The UCI Women's WorldTour will resume at the Tour of Chongming Island on Friday for the seventh round. It is the first stage race of the new series and will be held from May 6-8 in China. Team Liv-Plantur is set to return with a powerful, experienced line-up that includes Canadian sprinter Leah Kirchmann.
According to a team press release, the women will look to make the most of the flatter stages in the three-stage race and to achieve strong results.
"The previous editions of the Tour of Chongming Island have essentially been sprint races and that's what I expect again this year. We have a well-balanced team for these stages with flexibility to go for the sprints and also with the breakaways," said director Dirk Reuling.
"The goal is to work as a team and target a stage victory, which should be within reach after our good performances in Borsele and Yorkshire. On top of that, we will explore the opportunities in the general classification with Leah."
Team Liv-Plantur for Tour of Chongming Island: Leah Kirchmann, Riejanne Markus, Sara Mustonen, Rozanne Slik, Julia Soek and Kyara Stijns.
Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank to Tour of the Gila
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Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank will be in New Mexico this week for the 30th edition of the Tour of the Gila held from May 4-8. Lauren Stephens, who finished third overall and won the stage 3 time trial in 2015 will lead the team.
The race suits Stephens with three road stages (two with mountain top finishes) a time trial and a downtown criterium. Stephens will be joined by Brianna Walle and Cheryl Clark.
“Solid teamwork and smart tactics will be important for us as we attempt to unseat the pure climbers in the higher elevations around Silver City,” said director Ed Beamon in a team press release. “If we get strong TT efforts from Brianna Walle, Lauren Stephens and Cheryl Clark, we'll have multiple options to challenge the mountain goats, especially in the later stages of the race.
“I think the team is riding very well together and showing a lot of spirit and coordination. Gila is always a challenge, but we'll focus on team chemistry and rely on our depth as we target specific stages with an eye on the final overall podium.”
Pavukhina wins Gracia Orlova
Olena Pavukhina (BTC) won the Gracia Orlova Tour this weekend, beating Shara Gillow (Australia) by 1:45 and Alena Amialiusik (Canyon-SRAM) by 1:50.
Amialiuski won the first stage and took the first leader's jersey of the five-day race, however, Pavukhina took over that lead after winning stage 2. She held onto her lead through the remaining three stages to secure the overall title.
Double wins for Rivera in North Carolina
UnitedHealthcare's Coryn Rivera is on a winning streak. After winning the overall title at the Joe Martin Stage Race last week, she continued with back-to-back victories at Charlotte Criterium and Belmont Criterium this weekend.
Rivera won Saturday's Pro Road Tour race in Charlotte from the bunch sprint. The next day, after being involved in a three-woman breakaway, she out-sprinting her companions at the line to win in Belmont. Sam Schneider finished second and Erica Allar third, which was the same podium as the previous night's criterium.
Under the rainy weather conditions in Charlotte, Rivera said, "There was a lot of uncertainty with the rain looming. We had to wait until the final couple laps to see what would happen. It was left down to the OG crit squad of Lauren, Cari and I at the end. We knew what we needed to do coming into the final lap, and we pulled it off."
Why was the Tour de Yorkshire important - Voxwomen Video
The Tour de Yorkshire women's race took place on the same day as the men's second stage in Doncaster on Saturday. Although the planned live coverage fell through due to technical issues, the prize purse reached £50,000. Kirsten Wild (Hitec) won the sprint finish to take the win and the large prize purse. Watch the video from Voxwomen to find out why the race was so important this year.
