Hi team! Even though Sarah’s been unwell this week she’s managed to return from the dead just to help catch you up on all the racing that’s been going on this week. We review the Omloops from last weekend, Le Samyn des Dames mid-week and the first two days of the Track World Championships (which have involved the presence of the Drama Llama). We also talk about a bunch of pro kits available for purchase and some really cool videos and articles from the week including several that focus on riders from ethnically diverse backgrounds, which is fantastic. As always there’s heaps to get through, so enjoy! (1:11:30 MIN / 65.4 MB)
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Things we talked about
How World Bicycle Relief is helping bikes change people’s lives:
This week’s racing
Omloop het Nieuwsblad, Evelyn Stevens’ Hour Record and the Omloop van het Hageland – videos, links and more.
Le Samyn des Dames – photos from the Lotto Cycling Cup and Vélofocus. Full results and race report from Cyclingnews and Boels-Dolmans.
2016 Track World Championships – videos, results and more from Day 1 and Day 2.
Results from the Massada-Arad ITT in Israel, and the Oceania ITT Championships.
Update! Thanks to ProCyclingStats, videos from the first and second Israeli races:
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Other things we saw
BBC film-ette about Ayesha McGowan, who’s working to become the first female African-American pro-cyclist. Read Ayesha’s blog about making the film, and follow her on twitter and instagram.
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Cyclingnews profile of Rwandan rider Jeanne d’Arc Girubuntu.
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New York Times piece about women riding bikes in Gaza, despite social opposition and harassment.
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Gabby Durrin wrote about depression, and how to retire from cyclocross without losing your identity.
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Interview with Tracy Moseley about her slow retirement from Enduro MTB, and her plans for the future.
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This made us laugh – in the BikeBiz piece on the recent Sports Marketing Surveys report on the growth in the women’s cycling industry:
Edward Willis, SMS’ sports business manager for cycling said: “Brands are increasingly interested in understanding what is driving the growth in female cycling and in identifying ways in which they can appeal to this crucial market. In fact, whilst the reports show a clear divergence of opinion between men and women on many topics, the areas where their interests align are just as revealing.”
In the UK, the results expose clear differences between men and women in terms of, for example, their spend on different types of bike, their priorities when considering upgrading a bike’s components and the people they choose to cycle with. Often these differences are counter-intuitive, said Willis, for example the finding that it is men, not women, who are more concerned about the gender specificity of a bike or frame.
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BMX star Shanaze Reade shows us how to ride the rollers.
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Nominate to the March Social Media Jersey. And buy jerseys! Rush Cycling Team, and Boels-Dolmans, Canyon-SRAM and Liv-Plantur jerseys are on sale – and you can find more jerseys from World Tour Teams and smaller teams in these posts.
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Upcoming races
5th March, Women’s World Tour #1 Strade Bianche, Italy – previews and how to follow the race live
5th March, Dead Sea Scorpion Pass, Israel
12th March, Women’s World Tour #2 Ronde van Drenthe, Netherlands – this is likely to have some of it streamed live – come back in the week for more information.
13th March, Drentse Acht van Westerveld, Netherlands
13th-20th March, Absa Cape Epic, South Africa – EPIC team, multi-stage MTB race – how to watch live, live rider tracking, their fantastic twitter and tons of pre-race videos on their YouTube.
20th March Women’s World Tour #3 Trofeo Alfredo Binda, Italy and the Junior Trofeo da Moreno – this will have significant highlights, come back later for information.
Sarah’s guides to more road races we can watch this year, and how to follow road races that aren’t streamed.
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As always, Sarah is funded to do her cycling work thanks to her Patreon Supporters – you can join them from as little as £1.50/€2/$2 a month, all the information is over here.
