Elsy Jacobs starts Friday

For anybody who cares about women's cycling, it's very easy to feel miserable at the moment - we've just had news that another race has been cancelled, the prizes on offer at the majority of the races are a joke compared to what the men win (and frequently about the same amount the riders could earn for putting in a full week in a fast food restaurant, provided they got a bit of overtime) and the salaries they receive (those who are lucky enough to receive salaries, that is; which is why some of them have to put in a full week in a fast food restaurant and hope for a bit of overtime) are quite frankly an insult in many cases. Be thankful, then, that this week brings us that celebration of all things good in women's cycling, the Festival Luxembourgeois Elsy Jacobs.

Combined, this is a two stage race with a TT prologue. However, in the Elsy Jacobs each stage is a race within its own right to a far greater extent than in any other event and every day has an entirely different feel to the others. The prologue has the feel of a party, not least of all because it takes place in the evening on a 1.7km parcours on Luxembourg city - and as that parcours is both stupendously fast and passes by some of the city's most vibrant bars, it's a full-on party in celebration of speed.

Stage 1 follows the famous parcours of the GP Elsy Jacobs, the one-day race named in honour of the world's first Women's Road Race World Champion and from which this festival grew. It heads north out of Garnich, Jacobs' hometown, then follows a 53.6km loop up to Mersch and back to Garnich again where riders complete five laps of a 9.8km circuit. Those in the know say that it's impossible to predict how this race will end, and more than once the fates have conspired to allow a relative unknown to take the glory.

“The courses are actually pretty aggressive, they provide very good races. I asked the girls to be aggressive at certain points, and they didn’t have to look too hard to find the opportunity to do that. There a million and one little climbs that provide a chance for groups to get away.” - David McPartland, GreenEDGE directeur sportif

Stage 2, named in honour of twelve-time National Champion and twice winner of the Tour de France Nicolas Frantz, uses the same 53.6km loop as Stage 1 but this time sets off from Frantz's hometown Mamer, ending with five 8.9km circuits through the narrow streets.

It's sometimes difficult to follow women's races as many simply don't have the budget to provide the sort of coverage many men's events enjoy - which is, of course, a serious problem for the sport. However, this one rivals the Grand Tours with an expertly-designed website that provides full details of the three courses, results and just about everything else a fan might wish to know.

One day, all women's races will be like this - but the Festival will always be unique, and there really is no other race quite like it.

Official site

Technical details

Teams

He's not a GC contender, he's a very naughty boy!

Is Andy Schleck turning into a badass hooligan with the kind of attitude his dad Johny always thought he'd need if he was ever going to win a Tour de France?

It's possible - it turns out that he's not only quick when riding his bike up a mountain, he's also a mean boy racer: he was clocked doing 101kph (nearly 63mph) recently in his home nation Luxembourg, and since the speed limit on the open road is 90kph that's very naughty. As a result Andy, who has had us all convinced that he's one of the nicest boys in cycling for the last few years, is being fined 350 euros and may have his driving licence suspended for a month.

The yobbo!

Meanwhile, local resident Lottie Faber says this isn't the first time the crazed tearaway cyclist has got himself in trouble.

"Not two weeks ago he was parked outside McDonalds with his mates," she told us after we'd promised there was a bottle of whisky for her if she talked to us. "They were blaring out Perry Como and talking about ponies and butterflies. I ignored it that time, but they kept it up until nearly 19:30 in the evening. Next day they were back again, so this time when it got round to 18:00 I rang his mum. I don't know what she said to him, but he hasn't been back since."

LeopardTrek HQ raided by police

Frank Schleck was connected to Eufemiano
Fuentes in the past, but subsequently
cleared of all doping charges
(©Noel Reynolds CC2.0)

News is emerging that the headquarters of Andy Schleck's team LeopardTrek was raided by Luxembourg police on Tueday morning. Early reports state that the home of team owner Flavio Becca was also targetted. At first, the obvious reason appeared to be an anti-doping investigation, but it has since transpired that Becca is subject to a financial investigation.

In a press release, representatives for Mr. Becca said: "Until now [meaning "at present"] nobody has been charged. The companies and Mr Becca have collaborated with the judicial authorities and intend to continue to do so. We wish that the authorities do their job quickly and that they show that the allegations are groundless."

It should also be noted that Becca, a businessman who developed a small masonry firm into one of Europe's most profitable construction companies, has wide-ranging interests outside professional cycling and as such it's likely that the investigation is linked solely to him rather than to his team.

LeopardTrek, which does not conduct internal anti-doping controls since it believes that the UCI conducts sufficient tests to make it unnecessary,  has not been involved in any doping scandals since its formation earlier this year. Police raids are quite a regular feature of professional cycling and as such should not be seen as evidence that anything untoward has been taking place. The raids have since been confirmed by police prosecutor Henri Eippers, says the wort.lu website.

Flavio Becca

The team is also home to Jens Voigt, riders' representative on the UCI ProTour Council - a position he has used to speak out against doping. In fact, the team's roster is one of the most clean-cut in the sport, with few of the riders ever being caught up in any sort of doping issue - Stuart O'Grady was a part of Cofidis during 2004, when David Millar's positive sample rocked the team whereas Frank Schleck, following an accusation made by a German newspaper, was shown to have made a mysterious payment into a bank account owned by the notorious Eufemiano Fuentes in 2005. Both riders were later cleared of all charges and have not since faced any serious accusations.