Pro Women's Cycling

The 2016 Aviva Women's Tour was a fantastic race, and Dan and I talked about the racing action in our latest podcast (spoiler alert: so exciting!) - but I had a pretty unique view of the race this year, because I was doing commentary for ITV4. I was doing the "as live" commentary with Hugh Porter, while cyclocross superstar and general all-round cycling guru Helen Wyman did the presenting at the start and finish of each show with Ned Boulting. I had so many questions about her experience - so we chatted about it all, with a foray at the end into how the TV coverage of women's cyclocross has already changed the sport after one season - have a listen!

For links to the videos, head over to my website:

https://prowomenscycling.com/2016/06/27/talking-television-with-helen-wyman/

This week we're back after Sarah's been working doing the commentary for the television coverage of the Aviva Women's Tour. We discuss all things British stage racing. We also catch up on the Giro del Trentino and the North Star GP. We take a quick look ahead and start to prepare ourselves for the excitement of the Giro Rosa. Our title this week is a tribute to the amazing Alison Tetrick who raced most of the Women's Tour with four cracked ribs.

There's been a heap of racing this week, with the focus firmly in North America. Racing from Canada with the Gatineau races and then the next race of the Women's World Tour in the Philadelphia Classic. There's downhill mountainbike racing in Fort William, Scotland. And of course we've got some classic Belgian racing to round out the portfolio! Strap yourselves in and enjoy!

It's a crazy amount of racing to cover this week (Sarah even had to split screen multiple races at one point!) and so we dive into it, catching up on US racing including the US national time trial and road race. There's been a wealth of European road racing as well with Plumelec, Gooik and more. There's the latest round of the MTB Cross Country World Cup, there's BMX world championships and there's heaps of interesting blogs and articles to mention as well!

Videos and links to things we talked about on our website:

https://prowomenscycling.com/2016/06/01/podcast-2016-episode-18-my-teammate-gracies-attitude/

This week we're back with a whole American stage race to cover! The Amgen Breakaway From Heart Disease Women's Race Empowered by SRAM stage race in California was held over the last weekend and we recap each stage along with some analysis of the implications for the growth of the race and US racing overall. We talk about the latest para-cycling news (Hint: The Paralympics are going to be super exciting!)and we also cover the latest round of the MTB World Cup and lots more.

Can you believe it's been four years since we started this crazy adventure of doing a podcast about women's cycling? Sarah and Dan take a moment to celebrate how far women's cycling has come in that time and to reminisce a little about how they got here. From that we launch fully into catching up on the racing from the Tour of ChongMing Island, Vuelta Feminin Costa Rica, Tour of the Gila, BMX World Cup, para-cycling, the latest from the Lotto Cycling Cup and more. It's been an amazing week to witness the growth and globalisation of cycling, and we're putting it all down to the birthday of the podcast.

Click through to our website for the videos and links to everything we talked about:

https://prowomenscycling.com/2016/05/10/podcast-2016-episode-16-meta-birthdays/

It's been four years in the making but this week's podcast is possibly the most special of them all so far for the simple reason that for the very first time Sarah and Dan are recording in real life, together in the same room. Is this the episode in which someone is murdered? Is this the episode in which bickering and fighting ends the whole project? Or do we simply discuss the Tour de Yorkshire, GP Elsy Jacobs, Gracia-Orlová, the forthcoming para-cycling and a bunch of cool cycling events? The only way to find out is to press play and enjoy the ride!

Links to things we talked about are on our website:

https://prowomenscycling.com/2016/05/05/podcast-2016-episode-15/

I'm really excited about this brand new cycling-and-women project, The Adventure Syndicate, that brings together nine amazing women who have incredible adventures on (and off) the bike, to share their stories, and inspire other women (and men too) to have their own cycling experiences too. I interviewed two of the Syndicate members about it - cycle courier, solo round-the-world-ish cyclist, and author Emily Chappell, and Scottosh cross country MTB star Lee Craigie. They told me how it came about, who else is involved, and where they want to take it all in the future - including how everyday cyclists can get involved in their North Coast 500, and hang out with them in Inverness on the weekend of 14th May.

Click through to my blog for all the links to things we talked about (including a skiier being chased by a bear):

https://prowomenscycling.com/2016/05/02/emily-chappell-and-lee-craigie-on-the-adventure-syndicate/

G'day from sunny Manchester this week team! Dan's on holiday and enjoying the snow in the English spring. This week we've got heaps to talk about and it's not all scandals involving Australians in Manchester. We also talk the end of the Assos Girl, the penalties for motor doping, crowd-funding and that big Marianne Vos crash.

On top of that, there's heaps of racing to cover off. We've got Joe Martin Stage Race in the US, Omloop van Borsele, Dwars door Westhoek, and heaps of Cairns MTB activity. Of course there's the usual hilarity and this week an added bonus of technical difficulties (which we've done our absolute best to correct, but sorry/not sorry).

There are links to everything we talked about over on our blog:

https://prowomenscycling.com/2016/04/29/podcast-2016-episode-14-its-ok-hes-an-aussie/

This week we catch up on the Basque races with Durango Durango, and all the stages of Emakumeen Bira. There's a couple of Dutch races blown (pun intended) apart and then there's Dan's annual rant about the race that we should be able to see live but can't (we're still not buying Flèche Wallonne a beer). But Sarah maintains her resolution to see the half-full part of the glass and we prove that as we look ahead to the MTB action in Cairns and all the racing in the week ahead.

Links to all the things we talked about, with tons of race video:

http://prowomenscycling.com/2016/04/21/podcast-2016-episode-13-glass-half-full/