Eleonora Maria "Ellen" van Dijk is a Dutch professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam Lidl–Trek. Besides road cycling she was also a track cyclist until 2012. Van Dijk is known as a time trial specialist and is five times world champion. She won her first world title on the track in the scratch race in 2008. She became Road World Champion in 2012, 2013 and 2016 with her respective trade teams in the team time trial and in 2013 also in the individual time trial. In 2015, she won the time trial at the first European Games and the silver medal in the team time trial at the world championships.
The Tour of Flanders, formerly the Tour of Flanders for Women, is an annual road bicycle racing event in Flanders, Belgium, held in early April. It is held on the same day as the men's race, on much of the same roads but at a shorter distance. Dutch riders Mirjam Melchers, Annemiek van Vleuten, Belgian Lotte Kopecky and German Judith Arndt hold the record with two wins each. Lotte Kopecky won the most recent edition in 2023.
Velocio–SRAM Pro Cycling, formerly known as Specialized–lululemon, was a professional cycling team based in the United States that competes in elite road bicycle racing and track cycling events. The final-season title sponsors were SRAM Corporation and Cervelo bicycles. Velocio Sports was the holding company for the team and the place-holder during a larger search for a title sponsor.
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg is a German former road bicycle racer, who competed professionally between 2000 and 2013 for the Red Bull Frankfurt, Saturn Cycling Team and Specialized–lululemon teams. She took over 200 wins during her career, including 11 stages of the Giro Rosa, the 2009 Tour of Flanders, and being part of the Team Specialized–lululemon team that won the World Team Time Trial Championship in 2012. She now works as a directeur sportif for UCI Women's Team Lidl–Trek.
AA Drink–leontien.nl was a cycling team based in the Netherlands. The title sponsors were AA Drink, a Dutch sports drinks brand owned by United Soft Drinks, and leontien.nl, a women's health and fitness website associated with former champion cyclist Leontien van Moorsel, whose husband Michael Zijlaard was the team manager.
The 2012 Giro d'Italia Femminile, or Giro Donne, was the 23rd running of the Giro d'Italia Femminile, the most prestigious stage race on the women's road cycling calendar. It was held over nine stages from 29 June to 7 July 2012, starting in Naples and finishing in Bergamo. The race was won by last year's winner Marianne Vos, who also won 5 of the 9 stages as well as the yellow jersey (points).
The Women's team time trial of the 2012 UCI Road World Championships cycling event took place on 16 September 2012 in the province of Limburg, Netherlands.
The 2013 Energiewacht Tour is the third edition of the Energiewacht Tour women's cycling stage race. It is rated by the UCI as category 2.2, and is held between 3 and 7 April 2013 in the Netherlands. Twenty-four teams of 6 riders take part. There is also an Energiewacht Tour for junior riders from 5 to 7 April 2013.
The Women's team time trial of the 2013 UCI Road World Championships took place on 22 September 2013 in the region of Tuscany, Italy.
The 2013 season was the eleventh for the Specialized–lululemon cycling team, which began as the T-Mobile team in 2003. Three riders joined the team in 2013, American cyclists Carmen Small and Tayler Wiles, and the Canadian Gillian Carleton. Charlotte Becker, Emilia Fahlin, Chloe Hosking, Clara Hughes and Amber Neben left the team in the post-Olympic year.
The 2012 season was the tenth for the Specialized–lululemon cycling team, which began as the T-Mobile team in 2003. After the men's team HTC–Highroad stopped, Kristy Scrymgeour convinced manufacturer Specialized and sports apparel company Lululemon Athletica to perpetuate the women's team in this Olympic year. The team changed slightly: Clara Hughes and Trixi Worrack were the main new recruits, while Judith Arndt, team leader since 2006, joined GreenEdge–AIS. The team had a great year. Ina-Yoko Teutenberg won numerous sprints and finished fourth in the road race of the Olympic Games. Evelyn Stevens had an excellent season by winning at the world cup race La Flèche Wallonne Féminine, she won a prestigious stage of the Giro d'Italia Femminile and finished on the podium in the end and she won the general classification of the La Route de France. At the end of the season she was in fourth place in the UCI World Ranking. Ellen van Dijk won the general classification of the Lotto–Decca Tour, the Omloop van Borsele and several stage races. The team dominated especially in the team time trials. Ellen van Dijk together with Stevens, Hughes, Amber Neben and Trixi Worrack or Teutenberg were consistent and undefeated the whole year. At the end of the season the team won the first team time trial at the world championship which was a main goal for the team this year. The team finished second in the UCI World Ranking.
The 2014 women's road cycling season was the twelfth for the Specialized–lululemon cycling team, which began as the T-Mobile team in 2003. After being part of the team since 2005, Ina-Yoko Teutenberg left the team for her retirement. Also Ellen van Dijk, the top ranked UCI and best rider of the 2013 season left the team, together with Gillian Carleton and Katie Colclough. Chantal Blaak, Karol-Ann Canuel, Élise Delzenne and Tiffany Cromwell joined the team with the last becoming the leader of the team.
The 2011 season was the tenth for the HTC–Highroad Women cycling team, which began as the T-Mobile team in 2003. The main new riders for the team were the Americans Amber Neben and Amanda Miller and the German time trial champion Charlotte Becker. In January, Carla Swart died whilst training after being hit by a truck. After winning a stage, Ellen van Dijk won the Ladies Tour of Qatar which was the 400th victory for the team since 2008. Ina Teutenberg won the fifth round in the Women's World Cup and the team won the seventh round, the Open de Suède Vårgårda team time trial. The team finished second overall in the World Cup. Judith Arndt finished fourth in the individual standings and Teutenberg fifth. At the end of the season Arndt took the third place in the UCI World Ranking, Teutenberg fourth and the team ended in second place in the team classification.
The 2014 women's road cycling season was the fifth for the Boels–Dolmans Cycling Team, which began as the Dolmans Landscaping Team in 2010. The main new rider for the team was the Time Trial World Champion Ellen van Dijk, after have ridden 5 years for Specialized–lululemon. After winning the Omloop van het Hageland in early March, Lizzie Armitstead won also the first World Cup race, the Ronde van Drenthe. She would finish later three times in second place in the later World Cup races and keeping the lead in the overall World Cup classification. In begin April, after a solo of 30 km Ellen van Dijk won the Tour of Flanders World Cup race.
The 2012 women's road cycling season was the eighth year for AA Drink–leontien.nl, which began as Van Bemmelen–AA Drink in 2005.
The 2015 Energiewacht Tour was the 5th edition of the Energiewacht Tour, a stage race primarily held in the Netherlands, with a UCI rating of 2.2, from 8 to 12 April. The last stage took place on the island of Borkum in Germany.
The 2016 Energiewacht Tour is the 6th edition of the Energiewacht Tour, a stage race held in the Netherlands, with a UCI rating of 2.2, from 6 April to 10 April.
The sixth edition of the Tour of Flanders for Women cycling race was held on 5 April 2009. The race started in Oudenaarde and finished in Meerbeke, containing 11 climbs and two flat cobbled sections, covering a total distance of 130 km. It was the second leg of the 2009 UCI Women's Road World Cup. The race was won by German rider Ina-Yoko Teutenberg.
