This is a fantastic interview - Clara Hughes is a massive superstar, who won two bronze medals in cycling at the 1996 Summer Olympics, then a gold, silver and bronze in speed skating at Winter Olympics over 2002-10. She's back cycling on the roads, coming fifth in the 2012 World Champs Time Trial, and riding with Specialized-lululemon for 2012, aiming at another Olympic medal in London this year. She's a super-talented athelete, but she's also an advocate for mental health issues and a tireless supporter of charities. Here's a recent Canadian tv interview where she talks about her own mental health, the Let's Talk campaign, Right To Play, and much more. Watch it, it's a good one!

(Yes, yes, I'm gushing, probably a bit too much, but I really recommend watching all of this! She always comes across as very likeable, very honest. And thanks a million to Lyne at Podium Insight, who tweeted it first!)

There are so many reasons to watch out for the women's Tour of Qatar! It's the first international women's race of the season - it's a chance to see the conditions that the men will be racing in - it's the first chance to see some of the new, or radically changed teams for 2012 - it might give you an idea of the form of riders you could be picking for your Vitual Directeur Sportif team - and it's RACING!!

Below the jump I'll take you through the major happenings of the race, with riders' views from videos and blogs - and some other news from the women's cycling world. If you find anything you'd like to share - especially if you see any race footage - please add it to the comments!

So, to start, here's a preview of the race with profiles etc from JohnCyclopunk, and a video preview from GreenEdge's Amanda Spratt:

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The road season is well under way in Australia - they started with the Jayco Bay Classic and National Crit Champs and moved on to the National Road Championships. Below the jump there'll be results of the Road Race & the ITT and more - including a bit about some of the riders, some fun transfer news, links to rider blogs, photos and as many other Australian updates as I can find - and women's cycling fans, we've ticked another rider off our "Where is she riding?" list, which is superb! As ever, if you find anything you'd like to share too, about the races, or riders from anywhere, or any other women's cycling news add it to the comments - and don't forget to check them for other people's updates!

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I've always been impressed by cyclocrossers turning out on New Year's Day to race, but of course Aussies also love to HTFU, so on 1st January, they start a week of fast and furious crit racing. Yes, in the beautiful sunshine of the general Melbourne area, by sparkling blue oceans, the first road races of the year took place! And with some big international teams making their debut (well, sort-of), there have been some fun things to watch.

Follow me below the jump for some brief videos, links to photos & race reports from the men's and women's racing - with some new names you might want to look out for the future - and if you see anything yourself, or know more about any of the riders or races you'd like to share, add it into the comments!

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The lovely ladies over at The Hairpin found this list of tips for women cyclists. The list dates from 1895. Among the things a proper lady rider should avoid? Don't try on your brother's pants just to see how it feels. Also, bicycle face. Don't make bicycle face, young lady, or your face will freeze like that!

The women of Colavita control the early tempo at the Awbrey Butte Circuit at Cascade Classic. Also in the mix Vanderkitten and NOW and Novartis.

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There are some great videos coming from Specialized-lululemon - here are some as a New Year treat!

More below the jump - and as always, links to other fun things in the comments.... including to Chloe Hosking's comments on Pat McQuaid!

EDIT! And now the team has a website - http://velociosports.com/ which will be well worth bookmarking, it's already a lot of fun!

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We've been waiting for news of this for a month or so, but today Wielerland seems to have official confirmation that Emma Pooley will be riding for AA Drink - leontien.nl in 2012. And she's not coming alone, nor merely bringing the British contingent with her; no less than six ex Garmin-Cervelo will be lining up in that green, blue and yellow strip next year (is it too late for a "bring back the pink" grassroots campaign?), that's Emma herself, Lizzie Armitstead, Lucy Martin, Sharon Laws, Jessie Daams and Carla Ryan. No mention yet of where Alexis Rhodes will go, but as Wielerland suggest that Emma wanted to look after her old teammates, she's probably got somewhere sorted.

That looks to be the last big transfer news of this off season, but little snippets have been drifting in over the past weeks, and I've been doing my best to keep my transfer thread up to date. Check it out if you think you've missed something on the way (or if you see that I've missed something), and roll on VDS 2012.