The different cycling competitions for women

Do you know the different women's cycling competitions contested at the international level? Road and CLM World Cycling Championships, UCI World Tour, Olympics, Tour de France for women... a small overview of the main bicycle races for women and the winners.

The Women's Cycling World Championship

This is the very first women's cycling competition held on a global scale! The first edition was held in 1958. It was won by the so-called "Grand Duchess of the Little Queen," Elsy Jacobs.

Since its inception, the event has been orchestrated annually by the International Cycling Union (UCI)at the end of the cycling season. The elite category competition consists of a road race event, an individual time trial, and a mixed relay team time trial.

The Women's Cycling World Championship has produced stars, including Jeannie Longo, a record breaker on the road and track.

The UCI also organizes world championships in other disciplines such as mountain biking, BMX and even cyclo-cross. Similarly, cyclists compete every year for the title of European champion.

The UCI Women's World Tour

The UCI Women's World Tour is an annual circuit that brings together the biggest road cycling competitions for women. The entire cycling gotha competes there!

Launched in 2016, the race series replaces the former World Cup set up in 1998. American cyclist Megan Guarnier took first place in the standings at the time.

In 2021, the UCI Women's World Tour will have its 6th edition. All teams labeled "WorldTeam" must imperatively take part in all events of the circuit, a novelty since 2020.

The 9 teams entered for the 2021 women's season:

• FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope (France);

• Alé BTC Ljubljana (Italy);

• Canyon-SRAM Racing (Germany);

• DSM (Netherlands);

• Liv Racing (Netherlands);

• SD Worx (Netherlands);

• Movistar (Spain);

• BikeExchange (Australia);

• Trek-Segafredo (USA).

Among the events, there are classics with the one-day races of Paris-Roubaix Femmes, the Flèche wallonne Féminine, the Race by the Tour de France, the Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition. The UCI calendar also includes prestigious stage races, such as the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta or the Giro Rosa (Women's Tour of Italy).

Leading the provisional rankings at the end of September 2021 with 5,409 points, Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten once again proves her status as grand dame of women's cycling.

The Women's Cycling Olympics

Road cycling made its appearance on the Olympic program in 1984, in the form of a rowing race event. Cyclist Connie Carpenter delivers the first ever Olympic title for the United States! Silver remains in American territory with Rebecca Twigg's performance, while bronze goes to Germany's Sandra Schumacher.

From 1996, an individual time trial event is also contested each year at the Olympics. Other Olympic disciplines were later opened to women: track cycling in 1988, mountain biking in 1996 and BMX in 2008.

In 2021, Austria's Anna Kiesenhofer became Olympic road race champion. Annemiek van Vleuten wins the time trial gold medal for the first time in her career.

The Great International Women's Loop

Formerly called the "Women's Cycling Tour," the International Women's Grand Loop takes over from the first women's Tour de France, which was born in 1984 and disappeared in 1989.

Jeannie Longo and Pierre Boué pursue the idea of a women's version of the Tour with the creation in 1992 of a stage race in France.

Unfortunately, financial instability, coupled with organizational problems, got the better of the international women's Grand Loop: 2009 would be the last edition.

But hope for a women's Tour is not lost. Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) has announced the return of an event in 2022, under the name of Tour de France Women with Zwift.

The International Women's Route de France

While it is no longer current, the Women's Route de France nevertheless appeared on the UCI calendar during its years of existence (2006-2016) in the 2.2, then 2.1 category.

With its ten editions, the stage race ranging from 500 to 1,000 km has seen some of the biggest names in women's cycling compete, including the ever-present Annemiek van Vleuten.

Alas, the organizing company Routes et Cycles decided to cancel the competition for good, due to lack of media coverage and funding.

Competitions in France

The French Cycling Federation (FFC) has organized the Female Road Championships of France every year since 1951. In 2021, Evita Muzic won the title for the road race and Audrey Cordon-Ragot took the top step of the time trial podium.

The French Federation of Cyclists (FFC) has been organizing the French Women's Road Championships since 1951

In 2000, a new competition was born: the Coupe de France féminine de cyclisme sur route. Similar to the UCI World Tour, female riders compete in several events during the season. The winner of the 2019 edition is Lucier Jounier.