2025 WC: Thread for all the women's races + Mixed Relay

[jono]

Let's go! Probably the biggest result ever in Canadian road racing.

The theme with the races on this course is that everyone is wrecked at the end, no matter if you've been hiding in the peloton or riding on the front. So might as well go to the front.

Does this presage an interesting result tomorrow, or does Pogacar just go on the front with 80km to go to remove all drama?

 

[Barnacle Bill]

In 20 yrs time there will be a nostalgia thread on the forum about the glorious old unpredictable days of the womens' WC, like the legendary 2025 edition.

 

[Unchained]

I have learned that if I speak my mind on these matters, I will be in trouble. Lets just say the main favorites could have raced this one a bit better

This is true but it's all completely mental conditioning. When you are used to radios that can tell you just how bad your mistake is and get a plan for corrective action.. Not here..used to getting bottles and gels from teammates and feeds are not as frantic.. Not here. Riders are used to multiple teams, riders from their team staying away or working together to chase..not here..it's all back to amateur style riding.. If you don't chase the rider or riders going off the front, nobody else will.. The main favorites forgot basics and banked on techniques that work all year but not today. Tomorrow will likely have similar setup were everyone thinks they see Bora and UAE but they don't.. those relationships will factor but you have to chase everything..

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Valleres more big wins this decade than 'the cyclist of 2025' mads perdersen

 

[Andy262]

And a massive boo to British Cycling for not putting anyone up for this event.

 

[Danskebjerge]

Nice to see how (relatively) unpredictable women's cycling has become.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Let's go! Probably the biggest result ever in Canadian road racing.

The theme with the races on this course is that everyone is wrecked at the end, no matter if you've been hiding in the peloton or riding on the front. So might as well go to the front.

Does this presage an interesting result tomorrow, or does Pogacar just go on the front with 80km to go to remove all drama?

Much as though I may meme on it and mock it as an example of a miserable race with a low value champion, Ryder Hesjedal winning the Giro d'Italia should be at least on the same level.

 

[Cycling111]

Much as though I may meme on it and mock it as an example of a miserable race with a low value champion, Ryder Hesjedal winning the Giro d'Italia should be at least on the same level.

Another Canadian. Curious.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Another Canadian. Curious.

Why yes, I responded to a comment about it being possibly the biggest result in Canadian road cycling by mentioning another high profile Canadian road cycling result.

It wasn't about level of shock or anything - Oliver Zaugg and Anna Kiesenhofer were both significantly greater surprises than Vallières, who is an outsider to the main contenders, but most definitely not classifiable as "out of nowhere" and I'd say is less so than, say, Amalie Dideriksen in 2016. This is more like, say, Johan van Summeren's or Matt Hayman's Roubaix wins, coming from the break where some secondary and tertiary contenders wind up battling it out. Vallières is still fairly young and building her palmarès, but she has some strong results in races over this kind of parcours and though she may not have got much screen time en route to those, she still has a strong enough set of results in those races to say that she could last the distance and acquit herself well from a group in the company of the likes of Muzic, García, Markus and Fisher-Black - it isn't like she came to the bottom of the last climb and did that to PFP, Vollering, ELB, Niewiadoma and Reusser in a straight fight (coincidentally, that is the equivalent of what Oliver Zaugg did to win Lombardia, his first and only pro win).

 

[Unchained]

I think Spanish junior Paula Ostiz should get rainbow jersey for having cool hair.. Just saw a replay and she looks more like a pro surfer than bike racer..all her teammates crying so happy for her.

 

[jono]

Much as though I may meme on it and mock it as an example of a miserable race with a low value champion, Ryder Hesjedal winning the Giro d'Italia should be at least on the same level.

Fair, though Hesjedal's doping admissions have taken a bit of the shine off of that one since.

 

[Andy262]

Why yes, I responded to a comment about it being possibly the biggest result in Canadian road cycling by mentioning another high profile Canadian road cycling result.

It wasn't about level of shock or anything - Oliver Zaugg and Anna Kiesenhofer were both significantly greater surprises than Vallières, who is an outsider to the main contenders, but most definitely not classifiable as "out of nowhere" and I'd say is less so than, say, Amalie Dideriksen in 2016. This is more like, say, Johan van Summeren's or Matt Hayman's Roubaix wins, coming from the break where some secondary and tertiary contenders wind up battling it out. Vallières is still fairly young and building her palmarès, but she has some strong results in races over this kind of parcours and though she may not have got much screen time en route to those, she still has a strong enough set of results in those races to say that she could last the distance and acquit herself well from a group in the company of the likes of Muzic, García, Markus and Fisher-Black - it isn't like she came to the bottom of the last climb and did that to PFP, Vollering, ELB, Niewiadoma and Reusser in a straight fight (coincidentally, that is the equivalent of what Oliver Zaugg did to win Lombardia, his first and only pro win).

Dideriksen was a lively outsider in 2016 - at that time a fair sprinter on a pan flat parcours. I backed her that day and I think the price was 20-1.

Whereas I’ve not checked the odds on Vallieres but I doubt she was less than 50-1.

 

[broppo]

Italy are used to just follow the Netherlands. Whatever happens, follow the Dutch. If the Dutch then are passive/don't have the legs, they just don't know what to do.

I actually liked Vollering's attitude today, basically saying "screw you all, I'm not doing anything". In the end she even won the sprint... unfortunately it was the sprint for 7th.

Vollering has many times been the overwhelming favourite with this same mentality and achieved nothing just like today. The Netherlands and France should have just collectively controlled the race and then hope Vollering has the legs. But no they want to be fancy and send some 3d tier rider up front so that other teams do the work, which of course doesn't happen. And then in the end none of the strongest riders have a chance to win the race.

None of the top teams took responsibility today and frankly at women's races this happens way too frequently. The top riders (Vollering, PfP, Longo) should take some responsibility. This looking at each other all the times is just pathetic

 

[EddyMazzoleni]

Attrition meant the favourites didn't have the legs to create gaps in the final laps, however some bad tactics lead to that situation. E.g. I don't get why ELB left the decisive attack go with Malcotti in it, she had pulled like 40 km up to that point, so she didn't really have any chance of winning.

 

[SafeBet]

Attrition meant the favourites didn't have the legs to create gaps in the final laps, however some bad tactics lead to that situation. E.g. I don't get why ELB left the decisive attack go with Malcotti in it, she had pulled like 40 km up to that point, so she didn't really have any chance of winning.

Italy's tactics were tragic today.
No way around it.

 

[Unchained]

And a massive boo to British Cycling for not putting anyone up for this event.

You can write directly to Shell Oil company and request additional funding for next time..

 

[Cycling111]

Italy's tactics were tragic today.
No way around it.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1971957906128941117

View: https://x.com/SpazioCiclismo/status/1971957906128941117?t=62ooycSUKLP9BhXjwy8EUA&s=19

 

[Andy262]

You can write directly to Shell Oil company and request additional funding for next time..

No, it’s rubbish. Every other significant European cycling country was represented. British cycling has plenty enough resources to add another 2-3 contestants to the party.

 

[yaco]

And a massive boo to British Cycling for not putting anyone up for this event.

They dont have the riders for this type of race, except for Georgi. It was a wise decision to wait for the European championship.

 

[RedheadDane]

Much as though I may meme on it and mock it as an example of a miserable race with a low value champion, Ryder Hesjedal winning the Giro d'Italia should be at least on the same level.

Alison Jackson also got a pretty big win a few years ago.

 

[Andy262]

They dont have the riders for this type of race, except for Georgi. It was a wise decision to wait for the European championship.

Here, where it appears that Anna Henderson is our lone entry?

https://www.uec.ch/resources/2025%20Events/road%20ardeche/liste/entry/entry_wom_el.pdf

 

[hayneplane]

Let's go! Probably the biggest result ever in Canadian road racing.

The theme with the races on this course is that everyone is wrecked at the end, no matter if you've been hiding in the peloton or riding on the front. So might as well go to the front.

Does this presage an interesting result tomorrow, or does Pogacar just go on the front with 80km to go to remove all drama?

Could be a little like Wollongong 2022 of go early or risk never seeing the front end of the race again.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Watching the race at the time I was just baffled at the tactics and the way everyone was riding , and didn't really appreciate the win for what it was, a great and deserving win by Valleres. A rider who I didn't really know.

 

[ktel]

I tuned in to the race after it had been underway a while and enjoyed it. Maybe that's because I was uninformed on who was "supposed" to win and what tactics everyone was supposed to be employing.

I was happy for the winners . It did however seem pretty clear that there was ample opportunity for other riders to get up to the front if they really wanted to . That's the puzzling part .

 

[Axel Hangleck]

'One off' World championship events can produce shock winners - and that is why I dislike cycling's Worlds......A season long championship usually rewards the season's best rider with the title - you can't fluke a season championship. Being the best on one day is a lottery, and is no way to decide a sport's World champion.