While 2021 had its moments, with the inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femmes, the last hurrah of Anna van der Breggen and the rise of her protégé Demi Vollering, 2022 could arguably be said to be the year that the Women’s World Tour took a historic leap forward, both in terms of exposure and the strength and depth of the peloton, and an expansion of the racing calendar saw the inaugural Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift offer the first yellow jersey in over a decade. It was a big year. But which races really marked the course of the season?
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Before summer, came spring…
Queen Kopecky
Strade Bianche Donne set the tone for what would be a truly gripping season of racing for the women’s peloton. On the white gravel roads of Siena, newly minted SD Worx rider Lotte Kopecky was the initial aggressor as a strong leading group pulled clear and battled up steep climbs into the final kilometres, and when two-time winner Annemiek van Vleuten called upon her trademark power to try and distance the Belgian champion, she was unable to do so. It foreshadowed a final punch-up to the line with the two neck-and-neck almost all the way, but Kopecky had the resilience to eke out a narrow gap and score the most significant win of her career to date.(Picture by Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Trek Dominate Paris-Roubaix
Two years, two wins for the American team at Paris-Roubaix Femmes – a 100% record at the race, and this year they showed once again how they could work as a team to dominate a challenging parcours, with the mettle to succeed at the Hell of the North. Last year Lizzie Deignan dug in and rode solo for the final 80km, this year, Elisa Longo Borghini made her winning move with 38km to go, and even better, after frustrating the chasing group in support of her leader, Lucinda Brand finished third to make it 2 out of 3 for Trek on the podium. 
(Picture by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Mur de Cavall-Huy
2022 was the season that FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope stepped up from bridesmaids to brides, as they took on the top teams and began to stack up some serious wins. Marta Cavalli hit peak form in the Spring classics, winning Amstel Gold Race and two weeks later, lining up to make it two at La Flèche Wallonne Féminine. The sight of the Italian tearing up the Mur de Huy ahead of a struggling Annemiek van Vleuten yet another sign that things weren’t going to go all the way of the Dutch legend this season.
(Picture by ANP via Getty…