{"id":197415,"date":"2024-12-09T15:51:17","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T15:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=197415"},"modified":"2024-12-09T15:53:17","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T15:53:17","slug":"2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 in Review: Women\u2019s Road Cycling Highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Women\u2019s cycling in 2024 was a delight to witness \u2013\u00a0the sport grows in ferocity and accessibility each year. Fans had no shortage of wild athleticism, impressive surprises, and welcome strides toward equality to keep them happy. With so much action going down, it can be easy to forget what happened even last week, not to mention several months ago!<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So, as we all wind down for the holidays, we\u2019d like to share some of our top highlights from an incredible year of women\u2019s cycling.<\/p>\n

A landmark year for the women\u2019s peloton<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From the heart-stopping action of the Paris Olympics to the drama of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift,<\/a> 2024 emphasised the sport\u2019s growth in prominence, accessibility, and reach. This year also marked key advancements in the fight for gender equity within cycling and more significant investment in emerging talent from around the world. All signs indicate that the sport is on the brink of its most influential era yet.<\/p>\n

Olympic glory in Paris: A showcase of the best <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The 2024 Paris Olympics offered a global stage for women\u2019s cycling, with Kristen Faulkner delivering a masterful ride to claim the gold medal in the road race. Racing through the iconic streets of Paris, Faulkner\u2019s strategic attack up the C\u00f4te de la Butte Montmartre and a daring solo finish thrilled fans worldwide. She edged out seasoned legends like Marianne Vos and Lotte Kopecky<\/a> who completed the podium with silver and bronze, respectively.<\/p>\n

\"Olympics<\/a>
Marianne Vos (L), Kristen Faulkner (C) and Lotte Kopecky (R) celebrate on the podium with their medals after the women’s road race at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.\u00a0\u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the time trial, Grace Brown reaffirmed her dominance, claiming gold with an unassailable lead. The Olympic Games also highlighted an increasing depth of talent globally, with strong performances from riders representing Africa, Asia, and South America, signalling cycling\u2019s growing inclusivity.\u200b<\/p>\n

Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift: Niewiadoma finally claims top spot<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift was a dramatic and historic race, culminating in Katarzyna Niewiadoma securing her first title by an incredibly narrow margin of just four seconds over defending champion Demi Vollering. Niewiadoma’s victory<\/a> was cemented on the final stage, a gruelling ascent to Alpe d’Huez, where she managed to maintain her lead despite a strong challenge from Vollering. The Polish rider’s triumph was particularly sweet after third-place finishes and a challenging season\u200b.<\/p>\n

This win was not only a significant personal milestone for Niewiadoma but also a historic achievement for Polish cycling and an indication that the nation\u2019s top women rider\u2019s best days are ahead of her.<\/p>\n

\n
\"kasia-niewiadoma-on-winning-the-2024-tour-de-france-femmes-avec-zwift\"\/<\/a><\/div>
\n Road cycling<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n

My Path to Winning the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift by Kasia Niewiadoma<\/span><\/h3>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n<\/div>\n

Spring Classics: All hail Queen Kopecky<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Lotte Kopecky reigned supreme during the spring classics, claiming victories at Strade Bianche Women, Nokere Koerse Women, and Paris-Roubaix Women. Her aggressive racing style and versatility on cobbled climbs and rolling terrain left her rivals scrambling for answers.<\/p>\n

With numerous wins under her belt by the mid-season wrap to the Classics, she continued to charge ahead. She took the Belgian National Championships in the road race and time trial (a feat she\u2019s accomplished four times to date), underscoring her status as Belgium\u2019s national hero. In the Tour of Britain, she won the opening two stages and carried her form all the way to the Giro d\u2019Italia, where she claimed a stage win and finished second overall.<\/p>\n

World Championships: Zurich\u2019s brought another rainbow celebration for Lotte<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Closing the season as strongly as she started, Kopecky added wins at the Tour de Romandie and defended her rainbow jersey at the UCI Road World Championships in Zurich,<\/a> capping off the year with another world title. Her list of achievements was as varied as it was extensive \u2013classics, championships, stage races, and medals.<\/p>\n

Overall, the UCI World Championships in Zurich offered an exhilarating week of competition, culminating in a brilliant performance by Lotte Kopecky, who claimed the rainbow jersey in the road race. Kopecky out-sprinted her rivals in a thrilling finish, capping off a career-defining season.<\/p>\n

Newly crowned Olympic champion Grace Brown of Australia also added to her list of accolades by winning the women\u2019s time trial title at the 2024 UCI Road Cycling World Championships \u2013 effectively ending her career on a glittering high.<\/p>\n

Emerging stars: A bright future for the sport<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The 2024 cycling season highlighted a wave of young talent poised to shape the future of women\u2019s cycling. Among them, Marion Bunel stood out as a rising star. At just 19, she signed with Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women following a breakout season capped by her Tour de l\u2019Avenir win.<\/p>\n

CANYON\/\/SRAM Racing made bold moves in 2024 by promoting Nastya Kolesava from their development squad and signing gravel standout Rosa Kl\u00f6ser. Kolesava impressed with strong showings at the Giro Toscana and Tour de l\u2019Ard\u00e9che, showcasing her race intelligence and leadership abilities. Kl\u00f6ser, transitioning from gravel to road racing, promises to bring power and resilience to the team. Both riders reflect the squad\u2019s commitment to nurturing versatile athletes capable of excelling across disciplines.<\/p>\n

Young stars also emerged across other teams, including 19-year-old Eilidh Shaw who joined UAE Team ADQ\u2019s development squad after a stellar 2023 season featuring podium finishes and a Scottish national title. Meanwhile, Belgian prodigy Ella Heremans moved to dsm-firmenich PostNL, stepping into the Women\u2019s WorldTour after excelling in junior time trials.<\/p>\n

Equality sees both progress and challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n

2024 was a year of significant advancements in gender equity within cycling. Events like the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and the Giro Donne achieved increased parity in prize money and broadcasting time with their male counterparts, signalling progress toward financial equality.<\/p>\n

However, challenges remain. Many smaller teams and riders still face disparities in sponsorship opportunities, while the sport must continue working to expand development pathways for riders in non-European countries. Initiatives like UCI\u2019s Women\u2019s WorldTour grants and grassroots programmes in Africa and South America offer hope for a more inclusive future\u200b.<\/p>\n

Legacy of 2024 and a look at the road ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As we close the book on 2024, it\u2019s clear that women\u2019s cycling is experiencing a transformative era. Record-breaking performances, global expansion, and advancements in equality have set the stage for an even brighter future.<\/p>\n

With increased investment and visibility,\u00a0we can expect the sport to stay on its upward trajectory. Here\u2019s to all that awaits us in 2025!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Women\u2019s cycling in 2024 was a delight to witness \u2013\u00a0the sport grows in ferocity and accessibility each year. Fans had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":197419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[8210,7430,2043,5724,2264],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-197415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-2024-paris-olympics","tag-2024-tour-de-france-femmes-avec-zwift","tag-kasia-niewiadoma","tag-lotte-kopecky","tag-womens-cycling","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\n2024 in Review: Women\u2019s Road Cycling Highlights - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Women\u2019s cycling in 2024 was a delight to witness \u2013\u00a0the sport grows in ferocity and accessibility each year. Fans had no shortage of wild athleticism,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2024 in Review: Women\u2019s Road Cycling Highlights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Women\u2019s cycling in 2024 was a delight to witness \u2013\u00a0the sport grows in ferocity and accessibility each year. Fans had no shortage of wild athleticism,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-09T15:51:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-09T15:53:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2024\/12\/Tour-de-France-Femmes-Peloton-profimedia-0898623464-CVR.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"990\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tereza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kasia Niewiadoma\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/\",\"name\":\"2024 in Review: Women\u2019s Road Cycling Highlights - \u0160koda We Love Cycling\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2024\/12\/Tour-de-France-Femmes-Peloton-profimedia-0898623464-CVR.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-09T15:51:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-09T15:53:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#\/schema\/person\/50f01ecd18718d2333cf72e823c4f926\"},\"description\":\"Women\u2019s cycling in 2024 was a delight to witness \u2013\u00a0the sport grows in ferocity and accessibility each year. Fans had no shortage of wild athleticism,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2024\/12\/Tour-de-France-Femmes-Peloton-profimedia-0898623464-CVR.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2024\/12\/Tour-de-France-Femmes-Peloton-profimedia-0898623464-CVR.webp\",\"width\":990,\"height\":660,\"caption\":\"Tour de France Femmes\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2024 in Review: Women\u2019s Road Cycling Highlights\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/\",\"name\":\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\",\"description\":\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling magazine\",\"alternateName\":\"\u0160koda WLC\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#\/schema\/person\/50f01ecd18718d2333cf72e823c4f926\",\"name\":\"tereza\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f9eb71be33845f0afabce3791bc1c58ecdb0a25c62964987e5dbcf7a20d2ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f9eb71be33845f0afabce3791bc1c58ecdb0a25c62964987e5dbcf7a20d2ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"tereza\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/author\/tereza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2024 in Review: Women\u2019s Road Cycling Highlights - \u0160koda We Love Cycling","description":"Women\u2019s cycling in 2024 was a delight to witness \u2013\u00a0the sport grows in ferocity and accessibility each year. Fans had no shortage of wild athleticism,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"2024 in Review: Women\u2019s Road Cycling Highlights","og_description":"Women\u2019s cycling in 2024 was a delight to witness \u2013\u00a0the sport grows in ferocity and accessibility each year. Fans had no shortage of wild athleticism,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/","og_site_name":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling","article_published_time":"2024-12-09T15:51:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-12-09T15:53:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":990,"height":660,"url":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2024\/12\/Tour-de-France-Femmes-Peloton-profimedia-0898623464-CVR.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"tereza","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kasia Niewiadoma","Est. reading time":"4"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/","url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/","name":"2024 in Review: Women\u2019s Road Cycling Highlights - \u0160koda We Love Cycling","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2024\/12\/Tour-de-France-Femmes-Peloton-profimedia-0898623464-CVR.webp","datePublished":"2024-12-09T15:51:17+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-09T15:53:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#\/schema\/person\/50f01ecd18718d2333cf72e823c4f926"},"description":"Women\u2019s cycling in 2024 was a delight to witness \u2013\u00a0the sport grows in ferocity and accessibility each year. Fans had no shortage of wild athleticism,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2024\/12\/Tour-de-France-Femmes-Peloton-profimedia-0898623464-CVR.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2024\/12\/Tour-de-France-Femmes-Peloton-profimedia-0898623464-CVR.webp","width":990,"height":660,"caption":"Tour de France Femmes"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/12\/09\/2024-in-review-womens-road-cycling-highlights\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2024 in Review: Women\u2019s Road Cycling Highlights"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/","name":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling","description":"\u0160koda We Love Cycling magazine","alternateName":"\u0160koda WLC","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#\/schema\/person\/50f01ecd18718d2333cf72e823c4f926","name":"tereza","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f9eb71be33845f0afabce3791bc1c58ecdb0a25c62964987e5dbcf7a20d2ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f9eb71be33845f0afabce3791bc1c58ecdb0a25c62964987e5dbcf7a20d2ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"tereza"},"url":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/author\/tereza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197415"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197422,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197415\/revisions\/197422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197415"},{"taxonomy":"global-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/global-categories?post=197415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}