The Gap Sorare Won’t Fill

Women’s cycling is having a moment. Prize money is up, broadcast coverage is expanding, and the racing has never been better. Yet if you’re looking for a fantasy platform that actually covers it, you’ll find a surprising void.

Sorare built its empire on men’s football. That’s fine—it’s a massive market. But if you care about women’s road cycling, you’re invisible on that platform. Peaxel takes a different approach. It covers athletes across disciplines that mainstream fantasy sports ignore entirely, and women’s cycling is one of them.

This isn’t about which platform is “better.” It’s about what you actually want to play. If women’s cycling matters to you, only one of these options lets you build a lineup around it.

Platform Comparison: What You Actually Get

Let’s be direct about the differences:

  • Sport Coverage: Sorare focuses on football, MLB, and NBA. Peaxel covers over 75 sports including road cycling, BMX, gymnastics, combat sports, and more. Full list at Peaxel’s sport directory.
  • Women’s Cycling: Sorare has no women’s cycling. Peaxel has active athlete cards for riders competing on the UCI circuit.
  • Entry Cost: Sorare requires purchasing cards on a marketplace. Peaxel is free-to-play with cards earned through gameplay.
  • Athlete Depth: Peaxel features emerging athletes and rising stars, not just established names.

The tradeoff is clear. Sorare gives you deep liquidity in a few major sports. Peaxel gives you breadth—sports and athletes you won’t find anywhere else.

July 2026 Gameweek: Two Picks Worth Your Attention

Here’s where this gets practical. If you’re playing Peaxel this month and want cycling exposure, two athletes deserve serious consideration.

Oda Aune Gissinger: The Norwegian ITT Specialist

Oda Gissinger is 19 years old and already racing at continental level for Hitec Products-Fluid Control. That alone makes her unusual. What makes her a fantasy pick is her trajectory.

In 2025, she won the Grand Prix CERATIZIT Women Junior and took bronze at the World Championships junior ITT. She overturned a 51-second deficit to win Tour de l’Abitibi—riding by feel because her power meter died mid-stage. That’s the kind of composure you can’t teach.

This year she’s stepped up. At Vuelta a Burgos Féminas, she spent over 110km in a breakaway and claimed the mountain jersey. For a rider making her WorldTour debut, that’s a statement. Time trials and hilly one-day races are her strength, and July’s race calendar plays into both.

Add her card at Peaxel before her profile climbs further.

Lidia Castro de la Serna: Spain’s Next Big Thing

Lidia Castro is still just 18, but the attention she’s drawing says everything. UAE Team Emirates started tracking her in 2024. In December 2025, she was invited to Jayco AlUla’s World Tour training camp—a rare nod for a junior.

Her results back the hype. Third overall at Tour de Valromey, the world’s most prestigious junior stage race. Second at Copa de Naciones. Eighth at the European Championships, finishing in the chase group behind the winner. She’s versatile across road and cyclocross, which means consistent scoring opportunities across race types.

Honestly, Lidia is the pick nobody is talking about yet. Her value on Peaxel is still accessible. That window won’t stay open.

Get her card at Peaxel while you can.

Tactical Notes for This Gameweek

July is stage race season in women’s cycling. That favors consistent performers over one-day specialists. Both Gissinger and Castro have shown they can accumulate points across multiple stages rather than relying on a single result.

Gissinger’s breakaway ability means she’s likely to feature in intermediate classifications—mountain points, sprint bonuses, aggressive rider awards. These add up in fantasy scoring even when she doesn’t win stages outright.

Castro’s versatility is the key variable. If any continental or national races include technical parcours or mixed terrain, her cyclocross background becomes an edge. Watch the race profiles before locking lineups.

The risk? Both are young and still building into elite competition. Consistency isn’t guaranteed. But that’s the tradeoff with emerging athletes—lower floor, higher ceiling.

Why This Matters for Fantasy Players

If you’ve played FPL or Sorare, you know the feeling of chasing the same players everyone else has. Differential picks become the entire game because the obvious choices are priced in.

Women’s cycling on Peaxel is different. The player base is still discovering these athletes. You’re not competing against algorithms and whale accounts for card access. You’re building lineups around athletes most fantasy players have never heard of.

That’s the appeal. Not because Peaxel is “better”—that’s subjective. But because it’s different in ways that create genuine edge for players willing to do the work.

If you’re curious about building a lineup around athletes like Oda Gissinger and Lidia Castro, Peaxel is free to start. No buy-in required.