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As much as I like van der Breggen and although I'm technically half Dutch this Dutch dominance is very unsatisfying. Make it Noord-Holland vs. Groningen vs. Limburg.
Deignan the only one not riding for placings. Not that it matters as placings are all that are on offer
Is this the best version of Anna van der Breggen ever (which would really be saying something)?
VDB is far superior, but this another reason why the women should race longer distance. No reason physically why they can't do the same as the men. If it was over 200 kms, she'd probably attack later, but there would be more of a chance of her blowing up imo.
Hard to blame them considering how much better than the rest Van der Breggen is. Innsbruck v2
Interestingly, there was a Dutch article yesterday about if there is a crisis in Dutch women's cycling and how, unlike men's cycling where people like Pogačar, Evenepoel and Bernal are making huge waves, women's cycling is dominated by a group of 30+ riders.
The problem is, of course, that's only partially true even if you look at the Netherlands. If you look globally it's a completely different story, with Germany's best rider being 22, France's top 2 riders being 21, New Zealand making waves with riders who are 22 and 20, Russia's top rider being 20, and so on, plus that riders like Niewiadoma made their name aged 19 and Longo Borghini not long after. And it's not like that many major riders are THAT old. Longo Borghini is 29, van der Breggen is 30, Deignan is 31.
Plus, of course, Dutch cycling has Lorena Wiebes and Demi Vollering, 21 and 23 respectively.
The big long term concern for the Dutch is that they have had a generation of superstar riders who have come along at a similar time and that coincides with a time of increased professionalism in the women's bunch which has enabled them to make a living from it rather than retire super early as you often saw in the past (and still see in many countries in the present). Those top riders are elite talents who still merit the spots in the big races (and in Vos' case of course, were a young phenom meaning she's younger than people often realise), meaning there's less turnover at the top so to speak. However, the other problem is that it means the Dutch are likely to lose Vos, van Vleuten, van der Breggen, van Dijk, van den Broeck-Blaak and Brand in a fairly short period of time; once that happens, people like Wiebes, Vollering and Mackaij will ensure that the Netherlands are still prominent, but it won't be like it is now.
The problem at the moment for the racing is that they've got over some of the tactical disasters that cost them on big occasions, such as the European Games in Baku and the Worlds in Ponferrada, which means they're actually using their strength properly.
The problem is, of course, that's only partially true even if you look at the Netherlands. If you look globally it's a completely different story, with Germany's best rider being 22, France's top 2 riders being 21, New Zealand making waves with riders who are 22 and 20, Russia's top rider being 20, and so on, plus that riders like Niewiadoma made their name aged 19 and Longo Borghini not long after. And it's not like that many major riders are THAT old. Longo Borghini is 29, van der Breggen is 30, Deignan is 31.
Plus, of course, Dutch cycling has Lorena Wiebes and Demi Vollering, 21 and 23 respectively.
The big long term concern for the Dutch is that they have had a generation of superstar riders who have come along at a similar time and that coincides with a time of increased professionalism in the women's bunch which has enabled them to make a living from it rather than retire super early as you often saw in the past (and still see in many countries in the present). Those top riders are elite talents who still merit the spots in the big races (and in Vos' case of course, were a young phenom meaning she's younger than people often realise), meaning there's less turnover at the top so to speak. However, the other problem is that it means the Dutch are likely to lose Vos, van Vleuten, van der Breggen, van Dijk, van den Broeck-Blaak and Brand in a fairly short period of time; once that happens, people like Wiebes, Vollering and Mackaij will ensure that the Netherlands are still prominent, but it won't be like it is now.
The problem at the moment for the racing is that they've got over some of the tactical disasters that cost them on big occasions, such as the European Games in Baku and the Worlds in Ponferrada, which means they're actually using their strength properly.
Endurance does affect the shorter efforts, but seeing as Van Vleuten and Van der Breggen are cranking out long solos all the time I'd think they'd benefit from longer distances most.
Anna got the timing right. She was not great in La Course, caught in stage 2 of the Giro and not strong through the middle of it, but she got stronger and stronger with each passing day toward the end, and now just looks imperious and pretty much unstoppable.
The Dutch have 2 riders who can ride the entire peloton off their wheel
I think the only solution to make the women's WC interesting is to make the courses less selective.
I think the only solution to make the women's WC interesting is to make the courses less selective.
Honestly I think the problem is that there is a huge difference in the level of the female riders. There is a small peak, riders who are incredibly talented and professional, but there are just not enough riders of this quality, yet. If you make the races harder, there will be like 20-25 women who will say "great, finally a race that respects us", but the others will be practically out of the race by the half of it. (Okay, I don't really know anything about women's cycling, so maybe I'm wrong. This is what I think.)
Possibly. But partly why even Contador went long range on the Alp in 2011, or on final P-N stages, is because the distances were short. Well, the men's races need more excitement in that attacking way, but women's races need more spread of competition in the peloton; at least more attrition 'could' help.
AvdB so efficient on the bike. This boring AF but her riding does look gracious.
I think it ultimately comes down to how many girls get into the sport and if that sample is large enough to get a deep field at the top, and it doesn't quite seem like it.
Another very important point is the ideal physique/body weight for a cyclist is probably not too dissimilar between men and women, while their distributions in height/weight are entirely different, and I think other physiological differences will play a role as well.
The problem is much lesser in the World Tour than in the major championships, however. That's largely because there are only a few countries where there is real strength in depth for their riders, so there's more competition and suspense in races with trade teams as you don't see world class riders like Niewiadoma and Moolman-Pasio isolated, and you don't have as much (it has happened, such as Rabo-Liv in 2014 or Boels-Dolmans in 2016) by way of a ridiculous super-team like you have from the Dutch in a World Championships.
The other problem for a parcours like this is that - though this is improving - there are far too few genuinely mountainous races out there for women, and a lot of flat-to-rolling events, which means that the standout talents come to the front very early and a lot of riders are turfed out the back sooner than they would be in an equivalent men's race - which as a result also incentivises the strongest making the race earlier, because the earlier you eliminate those outsiders, the fewer people are able to work to bring you back.
I don't know much about this Anna Shackley, she rides only in the UK domestic scene from what I can find, but she's apparently a legitimate climber, and she's only 19, so it's impressive to have her still in the bunch here considering she won't have done many races against this level of competition.
Yea, I think they know they haven't got the impetus to bring back van der Breggen, and they know who the strongest climbers in that group are, but those riders (ELB, Cille) don't fancy their chances going on this one and will wait for the other climb, all the others aren't likely to go on this climb knowing that Lizzie Deignan outclimbed them on the last lap, and has a better sprint than pretty much everybody else in this group, save for Vos who obviously isn't going to attack.
Edit: actually, think that might be Coryn Rivera at the back of the group.
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