Essex is ready to welcome back a peloton full of amazing female cyclists from around the globe! The 2024 Ford RideLondon Classique, part of the UCI Women’s WorldTour, will return to Essex on the 24th May starting in Saffron Walden following the success of the 2023 edition.
Women’s teams will take to Essex roads for Stage 1 and Stage 2, before heading into London for the final stage and we have been lucky enough to speak to Doltcini O’Shea Cycling’s Connie Hayes.
Growing up around bikes, with her Dad being a keen cyclist and racing for many years, Connie found her interest piqued at a school cycle safety lesson. Having fun learning to ride a bike safely and realising she was actually quite a bit faster than most of the boys in her school, led her to join a local club. Then, Connie started racing competitively at 11 years old and this was just the start of her journey.
Joining a local club is something Connie wants to encourage young girls to do as she told us;
“Join your local youth cycling club; times have really changed in the 12 years since I started cycling so there will definitely be lots of girls to ride and train with.”
Cycling has brought many years of enjoyment and happiness for Connie and she’s a keen advocate for using activity to improve your mood and mental state. She reflected that even on a cold, rainy training day she has a sense of achievement and a morale boost because getting on the bike makes her feel her best.
Connie was able to give us an insight into how cycling and physical activity has affected her as a neurodiverse athlete. Growing up unaware that she was autistic and dyspraxic, cycling provided a distraction and brought her many positive benefits. Cycling forced Connie to get outside, distract herself and face challenges that no one else could relate to and it’s clear from speaking to her that she is grateful for having cycling in her life.
It is important for athletes like Connie to share their experiences to encourage young people to use physical activity and sport to escape challenges they may be facing. Speaking so passionately about cycling and the benefits it has, is why Connie is an amazing advocate for neurodiverse athletes and her journey is inspirational.
Drawing attention back to the Classique, Connie said;
“Events like RideLondon, help to expose cycling and will hopefully attract young people to take up cycling whether that be competitively or as way of getting around whilst getting active.”
Crowds are a massive part of the racing for the women and Connie agreed that this was something she would be looking forward to when taking to the lanes and roads of Essex. Having raced in the European scene for many years, she even commented that the Essex and London crowds were leaps and bounds more supportive and invested than crowds overseas.
When talking about her 2024 goals, it was refreshing to hear that Connie simply wanted to continue progressing and having fun, which is what physical activity is all about. We want to wish her and all the female cyclists taking part in the Ford RideLondon Classique the best of luck and we can’t wait to cheer them on.
Why not support these inspiring athletes and head out to the route and cheer them on: https://www.ridelondon.co.uk/the-classique/the-stages
