to go.
Giro d'Italia Women
'It was perfect', Vollering wins her first Giro stage but Van der Breggen still controls pink after first mountain test
FDJ United-Suez executed a textbook tactical stage, placing Lauren Dickson in the breakaway before relaying her back to support Demi Vollering on the climbs. Van der Breggen kept the maglia rosa, but Niedermaier signalled she is ready for what comes next.
News
'We need more women to prove what's possible', Lael Wilcox targets Beaumont's outright around-the-world record from June 7
The women's circumnavigation record holder will depart Chicago at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday, aiming to cover 29,000 km in under 78 days with a full support crew for the first time in her career.
Giro d'Italia Women
‘I know a time trial is always different than a road race', Van der Breggen takes pink in dominant Nevegal TT but braces for rain and brutal Giro climbs
Anna van der Breggen won the 12.7km uphill time trial by more than a minute to seize the Maglia Rosa, but with a depleted SD Worx-Protime team and wet mountain stages ahead, defending it may be harder than winning it.
Giro d'Italia Women
Chiara Consonni fined for 'inappropriate behaviour' after pulling bike from beneath fallen rider at Giro d'Italia
The Canyon//SRAM rider was penalised by the race jury after forcefully freeing her bike from a crashed Thalita de Jong on the road to Buja, in an incident the commissaires ruled damaged cycling's image.
Giro d'Italia Women
Balsamo leads a tightened Giro sprint hierarchy, but Gillespie, Consonni and Kool are close enough to keep it live
Lorena Wiebes' disqualification removed the dominant sprinter from the Giro d'Italia Women. Two stages in, Elisa Balsamo has capitalised, but the margins behind her suggest the remaining bunch finishes are far from settled.
Feature
Lorena Wiebes’ 20-gram disqualification shows the UCI's minimum weight rule should be abolished
The UCI's 6.8kg bike weight limit was introduced in 2000. Twenty-six years later, it still carries an automatic expulsion for a margin smaller than a handful of tyre sealant.
Giro d'Italia Women
Lorena Wiebes expelled from Giro d'Italia Women after bike fails minimum weight rule, Elisa Balsamo inherits Maglia Rosa
The Stage 1 result in Ravenna was revised after the jury found Wiebes' bike did not comply with minimum weight requirements. Balsamo will start Stage 2 in pink.
Giro d'Italia Women
Vollering the clear Giro d'Italia favourite as Longo Borghini and Reusser return for a race shaped by Nevegal and Finestre
The 2026 Giro d'Italia Women starts Saturday in Cesenatico with a route built for climbers and time triallists. Demi Vollering arrives as the rider everyone else must answer, but the defending champion and a comeback story add genuine tension behind her.
Giro d'Italia Women
'We are happy to draw a line', CANYON//SRAM terminates zondacrypto partnership with immediate effect citing breaches of contract
The Women's WorldTour team has ended its co-title sponsorship deal with the Polish cryptocurrency exchange amid weeks of legal and financial turmoil, reverting to CANYON//SRAM ahead of the Giro d'Italia Women.
Giro d'Italia Women
The 2026 Giro d'Italia women stage guide: Nine stages, one queen climb, and the race for the maglia rosa
Nine stages from Cesenatico to Saluzzo, but only a handful will reshape the general classification. Here are the five watch windows that matter most, and the riders who will define them.
Giro d'Italia
'Emotion becomes clickbait, nuance disappears', Demi Vollering defends Arensman over Giro media debate
Demi Vollering used LinkedIn to publicly back Thymen Arensman after his reduced media availability at the Giro d'Italia became a talking point, arguing that athletes are punished for showing vulnerability.
Giro d'Italia
'I didn't check, I just rode with it', Enric Mas reveals he raced several Giro d'Italia stages in Movistar's women's team jersey
A kit distribution mix-up meant the Spanish climber wore a jersey bearing the UCI Women's WorldTeam logo for multiple stages before teammate Iván García Cortina spotted the error on Saturday evening.
Vuelta España Femenina by Carrefour.es
La Vuelta Femenina 2026: Live streams, TV coverage and how to watch
Seven stages from Galicia to Asturias, with decisive mountain finishes at Les Praeres and L'Angliru. Free live coverage is available in Australia, Belgium and Spain, while paid options cover the UK, US, Canada and Europe. Here's every official broadcast option, plus how to keep access while travelling.
News
'The debate has gone backwards', former Team Sky CEO Fran Millar calls for cycling reform as Rapha reissues its Roadmap
Rapha has republished its 2019 reform blueprint on the final day of the UCI's consultation deadline, with CEO Fran Millar arguing that seven years of diagnosis has produced almost no structural change in professional cycling.
Vuelta España Femenina by Carrefour.es
Without Vollering, La Vuelta Femenina becomes the most unpredictable race of 2026 - Analysis
Demi Vollering's absence removes the default favourite from a seven-stage race that builds towards Les Praeres and L'Angliru. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney leads a deep field, but Anna van der Breggen's rising form and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's explosiveness make this one hard to call.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2026: Live Stream, TV Channel & How to Watch
Liège-Bastogne-Liège closes the 2026 spring Classics on Sunday, April 26, with men's and women's races through the Ardennes. Here's every official broadcaster, the countries with free-to-air coverage, and how to keep watching your home subscription while travelling abroad using a VPN.
La Flèche Wallonne Féminine
'I got stuck on the big chain ring', Niewiadoma-Phinney fourth at La Flèche Wallonne after shifting failure on Mur de Huy finale
Katarzyna Niewiadoma was unable to shift out of her big chainring on the final climb, forcing her to grind up the Mur de Huy at low cadence. She finished six seconds behind winner Demi Vollering but remains confident ahead of Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Feature
2027 Tour de France Femmes UK route analysis: Why Stage 2 is a masterpiece, but Stage 1 misses the mark
ASO has confirmed the opening three stages of the 2027 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in Britain, with a historic team time trial finishing on The Mall and two road stages crossing Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and the Peak District.
Giro d'Italia Women
Giro d'Italia Women confirms five Italian Continental teams despite UCI rule barring them from WorldTour races
RCS Sport's 21-team start list for the 2026 Giro d'Italia Women includes five Continental wild cards that appear to contradict the UCI's own 2026 eligibility regulations for top-tier women's events.
Racing
Storm Therese forces Demi Vollering to cut Teide altitude camp short ahead of Classics
The FDJ United-SUEZ rider and her teammates were told to leave Tenerife immediately after authorities closed Mount Teide's roads and national park, disrupting preparations for the cobbled Classics.
Milano-Sanremo Donne
Milano-Sanremo Donne Preview – Will the Poggio disrupt the sprinters?
The second modern edition sticks to last year’s 156km run from Genoa to Via Roma, but a forecast headwind may blunt long-range raids and tilt the finale back toward the fastest finishers.
Trofeo Alfredo Binda - Comune di Cittiglio
How to watch the Trofeo Alfredo Binda 2026 live: TV channels, free streams & start times
Complete viewing guide for the Women's WorldTour classic in Lombardy on Sunday 15 March. Every broadcaster, free-to-air option in Italy via RaiPlay, subscription costs, and how to securely access your home service while travelling abroad.
Trofeo Alfredo Binda - Comune di Cittiglio
Trofeo Alfredo Binda 2026 Preview – Elisa Balsamo targets fourth win as rain looms over Cittiglio
The defending champion chases history on a circuit built for attrition. A deep field and a wet weekend forecast could complicate her path to a fourth title.
Strade Bianche Donne
Strade Bianche Donne Race Preview: Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky chase history
The 2026 route cuts total sterrato but doubles back on the decisive climbs of Colle Pinzuto and Le Tolfe, demanding teams spend their cards earlier in a loaded field.
Paris-Roubaix Femmes Hauts-de-France
Puck Pieterse reveals race progamme that targets Ardennes peak with Paris-Roubaix 'pencilled in'
Fenix-Premier Tech confirm a refined spring Classics programme for Pieterse, with fewer races, a later debut at Strade Bianche and a provisional first appearance at the Hell of the North.