Cynisca Cycling Aims High in Third Season

Women's UCI Continental Squad focuses on the European Tour

Greek Mythology has become a popular fascination in recent years, with movies like 300 showcasing ancient stories of bravery, strength, and inspiration. However, female heroes are rare in these mainstream productions. For example in the blockbuster movie about 300 valiant men, only 1 female character is central to the storyline— Queen Gorgo. However, women were venerated in Spartan culture and encouraged to engage in life outside of domestic affairs. This encouragement included participation in sport. Famous and most revered among the Spartan women athletes from antiquity was Cynisca, daughter of a king, born about 40 years after Leonidas and his men’s sacrifice at Thermopalyae.

Cynisca would grow up to be a talented breeder and trainer of horses. In an era where it was unclear whether women could even attend the Olympic Games, Cynisca entered a team of horses into the chariot competition and won, twice. Numerous women would follow in her footsteps; and, credit Cynisca for their successes. She became a revered figure by men and women alike after her death. Over two millennia later, in 2023, Cynisca Cycling was founded with that ground-breaking inspiration in mind.

For those with a long enough memory, we featured a Cynisca writer/rider, Grace Williams, in one of our earliest articles. Grace penned a story about her transition from amateur to pro in the organization’s first year. However, it really wasn’t until last year that we started to see the name Cynisca appear more regularly on results sheets and, more importantly, at the top.

Last year was a stellar year for their squad on the domestic scene. They opened accounts at the Redlands Bicycle Classic with two stage wins by Mara Roldan. They followed that up with a GC and KOM win by Lauren Stephens at Tour of the Gila. Unfortunately, neither of those riders is returning, with Roldan signing a three-year contract with the World Tour Team Picnic PostNL and Stephens 2025 plans unclear as of this publication. Despite those departures they have an abundance of talent on this year’s squad.

One star that is returning is young talent Chloe Partick. Chloe is the reigning two-time U23 national criterium champion. She has been racing since she was 11 years old and has racked up 23 national titles. Now, at only 20 years old, she looks like she could be poised for a Coryn Labecki-esque career trajectory. Like Labecki, she is winning Stars and Stripes jerseys in multiple disciplines, including road and track. This will be Patrick’s second season with Cynisca, and we can be sure that there are high expectations from both her. And so far she is not disappointing, scoring a top ten in her first Europe Tour outing at the Vuelta Valencia Feminas.

Cynisca has made a major change for this upcoming season. In the past they split their focus between here and Europe. Admittedly, that is no easy task given the distances and logistical challenges of moving bikes, people, and equipment across a massive ocean. Cynisca has decided to focus exclusively on European races, according to Claire Gutowsky, their project manager, who cited the ease of travel around Europe and the smaller roster of women they will require this year to support their decision.

The team has already been invited to multiple World Tour events, including the Vuelta a la Comunitat Valencia Feminas, a UCI 1.1, the Ronde van Vlaanderen, 1.WWT, and Amstel Gold, 1.WWT. Gutowsky acknowledges that in year three of a program, competing at the World Tour level is no small task. “We will face the strongest riders – higher speeds, tougher race dynamics, and a steep learning curve. With fewer resources than World Tour teams, we will need more determination, teamwork, and fearlessness to compete.”

Preparation and leadership are at the base of the team’s lofty ambitions. They’ve brought in experienced talent like Anna Shackley as a director sportiff. Shackley who used to race for World Tour team SD Worx Protime is a savvy player in international competitions with serious know how. Alongside Shackley, the team has stocked up with UCI veteran riders like Alexis Magner and Heidi Franz on the team for 2025.

Magner and Franz are new to the squad this year. However, they are no strangers to European roads. We know Magner as the woman who won Athens Twilight two years in a row, racing an almost exclusively domestic schedule. But before dominating the criterium scene, she had a decade of European racing experience under her belt. In that time, she finished second at Ronde van Drenthe, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, third at Dwars door Vlaanderen, and a fifth at Amstel Gold. That is exactly the type of racing Cynisca is set to take on this year, which is why Magner is their team captain.

In Franz, the squad has a rider who has represented the US in both road and gravel World Championships. Franz has finished second and third in GC at Joe Martin, along with a second place at the French stage race l’Ardeche. She also brings a background of being on multiple teams with critical experience navigating and creating a supportive culture.

Two young riders are set to take a big step up with Cynisca as well. The first is Irish rider Caoimhe O’Brien, the current U23 national champion who turned heads in 2024 with a string of strong results. Her ability last year to go head-to-head with established pros has her listed as one of Ireland’s top cycling prospects. If you want a dark horse to cheer for, Cynisca has you covered there with Febe Poppe, who has only three years of racing experience, primarily in Belgium. She’s already demonstrated that she is a world-class sprinter with the power to win at any level once she refines her race craft and skillset. Cynisca should be the ideal environment for her to do that and start lighting up results sheets.

The team is building cohesion based on their beautiful service course, which is based on a chateau in the Pyrenees. It is a group built around finding quality people, i.e. “the kind you wouldn’t mind spending 9+ hours crammed in a car with.” They acknowledge that talent is one thing, but talent without character can bring down a team rather than build it up. In their third year, they know the learning curve is still steep but they are ready to take it on. And we will follow along with them as they go.

Team Roster for 2025

Photos by: @pelotonbrief