# 2010 UCI Women's Road Calendar



## Skip Madness (25 Sep 2009)

The UCI have published next year's provisional calendars and there are a few interesting things about the women's elite schedule.

Most glaringly at this stage, the Grande Boucle does not appear listed. The flyer Vélo-Féminin put on their website a few months ago had the race pencilled in for 13-18 July. The calendar could change, as there were additions and withdrawals made to this season's timetable as it was ongoing, but it's a bit worrying that it's not even sketched in for the time being. On the other hand, the Critérium des Cyclistines, a one-day race that Vélo-Féminin has been trying to organise for years, is set for the 12th of June as a 1.2 classed event. I hope we'll find out more soon.

There are other notable absentees. The Vuelta a Costa Rica seems to have lost its UCI classification again, while all of the races in El Salvador that were cancelled this year - Vuelta a El Salvador, Vuelta a Occidente, GP de Santa Ana and GP de San Salvador - have not reappeared. Among one-day races, the Tour de Berne (a World Cup event) is not there. Neither are the Wellington one-day race nor the Chrono des Herbiers. The Geelong races are still not back, presumably because of Melbourne hosting the World Championships next season. I hope it returns subsequently.

What's new is quite intriguing. The Tour of Chongming Island one-day race is now part of the World Cup - whether is will still be a time-trial or if it is changing to a road race I don't know. The GP Ciudad de Valladolid - which was slated for this year and last year but cancelled on both occasions - is not only back but also has World Cup status. It is joined by another one-day race in Spain, the Trofeo Marta de Azpilicueta. The Visite Chrono de Gatineau, a time-trial in Canada, is new to the calendar, as are the Dwars door de Westhoek and Grand Prix de Luxembourg.

There are two new stage races as well. The GP Pasta Zara is scheduled for three days at the end of May, organised by the Safi-Titanedi people. There is a bit about it here:


Maurizio Fabretto said:


> Next season we are organising a stage race that will bring together the best Italian and foreign squads in women's cycling. It will be called the Gran Premio Pasta Zara Memorial Franco Bragagnolo in honour of one of our sponsors and it will become one of the highlights of the international calendar.


Perhaps most eye-catching of all is the Tour of India, slated for the 27-29 March as a 2.2 event. I haven't been able to find out anything about it yet as a Google search has proven fruitless and the website linked from the UCI schedule just goes to some marketing company. It's certainly not a country I was expecting to see hosting a new race, so I'm keen to learn more.


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## Flying_Monkey (25 Sep 2009)

A Tour of India sounds great. I hope they actually have some Indian teams riding and it's not just a load of white people riding in an 'exotic' location...


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## Skip Madness (25 Sep 2009)

Flying_Monkey said:


> I hope they actually have some Indian teams riding and it's not just a load of white people riding in an 'exotic' location...


What on Earth makes you think it would be like that...


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## Flying_Monkey (25 Sep 2009)

Skip Madness said:


> What on Earth makes you think it would be like that...



Ha ha... indeed.


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## resal1 (26 Sep 2009)

Sad that the Geelong tour is not in. Let's hope it does come back. 
At http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/may09/may05news, about 5th story down there is a tour identified. One must assume it is for men.
I cannot search and find it now, but I think I read somewhere that Geelong was still having problems sorting out the course for next year's champs.

Maybe the Boucle departing is a good thing. Perhaps a void is needed for women's cycling to get the sort of event it needs to promote it. Tough on Boue. He has been doing his best for years. However, it does not appear to have improved in recent years. No signs of former glory, 2 weeks, 3 week-ends and a finish in the Palace of Versailles.

A few months ago the Daily Telegraph ran a story connected with Steven Roche and showed him on the Podium in Paris. Alongisde him was Lonogo, also in Yellow.


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## Skip Madness (26 Sep 2009)

resal1 said:


> Sad that the Geelong tour is not in. Let's hope it does come back.
> At http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/may09/may05news, about 5th story down there is a tour identified. One must assume it is for men.


That's a bit odd. I thought I remembered reading that the reason Geelong wasn't held last year was because it clashed (well, not really, but sort of) with the hosting of the Oceania continental championships, and presumed that the non-appearance in 2010 was for similar reasons regarding the Worlds. And yet there they are organising new men's stage races.


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## yello (27 Sep 2009)

Blimey, sounds like a cycling version of the hokey cokey! All those races out, and others in? Is that normal for women's cycling? 

Perhaps I illustrate the reason; I know little about it and have little interest to find out more. So neither do many people I guess. We have a couple of quite high profile women's races around here each year (in that they attract teams from around the world, I don't know how they're rated on any race calendar though) but they are not well attended (comparatively) and I've never been to watch.


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## Skip Madness (27 Sep 2009)

yello said:


> All those races out, and others in? Is that normal for women's cycling?


Pretty much. There are certain races that are more-or-less guaranteed to be there in some form or another: the stage races like the Giro, Tour de l'Aude, Thüringen, Toscana, Ardèche, Bira, Gracia-Orlová, Grand Montréal and Trophee d'Or; and maybe twenty-five/thirty one-day races you can fairly well bet to be on. Beyond those, even races that become well-established aren't ones I'd be certain of going for another year until I've seen the calendar with my own eyes.


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## Skip Madness (4 Oct 2009)

I'm bumping this for two reasons. One is to say that although it doesn't contain any info on a women's race (or the men's race scheduled for the same slot next year), this website does contain some stuff about _a_ Tour de India, although whether it's in any way affiliated with next year's UCI races is unclear.

The second thing was something I was wondering about yesterday, with some of us constantly lamenting the lack of a two-week stage race in the women's calendar (warning - this is about to get nerdy). A few months ago I posted this about UCI regulations on race distances in another thread:


Skip Madness said:


> UCI said:
> 
> 
> > *2.6.007*
> ...


I had the idea yesterday of going into www.archive.org to see if the old UCI rule books from 2004 still existed. They do. They use the same terminology as the current documents but refer back to 1996:
[quote name='UCI]Women's Elite Events classified 2.9 [note - old classifications remember, modern day 2.1'] - maximum duration 1996 length[/quote]
Given that the Grande Boucle was frequently a 15-day event (including the rest day) and the Giro between 11 and 15 days between 1996 and 2003, races of that duration were clearly still permissible in 2004. So the question is whether the current regulations invoke the rules of 2004 or the actual races of 2004 (none of which were longer than 10 days). Although that remains ambiguous, the way the documents are all written the same way back through to before 2000 (you can't go as far back as the 1996 rule book) makes me think that the same regulations are in place - ie. a two-week race would still be permissible under the current rules.

This is backed up by the fact that the Giro d'Italia's reduction from being a two-week race in 2001 to a ten-day race in 2002 was prompted not by any regulation but by the organisers themselves being seen to act on the doping raid that had affected the race in 2001. This from Cycling News before the 2002 Giro:
[quote name='Cycling News]This year's Giro is run over 10 days [...'] This marks a reduction in length from previous editions which have been run over 14 days. The decision to reduce the distance was made by Giuseppe Rivolta (Associclosportivi di Sovico) in conjunction with the O.G.C. (Organizzazione Gare Ciclistiche). Italian cycling federation president Giancarlo Ceruti approved of the change, saying that it would provide a spectacle without seriously affecting the health of the athletes.[/quote]
I'm aware that this stuff is only of interest to (generously) a handful of us, but I thought it was worth sticking here.


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## resal1 (4 Oct 2009)

Thanks Skip. Interesting that there was the cut and "Health of the riders" was one of the publicly stated benefits. On the basis that the organisers of the women's giro also organise the U23 men's ("baby") giro - was that shortened in length for the health of the riders ?


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## Skip Madness (4 Oct 2009)

resal1 said:


> On the basis that the organisers of the women's giro also organise the U23 men's ("baby") giro - was that shortened in length for the health of the riders ?


Having looked this up quickly, I can't find out how long the Baby Giri were in 1999 or prior to 1998, but in 1998 it was 11 days and in 2000 10 days. Then in 2001 it goes up to 14 days, before going back down to 10 in 2002 and staying there subsequently. That coincides with the reduction in 2002 of the Giro Donne, but I can't tell whether that was coordinated or a coincidence - 2001 might have just been an experiment in the Girobio which didn't work out, or it may have been that after the raid on the Giro Donne it was deemed sensible to shorten both races.


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## Skip Madness (15 Nov 2009)

Bump.

I did some digging recently to find out what the deal is with the Grande Boucle next year. It sounds like Pierre Boué has a lot on his plate which might be getting in the way. I'm having trouble with my limited French, but he seems to be embroiled in a political scandal based on when he was a representative in the administration of the city of Paris, which concerns "fictional jobs". His name has come up alongside accusations of the crimes of "concealing funds he new had come from the offence of abuse of confidence" and "concealing the offence of misappropriation of public funds". It all concerns Jacques Chirac's administration of Paris city hall, it seems.

Jeannie Longo's name also came up, the insinuation I think being that an assistant for her may have been one of these so-called fictional jobs, although Chirac's lawyer is contesting it. It seems there was also he belief that Boué may have been the one employed as her assistant. Like I said, I'm struggling with the language barrier, but you can get a bit of info in French here.

Cyclismag went with this on November 3rd...



Cyclismag said:


> *Emplois fictifs : Questions sur une assistante de Jeannie Longo... *
> 
> A l'époque où Jacques Chirac était maire de Paris, Jeannie Longo aurait bénéficié d'une "assistante" payée par la mairie, explique l'avocat de l'ancien président de la République, aujourd'hui poursuivi pour de présumés emplois fictifs. Selon Me Jean Veil, l'emploi d'une assistante pour Jeannie Longo relève du "mécénat sportif" puisque la cycliste travaillait "gratuitement pour la mairie de manière bénévole".
> L'avocat de Jacques Chirac a justifié à l'agence Associated Press : "[Jeannie Longo] dit simplement qu'elle n'a pas le temps de remplir un certain nombre de tâches et veut être assistée, cela n'est pas anormal. [...] Il y avait un projet de vélodrome à Paris et éventuellement d'autres compétitions, et le maire de l'époque a considéré que la mairie devait faire du mécénat sportif".
> ...


... and then printed this correction on November 6th:



Cyclismag said:


> -Cyclismag.com annonçait lundi que Pierre Boué, organisateur de la Grande Boucle féminine internationale, était renvoyé devant la justice dans le cadre de l'affaire dite des "emplois fictifs de la mairie de Paris", tandis que le nom d'une "assistante" de Jeannie Longo apparaissait dans le dossier. Or, il s'agit d'une seule et même personne, contrairement à ce qu'indiquait l'agence américaine Associated Press, parlant au féminin d'une "assistante" au service de la cycliste.
> L'avocat de Jacques Chirac estime que l'emploi de Pierre Boué relève du "mécénat sportif".


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## resal1 (15 Nov 2009)

Hi Skip - thanks for posting that up. I have started a separate thread for GBFI which has now run its course. Very sad. Given our discoveries of last year and Boue attempting to get UK towns involved and the story of BC putting the end to any possible chance of getting the race into London, it seems that it was not only in France was he having little luck.


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## Skip Madness (16 Nov 2009)

OK, we'll use your new thread from here on in since it's more specific.


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## Skip Madness (4 Jan 2010)

Just a little bump - this piece from Cicloweb indicates that the Stelvio will be in next summer's Giro d'Italia.

Yay!

The first real special-category climb in a grand tour since the Izoard from the 2008 Boucle. It also mentions the race taking in Aprica. Which is of course next-door to the Mortirolo and the Gavia...





... which I doubt we'll see, but we can dream.


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## Skip Madness (5 Jan 2010)

Bollocks... Alberto Rigamonti refutes the rumours.


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## Skip Madness (14 Jan 2010)

More bad tidings... for some reason I always thought that the Canadian races were on fairly safe ground, but it appears not:


Cycling News said:


> The women's UCI calendar in North America was devastated today by the cancellation of three of only five races sanctioned by the international body. The Canadian Cycling Association announced today that the Montréal Women’s World Cup (May 29th, 2010), the Tour de Grand Montréal (May 31st – June 3rd, 2010) and the Tour de PEI (June 6th-10th, 2010) will be canceled after the organizer retired.
> The races formed the bulk of the UCI races in North America, with the only other road race being the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the new La visite chrono de Gatineau in June.


The stage races are big losses, no doubt about it, but losing an iconic race like the Montréal World Cup really hurts. I was under the impression that the Chrono de Gatineau would be organised by the same bunch, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Interesting that an event which is brand new (and, to be brutally honest, not especially exciting-sounding) appears to be surviving while three well-established and good-quality races disappear.

Heartbreaking.


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## resal1 (14 Jan 2010)

Absolutely devastating. About 3 to 6 years ago the women's calendar was looking super. World cups in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, Canada, Germany, as well as the heart land of France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland. Why even once there was a round in the UK. It looked even more global than the men's World Cup ! In fact it was probably one of the most global sporting events available to women competitors.

Got to be lack of publicity. The oxygen to any sponsors.


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## resal1 (14 Jan 2010)

The race in Canada was dealt a devastating blow by Jeanson, her coach and that funky doctor. To be honest, as it all exploded, I wondered how long the race would last. It must have been a huge kick in the teeth to all those who volunteered to make it work. Taken for a ride by some cynics. It would have taken some determined stuff to keep going after that.


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## Skip Madness (3 Apr 2010)

A little bump for this one. Amid all of the depressing news we have had this season, the apparent cancellation of the inaugural Tour de India seemed no surprise. However, it hasn't been cancelled - it's been moved to August 21-22, although the two days were initially planned to be three. I don't know what's motivated the move.

Another piece of good news is a late addition to the UCI calendar - the Bryne Grand Prix in Norway, also scheduled for August 21. One problem is that besides clashing with each other, both of these clash with the Grand Prix de Plouay which makes it hard to see very strong line-ups at either. I still have my doubts as to whether the Tour de India will get off the ground yet, I think an early season slot remains the best choice there.


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## resal1 (7 Apr 2010)

Thanks Skip for keeping us updated. What is disappointing is that Flanders, the Fleche and Plouay are the 3 quality events in the women's season that are on at the same time and location as the men and so could be brought under the media spotlight as showcases. It seems madness to allow new events to compete with one of these 3 when there are so many other dates available.

With regard to the women's scene can I just add a link to the BBC forum 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A65795755

I know you have been helping with useful comments at the BBC site, but perhaps some from here do not go there. That is a thread on the Women's Flanders with 64 comments. Looking at Tony Cooke's account of the race and comparing it with the minimalistic (the most positive spin I can put on it) version on cyclingnews.com makes one despair. There just has to be a market out there for watching women's events, particularly when history prevents us from enjoying men's events, like it has for Richard and myself at Flanders. We just don't know what we are watching.


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## Skip Madness (12 Apr 2010)

It looks like the Tour de Bretagne for this year has been cancelled, according to this post at Cyclisme Féminin. I also had managed to miss that the Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt has been cancelled, which means Plouay will be the last round of the World Cup. Which is even worse news for getting decent teams to Bryne and India.


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## Flying_Monkey (12 Apr 2010)

it's just ridiculous. The UCI has got to do something rather more active than just let women's cycing whither.


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## resal1 (17 Apr 2010)

thanks again skip. This is all just very sad news.
Just seeing that the Men's Veulta a Castilla y Leon is on reminds us that as not very long ago there was a World Cup and accompanying stage race for women Veulta a Castalla y Leon. 
It reminds us just how rapidly the women's scene is decaying at the current time. It is no good allowing for natural evolution, the press crushing the windpipe of publicity so no oxygen gets through, sponsors will just walk. Flying monkey, you are right, it is something the UCI should act upon.


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## Skip Madness (17 Apr 2010)

The UCI should be focusing on TV coverage, we always say it but that's where the sustenance is. If networks aren't going to buy the rights to women's races of their own volition then the UCI should be offering subsidies to them to do so. That way networks won't feel like they're taking a risk and it gives the sport and potential viewers a chance. It couldn't cost much compared to a lot of what they splash out on.


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## resal1 (29 Apr 2010)

At least the race is on the Czech Republic
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/gracia-orlova-2-2/stage-1/results


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## Skip Madness (29 Apr 2010)

Yeah, I quite like Gracia-Orlová, but it hasn't attracted the deepest standard of field this year. I'm not sure why - it might be something to do with some teams heading off to China for the next round of the World Cup, but to be honest I'm not expecting that to attract much of a top-level start list either (hope I'm wrong).


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## Skip Madness (30 Apr 2010)

Pooley wins the GP de Suisse.

I'm not sure if she's planning to ride the Tour de l'Aude but she seems to be in excellent form right now.


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## Flying_Monkey (30 Apr 2010)

Skip Madness said:


> Pooley wins the GP de Suisse.
> 
> I'm not sure if she's planning to ride the Tour de l'Aude but she seems to be in excellent form right now.



Sharon Laws in 4th too... good showing by the British women.


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## andrew_s (30 Apr 2010)

it would seem she is planning to ride the Tour de l'Aude

http://www.cervelo.com/en_us/news-blog/testteam/article/emma-pooley-wins-gp-suisse/165/

[edit]
Interestingly, the TT for stage 3 of the Tour de Romandie was on the same course. Emma was a second faster than Mark Cavendish


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## Skip Madness (1 May 2010)

Pooley wins again at the GP Elsy Jacobs.


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## Skip Madness (1 May 2010)

For those who want to catch some live women's cycling, the Muri Fermani - an Italian domestic calendar race - will be broadcast live tomorrow from 1330 BST here and here. I'll do my best to capture it for those who can't see it, but I really need to make some more disc space so I'll see what I can do.

The start list contains several names of note, here are a few:

*Safi:* Alona Andruk, Eneritz Iturriagaechevarria, Rasa Leleivyte, Eleonora Patuzzo, Marina Romoli
*Chirio:* Luisa Tamanini, Rosane Kirch, Uenia Fernandes, Edita Unguryte, Viktoriya Vologdnina
*Vecchia Fontana:* Rossella Callovi
*Gauss:* Giorgia Bronzini, Edita Pucinskaite
*Vaiano:* Valentina Scandolara
*Michela Fanini:* Barbara Guarischi, Giulia Lazzerini
*Valdarno:* Tatiana Antoshina, Lorenza Morfín, Marta Vilajosana
*Lointek:* Rosario Rodríguez


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## Flying_Monkey (4 May 2010)

Meanwhile the Gracia-Orlova has been going on the Czech Republic and there have been great results for Team GB - Nicole Cooke was 2nd on Stage 1 and 3rd on Stage 2 - unfortunately just ahead of her on each day was Vos! But them Emma Trott won the ITT (and quite convincingly), before it was back to business as usual on Stage 4, with a Vos-Cooke 1-2. Unfortunately on the final day, Cooke dropped a place to 3rd, which is where she finished overall, with Vos and Van Vleuten ahead of her. But it seems Cooke is getting back into some form, and a great result from Trott.

Just beforehand, Emma's younger sister Laura Trott won the overall and took two stages in the Omloop van Borsele in the Netherlands.

What with Emma Pooley riding superbly too, British women's cycling is in a lot better state than the sport as a whole...


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