5 conclusions from the 2020 Strade Bianche Women

SIENA ITALY AUGUST 01 Podium Annemiek Van Vleuten of The Netherlands and Team Mitchelton Scott World Champion Jersey Celebration Trophy during the Eroica 6th Strade Bianche 2020 Women Elite a 136km race from Siena to Siena Piazza del Campo StradeBianche on August 01 2020 in Siena Italy Photo by Luc ClaessenGetty Images
Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott) won her second consecutive Strade Bianche (Image credit: Getty Images)

After an enforced mid-summer break due to the on-going global health crisis, Women's WorldTour racing returned to our screens with a bang.

Life or sport may not yet be back to normal, but Strade Bianche gave cycling fans a suitably dramatic return to top level racing with the high temperatures, dusty gravel roads and riders keen to get back into the mix of competition.

Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.