Welcome to The Feist, our new women's sports & performance newsletter. Everything you want to know in women's sports 1x/wk from Feisty Media.

This is issue #3 — and, as we grow, we're testing out different styles, content, things. Let us know what you like (or don't like). And help us out: Forward this email to a female athlete in your life. If you got this forwarded to you: Subscribe to get The Feist every Tuesday AM.

28.7 mph

How fast Chloe Dygert biked for 46 minutes, 59.80 seconds, to win the UCI World Championships in the time trial three years after a horrific crash (that's 46.2 kph)

Three stories you should know this week in women's sports

1. Women want a say in what they wear

Weird, right?

A growing number of female athletes are taking control of what they're required to wear, and asking questions about why they're required to wear it in the first place. Why do female beach volleyball players compete in bikinis, while the men play in long baggy shorts? Why do female field hockey players have to wear skirts? Why all white?

First, Wimbledon got rid of their all-white dress code. Female athletes were tired of spending mental energy wondering if their period had started. Now, no white shorts at the World Cup.

Track athletes have been pushing for more variety: longer spandex shorts, non-spandex shorts, and leotards. Basketball players want different lengths and arm holes actually designed for women.

Many of the initial uniform rules were (obviously) built around either what has been already designed for men or what men would like to see. The next round of regulations will be designed for women and what women want—in all our variety. Tiny spandex for some! Baggy shorts for others! Performance focus for all!

LISTEN: Eradicating weight bias in the fitness industry

2. First-ever cycling world champs are drama 🚲

(Photo: UCI World Championship)

The ten-day inaugural UCI world championships in Glasgow were a festival of all things bike in one place: mountain bike world titles, track cycling, road racing, BMX, para-racing, and even indoor artistic synchronized cycling.

Mountain Biking: French phenom Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won her ninth individual mountain bike world title. Whoa. (She wants to ride road now. We say go for it.)

Road Race: After two track titles earlier in the week, Lotte Kopecky won the road race to cap an amazing season.

The Lotte Kopecky Effect is real: 4x more U18 women are registering for cycling in Belgium

Time Trial: Chloe Dygert is back. She last won the world title in 2019, but then had a truly gruesome crash during the world championships in 2020. It was supposed to be her crowning glory in the build to Tokyo Olympics. Instead, it was a long (long) road back to here.

48-year-old Amber Neben also surprised everyone with her 7th place finish.

One of the favorites going into the time trial race, Marlen Reusser, however, stopped just past halfway and sat down in the grass. Although she had crashed in the final turn of the team time trial mixed relay (which her Swiss team won), she said after that wasn't the problem. She was just mentally exhausted.

Here's what she said:

"I feel I need time to breathe and rediscover my desire to go out and win ... But instead, I feel like I'm caught up in a never-ending downward spiral ... I just had to keep going. That's why I came to the Worlds, even though I knew it wasn't going to work out."

On a much much lighter note: Have you seen the world champion artistic cyclists?!

3. Yes, the World Cup is still going

If you thought the World Cup ended when the U.S. got pushed out, you're missing some the craziest game of the tournament: Australia-France went to 10 rounds of penalty kicks. TEN! The most ever in any World Cup match.

It was the game that stopped a nation. Way (way!) more people now follow the Matildas than the Socceroos. (Yes, those are the Australian men's and women's teams' names.) Viewership records all over the country are being broken.

Welcome to the Matildas bandwagon!

And then, early this morning, we got our first finalist, in a game that saw three goals swing back and forth in the last nine minutes of play. When the dust settled it was Spain - 2, Sweden - 1. What's left?

WATCH:

- Australia v. England: Wednesday at 6 a.m. ET

- FINAL (Spain v. TBD): Sunday at 6 a.m. ET

Tip of the week

Research shows that about half of women suffer from "unspecified anxiety" during the menopause transition—because of the fluctuation in hormone levels.

Things that can help: mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy, menopausal hormonal therapy, traditional anti-depressants, alternatives like adaptogens, and lifting weights!

The highlight reel

🚲 Leadville 100: The legendary 105-mile mountain bike race (with nearly 12,000 feet of elevation) was won by Sofia Gomez Villafañe in just over 7 hours this weekend. She went with a group of men early and barely held off Ruth Winder in the final miles. (Yes, men affecting the women's races is a whole debate.)
Leadville is part of the big-money Lifetime Grand Prix series—and the win also put Gomez Villafañe in the lead for the series. You can watch highlights here.
🥇 We are now *one year out* from the Paris Olympics and women are set to make history as a full 50% of the athletes there.
Paris Test Events: That also means there are a series of test events happening right now across different sports — both to test the venues and logistics, and to serve as Olympic qualifiers. Given the concerns about water quality in the Seine (where swimming is supposed to happen), one of the big tests happens this week: triathlon!
🏌️‍♀️ Lilia Vu won the British Open and became the first American to win two Majors in a year since 1999. She won $1.35M for taking the title in this final stop on the 2023 LPGA tour.
🏀 A WNBA expansion team could finally (really!) be in the works. But where? There have been rumors all year. Now, talk is circling around Denver. What about Philly or Nashville or Oakland?
Breanna Stewart became the first WNBA player to record three 40-point games in one season during the New York Liberty's win over the Indiana Fever. Why are there so many offensive records being broken this season?
The Little League Softball World Series champions will get a parade when they return to Massapequa Park, New York.

Feisty recommendations

What to listen to: Don't miss Sarah Spain on the Feisty Women's Performance podcast

What to watch: These five women will be going after the human-powered land speed record

What to know: Breast-feeding can be linked to higher risk of bone stress injuries in runners (due to hormone fluctuations and, often, the increase in energy expenditure)—but it's also linked to less long-term risk, as long as you take certain precautions

What to read: Fast Girls — get in the Olympic mood with a novel about the 1936 women's team

What we're thinking about: What happened to the USWNT?