After several seasons riding in the colours of the UCI World Cycling Centre, Paula Patiño (Colombia) and Nguyen Thi That (Vietnam) have been signed by UCI Women’s Teams.
Patiño, 21, has signed with Movistar Team while 25-year-old That will race next year with Lotto-Soudal Ladies. The two women have trained for two and three seasons respectively with the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland.
“We’ve done our job,” declared UCI WCC Coach Alejandro Gonzalez-Tablas with satisfaction. “By training with us at the World Cycling Centre, they have had the possibility to compete in international races and confront some of the best riders. We’ve helped them gain experience and now they will continue their apprenticeship with their new teams.
“It will be a big step, but it would serve no purpose to keep them with us. They need to move up to the next level.”
UCI WCC General Director Frédéric Magné added: “It is always gratifying to see the immense progress our trainees make when at the World Cycling Centre. This is thanks to our training facilities, to the racing experience they gain throughout Europe and also to our excellent coaching staff who help them realise their potential.”
Patiño’s climbing abilities saw her take 4th this year in the Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan Dames (UCI 1.1) in France, 14th overall in the seven-stage Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l’Ardèche and 6th in the Vuelta a Colombia Femenina. In both stage races she was second in the Youth classification.
That is a sprinter, and was this year crowned Asian Champion in the road race. Other stand-out results in 2018 include a stage win and 10th overall in the Women’s Tour of Thailand (2.1) and victory at the Belgian one-day race Dwars door de Westhoek (1.1).
The UCI World Cycling Centre trains some 100 men and women each year in all cycling’s Olympic disciplines. Former UCI WCC women road cycling trainees who now ride with professional teams include Serbian Champion Jelena Eric, who transfers from Cylance Pro Cycling to Allé Cipollini in 2019 and Cuban Arlenis Sierra (Astana Women’s Team) who last week won the Tour of Guangxi Women’s WorldTour in China.
Next year, the UCI World Cycling Centre will register a UCI Women’s Team comprising its best women road trainees. This is another step forward in the development of women’s cycling, one of the priorities of the UCI President David Lappartient as outlined in the Agenda 2022.