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2013 Road World Cup
The UCI Road World Cup is a series of day races across the women's cycling season, with points from each race adding to crown an overall series winner. It's one of the biggest competitions of the women's calendar, and always provides exciting racing. There are eight rounds for 2013:
9th March: Ronde van Drenthe, the Netherlands;
24th March: Trofeo Alfredo Binda, Italy;
31st March: Ronde van Vlaanderen, Belgium;
17th April: La Flèche Wallonne, Belgium;
12th May: Tour of ChingMing Island, China;
16th August: Open de Suède Vårgårda Team Time Trial, Sweden;
18th August:Open de Suède Vårgårda, Sweden;
31st August: GP de Plouay, France
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March 20, 2013
Living The Cup
This Sunday eyes turn to Italy for round two of the World Cup, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda in the Italian town of Cittiglio. That's their promotional video above. We're away from the cobbles briefly, and back to the hills and worse. Vicki Whitelaw once described the struggle for position during the unofficial rollout to the start proper as one of the toughest parts of a race. Two weeks ago in Drenthe virtually the whole of the Tibco team was taken out during these false skirmishes. Trofeo Binda begins with no less than a six kilometre ride down to the official start line at Laveno Mombello, so there's plenty of time for old scores to be settled and new grudges to come into being. From there the race returns to Cittiglio the scenic way, before following what is a familiar course. One long lap down to Luino on the shores of Lake Maggiore and back, followed by four shorter laps over the climb at Orino, followed by the nasty descent through the hairpins above Gemonio (note the mattress tied to the barrier at 3:15 in the video below) which always triggers a last minute sense of urgency in the riders.
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March 10, 2013
Three Drenthe World Cups in a row for Marianne Vos
On a horrible day in the Netherlands, Marianne Vos swapped her rainbow jersey for the Road World Cup leader's jersey. Find out more, with video and links
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March 7, 2013
Interview with Loes Gunnewijk, on Drenthe & more!
The Dutch Classics star and ORICA-AIS road captain won the Ronde van Drenthe World Cup in 2010 - she tells the Café all about loving the cobbles, helping Marianne Vos win Olympic gold, and what to expect from Saturday's Drenthe.
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March 6, 2013
Preview: Drenthe Week 2013
It's time for three great Dutch races - the Drentse 8, Novilon EDRcup and the first Road World Cup race of the season - the Ronde van Drenthe. Find out more about the cobbles, climbs and competition - including how to watch the World Cup live!