Women’s Cycling Weekly: Issue 35
A weekly curation of women's cycling news and content by the one and only Amy Jones.
A weekly curation of women's cycling news and content by the one and only Amy Jones.
Hello! Welcome to Women’s Cycling Weekly issue 35 🚴♀️
The Tokyo Olympic Games are upon us! They started today with the opening ceremony (or did they start on Wednesday with a football match?) the Japanese public hate them, the country is under a state of emergency, and they might yet be cancelled, but nevertheless: they are here.
Nobody asked, but my personal view is that whilst it would be heartbreaking for an athlete to watch their Olympic dream get wiped out, no city should be strong-armed into hosting an international sporting event fraught with public health concerns that is deeply unpopular amongst its inhabitants.
But, while The Discourse rumbles on, so, too, do the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games — and that means we have lots of cycling events coming up. Much has been made of the fact that this is the most gender-equal Games yet (48.8% of athletes are women) with some sports taking more women than men, but it will surprise nobody to learn that cycling ain’t one of them — with 299 men and 229 women competing across road, MTB, BMX, and track events. Next time, though, will be different.
Alright, so I got this far without mentioning the D-word. No, calm down, I mean the Dutch. Of course, in the build-up to the road race everyone has been asking the eternal question of who can beat them, or which one of the four of them will win. There are a few that might give the ‘Killer V’s’ (© Freewheeling) a run for their money but let’s be real: it’s hard to look past their formidable collective clout. (I’m not about to launch into predictions, that’s what the recommendations sections are for.) What we can be pretty certain of, though, is that it will (please) be an exciting showdown, no matter who claims gold on Sunday.
Let’s get into it…
We delve into the Olympic road race on the latest Freewheeling episode alongside Gracie Elvin who knows a thing or two about racing at the Olympic Games!
Plus: an interview with Monica Garrison of Black Girls Do Bike.
Naturally, there’s LOADS of stuff on the Olympics this week:
A talk featuring Hannah Ross (off of the brilliant book, Revolutions) speaking to Robyn Davidson and Dr Josephine Perry and Dan Bigham on what it takes to win the Olympic time trial.
Virtual Velofete Tuesday 13th July 2021 – Women's Cycling and Time Trial Performance from John Walter on Vimeo.
Thanks for reading Women’s Cycling Weekly.
If you liked what you read you can buy WCW a ‘coffee’ on Ko-Fi. A huge thanks to everyone who has done so already!
Have a great weekend!
Until next time,
Amy x