The 13th edition of the annual women’s cycling festival in Vargarda, Sweden comes on Saturday and Monday with the Postnord Vargarda Team Time Trial and the Postnord Vargarda road race on Monday (13th).
Begun in 2006, the road race joined the UCI Women’s World Tour in 2016. The Team Time Trial was added in 2008. For 2018:
- The Team Time Trial is 42.5 km, starting and finishing in Vargarda, on a hilly but not too annoying course.
- The Road Race is 141.0 km, starting with four laps of 11 km, then a 53 km loop and finally four more laps of 11 km. There are four significant gravel sections on the 53 km lap that will have an impact on the race. The short laps are only slightly hilly, but there is one major climb in the middle of the long lap.
Current UCI Women’s World Tour leader Anna van der Breggen (1,127 points) is in the race, but there are six prior winners in the field:
Marianne Vos (NED) ~ Won in 2009 and 2013
Lotta Lepisto (FIN) ~ Defending champion
Emilia Fahlin (SWE) ~ Won in 2016
Kirsten Wild (NED) ~ Won in 2010
Chantal Blaak (NED) ~ Won in 2014
Jolien D’Hoore (BEL) ~ Won in 2015
Last year’s medalists – Lepisto, Vos and Canada’s Leah Kirchmann – all return for 2018. Coryn Rivera of the U.S., winner of The Women’s Tour in Great Britain, is the top American entry.
Look for results here.