Ciclismo Mundial has formed a new continental women's team featuring some of the biggest stars in cyclocross, including world champion Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Sanne Cant, and Annemarie Worst. wielerflits" (opens in new tab) reports that the team aims to offer a year-round race program for its riders, with a view to participating in the new women's Paris-Roubaix in the future.

The team is run under brothers Philippe and Christophe Roudoft and is registered in Belgium. Registered members include Manon Bakker, Kiona Crabbe, Yara Kastelain, Jinse Peters, Loeth Sells, and Karen Verhestraeten. Kamiel van den Berg is the director.

"You don't have to be a genius to understand the underlying intent," says Philippe Rudhoeft, who is also the director of the Alpecin Phoenix. 'More and more talented cyclists are joining the road teams.' Think Lucinda Brand, Marianne Foss, and Inge van der Heyden. We don't want our female athletes to fall behind."

"We want to see more women on the road.

On May 5, the UCI announced a revised 2020 Women's World Tour calendar, replacing plans that were cancelled due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The top-level series will now run from August 1 through November 8, keeping 18 of the 22 events. As a surprise, the first ever women's Paris-Roubaix will be held on October 25.

"We are excited about this because we expect women's cycling to continue to evolve. If we don't want to fall behind, we need to be able to offer the women a full road program. That has been the problem so far. Setting up a continental team will solve that problem. And hopefully we will be one step ahead of our competition," Rudhoft said.

"It may be necessary, and ultimately it will be their own problem. For example, I can imagine that many of these women would be happy to be at the start of Paris-Roubaix."

Alvarado is competing in a full cyclocross campaign with the Alpecin Phoenix team. She won the elite women's race at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Dübendorf, Switzerland in February and is the reigning world champion. She held off compatriots Annemarie Werst and Lucinda Brand in a sprint finish.

Alvarado, Canto, and Worst will compete a full cyclocross season, but will not currently compete at the highest level on the road or in a full schedule of road races like riders such as Vos and Brand.

Ciclismo Mundial's current roster includes riders who race for cyclocross teams Alpecin-Fenix, IKO-Crelan, and Team 777. But we don't intend to exclude other cyclists from participating. And I want to point out that they will remain competitors in the field," van den Berg said.

While the goal is to provide a year-round program for the world's best cyclocross racers, Roodhooft said the team will not participate in the women's World Tour one-day race scheduled for the new 2020 late season calendar, but rather is looking ahead to future seasons.

"Don't expect to be at the start of the top classics again in 2020. 'Our main goal is to provide a road program for the women. We don't know what it will be in the long run. But we have a feeling it will be beautiful."