Female Cyclists

Legendary British cyclist Beryl Burton dominated the British women’s racing scene from the 1950s to the 1980s. Apart from being a 5-time world champion, she set a new women’s record for the 25-mile time trial, which surpassed the men’s record for 2 years. Her achievements inspired a radio play.

With six Olympic gold medals in her kitty, Laura Trott has become the most decorated female athlete from Britain in the Olympics. She is married to cyclist Jason Kenny, who is also an Olympic gold medalist. Surprisingly, born with asthma, she was advised by doctors not to take up sports.

English world champion cyclist Lizzie Deignan, née Armitstead, was discovered at school by the Olympic Talent Team. She also has an Olympic silver in her kitty and has been a popular commentator and a writer for various national broadcasters.  She is married to Irish cyclist and Olympian Philip Deignan.

Urška Žigart is a Slovenian racing cyclist who won the Slovenian National Time Trial Championships in 2020. Urška Žigart, who currently rides for Team BikeExchange–Jayco, made headlines in 2019 and early 2020s for dating Tadej Pogačar, who has won two consecutive editions of the Tour de France so far (2020 and 2021).

Victoria Pendleton is a British former track cyclist who represented England and Great Britain in international cycling competitions. She dominated the individual sprint event from 2005 to 2012, winning a record six world titles in the individual sprint. Having won one Olympic silver medal and two gold medals, Pendleton is one of the most successful female Olympians from Great Britain.

With famous cyclists in her family, Marion Rousse became a talented cyclist in her own right. A champion for women’s cycling, she now heads the Tour de France Femmes as its director. She is also a successful TV consultant who has appeared on shows such as Les rois de la pédale.

Born to parents who ran a bicycle school, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and her two siblings gained an interest in racing in their early years. Apart from winning the XCO world championship thrice, she also became the first to hold the road, the cyclocross, and the mountain bike world titles simultaneously.

Born to Children of God cult followers in Greece, Juliana Buhring was abandoned at age 4 and grew up with several foster parents, thus traveling the world. The world-renowned endurance cyclist lost her lover to a crocodile attack but still became the fastest solo female cyclist to tour across the world.

Femke Van den Driessche is a Belgian retired road racing cyclist, mountainbiker, and cyclo-cross cyclist. She won the Belgian championship title in 2016 but was later stripped of the title as she was charged with mechanical doping; she was the first person to be officially charged with mechanical doping. In 2016, Femke Van den Driessche was banned for six years.

Rebecca Romero scripted history by winning two Olympic medals in two different sports, rowing and cycling, thus becoming the second woman to achieve the feat, after swimmer and handball player Roswitha Krause. Initially a rower, she was later deviated toward cycling after suffering a severe back injury.

Fiona Kolbinger is a cyclist who created history by becoming the first woman to win the Transcontinental Race in 2019. She took a time of ten days, two hours, and 48 minutes to complete the race with an advance of around six hours over the second closest. She beat over 224 men and 40 women to achieve this feat.