Cor Vos
Hello, and thank you for reading this week’s Wheel Talk newsletter. Milan-San Remo was amazing, despite one of the worst crashes in recent memory. Thankfully, everyone who went down has come out relatively unhurt.
Debora Silvestri, the Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi rider who went over the barrier, reported five broken ribs and a fractured shoulder. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney suffered only bruising and road rash. Millie Couzens, the Picnic PostNL rider who slid along the barrier, also reported only bruising, as did Margaux Vigié, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider who tumbled over the barrier. All in all, minor injuries, compared to what the outcome could have been. Now, let’s move on…
First things first: All five Monuments
Rumour of a women’s Il Lombardia has popped up again, but this time RCS, who runs the men’s race and last year finally added a women’s Milan San Remo to the calendar, is the source. In a conversation with Cyclingnews, a source from within the organization indicated that a women’s Race of the Falling Leaves is even more possible now.
“We want to create a women’s edition of Il Lombardia, but it’s not easy,” the source told Cyclingnews. “We know that there should be a women’s Il Lombardia, it’s the only Monument without a women’s race. However, it’s important that the race is sustainable for the long-term, sponsors and budgets are needed, and we need to strengthen our organisational team too.”
RCS did not indicate when they are aiming to, potentially, add the race, but there has been talk of 2027 for the first edition. As the source said, Il Lombardia is the only race of the five Monuments that doesn’t have a women’s equivalent. The other four: the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Milan-San Remo, all have women’s races as of 2025.
Between the five epics are three different race organizers. The ASO is in charge of both Paris-Roubaix Femmes and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, while Flanders Classics organizes the Tour of Flanders. RCS runs Milan-San Remo and has become more and more involved in women’s cycling, having recently taken over the Giro d’Italia Women.
It would be really cool to see a women’s Lombardia on the calendar. The men’s edition is almost always excellent to watch, but my favourite thing is that it takes place at the end of the season. Whenever the Spring Classics end, there is a sense of loss. The way that the peloton attacks the one-day races makes for some very good bike racing, and it’s a shame that there is such a large block of time between the Classics and the World Championships and then Worlds and the Classics again. Of course, we have GP de Plouay, but in past years it hasn’t attracted the top names. A race like Il Lombardia would pull in top talent, but also give them a stage to end the year with an epic battle.
They should also move the Ardennes to the Fall… but that is a completely different rant (see feature image).
Racing continues…
On Thurday, at the Ronde Van Brugge!
This year, the race takes place primarily in Brugge, when in years past it was from Brugge to De Panne and was normally one for the sprinters. The race has been defined by crosswinds that have shredded the field, as well as a complicated finale in the city center that has resulted in significant crashes.
It is likely, depending on the weather, that this course will be for the sprinters, regardless of the change. Some “climbing” in the early stages of the race will be almost insignificant, as the circuit in Brugge will be where the core race takes place. They cover the smaller lap 1.5 times, which means they will traverse over two sectors of cobbles twice.
The final cobbled sector is still 25 km from the finish, so barely close enough to really make an impact on the final standings. The course itself is technical with a lot of sharp bends. It will require a lot of attentiveness from the riders.
Weather report courtesy of Georgie Howe:
As we’re back in Belgium, it would feel fitting for the race to be impacted by the weather. At the moment, the forecast calls for significant crosswinds, and with a few long stretches of road, a team like SD Worx-Protime could split the peloton apart in the early stages of the race before they enter the smaller circuit around Brugge.
Escape Collective Star Ratings:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Lorena Wiebes
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Lara Gillespie, Charlotte Kool
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️: Shari Bossuyt, Elisa Balsamo
⭐️ ⭐️ : Susanne Andersen
⭐️ : Nienke Veenhoven, Eline Jansen
This is based on guesses alone, as there is not a startlist out yet, but given who raced Nokere Koerse, I think these will be the sprinters present on Thursday.
A full startlist will be available here later in the week.
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