February 2024. Now's the time. The season shifts gears as the spring classics start with a simmer. Building and building with races flying thick and fast, growing in both difficulty and prestige. Then, for many, the crescendo. The roiling chaos of Holy Week. The eight-day span contains both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, two of the women's sport's four monuments. A week after that, Amstel Gold, one of the oldest of the top-tier women's races (its first editions predate both Roubaix and the Ronde). It's these races that can make or break spirits. Knowing your teammates have your back makes all the difference.

The bond of sisterhood is ever-present. As sprinter Babette Van Der Wolf explains - "I've always said it's like a family...we push each other every day to a higher level".  For the riders of Lifeplus - Wahoo, whose participation is not guaranteed by WorldTour status, an invitation to these races serves as a chance to show themselves on the grandest stage and reach that higher level as one. They may be underdogs, but there's plenty of fight in them, both individually and as a family. For the young riders on the roster, it's an opportunity to learn by racing against the best athletes on the planet.

If the team is made up of sisters on the road, the family analogy extends to the support car and caravan of media following each race. Professional photographer Twila Federica Muzzi was roadside to capture the action and give us some insight into what it's like to follow the arena of elite women's sport.

"Being a professional female photographer shooting these races means a lot to me," says Muzzi. "It is the culmination (but not the end) of years of investing and believing in myself. Nothing else could make me more proud."

Twila shot the team in Flanders – a brutal race on the best of days, but contested this year in conditions that made things all the tougher.

"Sadly, a few colleagues of mine crashed with the moto, and that made me think how fragile we are. I always go to races with the thought, 'Nothing is gonna happen; everything will go smooth', but we have to accept that when we follow the race, the roads are open to traffic, and we're subject to whatever happens out there."

A challenging Sunday saw Kristyna, Heidi, Alicia, Maddie and Babette out in action, while youngster Ella Jamieson also joined the squad. The fabled 163km race saw riders tackle 12 hills with seven flat cobblestone sections, with the rain adding another dimension. The bergs of Flanders proved a bruising encounter in which no rider from the team finished the race. DNFs are common in classics racing, with frequent mechanical calamities and a chaotic race environment making it nigh-on impossible to regain contact with a peloton that is moving rapidly up the road. All experience in the bank for future growth.

Paris-Roubaix is the pilgrimage, a pure test of resilience, and a celebration of cycling's raw essence. Due to the recent heavy rains across the region, L'enfer du Nord was racing extra hellish this year. Spirits intact post Flanders, the team powered forward to take on all the gritty fun and chaos on the cobblestones. It was a stronger showing from the team with Alicia Gonzalez the best finisher in 49th, and all riders taking the fabled lap of the Roubaix velodrome to complete the course.

Reflecting on her time shooting this year's race, Pauline was encouraged in the direction of travel for women's cycling: "What a crazy race! I'm always quite nervous before Paris-Roubaix. It's part of the game and also what makes this race so special. I am incredibly grateful to have my passion as a job, I worked so hard to arrive here. I just feel I am a photographer first (before a female photographer), and being a female never stops me from doing what I want in my professional life, where it sounds harder for some female athletes sometimes to be on equal terms with the men. I'm grateful to witness some changes in the professional world of women's cycling; there are more races, more media, and more partners... it is growing, and that is amazing."

Another week, another savage test. The course of the Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands may not present any cobbles to contend with, but it remains one of the toughest, most hard-fought races in the spring, a turning point in the Classics.

The start, the finish. The blur of everything in between. In a race often overlooked in the significance of starting and finishing. It's a choice. It enables the attainment of goals and a transformation within the riders as they navigate the blur of another race environment, pushing into zones beyond normal comprehension.

MADE THIS: The Short Film Series

Following Twila, Pauline and Nadia's photographic work, we switch into cinematic mode to document all the racing with the accompanying MADE THIS: Short Film Series. From downtime in the Lifeplus-Wahoo team house to focus on the start line, MAAP takes to the road to capture what makes each rider a true competitor. Check your inbox and the gram for premiere dates unveiling very soon.