Lesser Known Road Racing for Women Thread

[RedheadDane]

I thought they had to turn up if they were invited, but guess Im confusing it with they have to be invited

Well, if you have to turn up if invited, then it's not really an invitation, but an obligation.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Rubbish parcours at Ride London - Better to keep it to a one day race if they serve up that rubbish.

I am surprised that one or two other WT teams did not ride Lotto Thuringen instead of Ride London, especially with Wiebes in the field.

Or remove it totally. If it was still a oneday race it would be in the centre of London and that race was less exiting than Scheldeprijs or those two almost identical races around Koksijde and de Panne.


I know it wasn't they weren't the strongest fields, but after her performance all of last week and in Andalucia, I'd think it's quite likely to see Ricarda Bauernfeind riding for the WT Canyon Sram team.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

RideLondon does historically have a decent sized prize pot which helps attract a field, even though the racing is lacklustre at best.

They could do something more interesting with it as a stage race even if they want to play 2012 legacy as the central part of it - there are a couple of hills over near Hadleigh Park where the 2012 Olympic MTB course is, or they could have a circuit race with the Box Hill Circuit on a different day from the sportive and then have their city centre crit - or maybe they could do a split stage on one of the earlier days with a prologue time trial so that there's a need to try to do something for the GC. Might even be best to have a hillclimb TT as a semitappe! Even if it's only 1-2km in length uphill, that then will put the likes of Lorena Wiebes at least a few seconds back so that they have to win the sprints to take the GC.

 

[RedheadDane]

I will admit, I thought RideLondon was a one-day race. Partially because there was only coverage on Sunday.

Yes, I know the 2.WWT bit should have clued me in, but... I'm not a very smart person...

 

[Izzyeviel]

They a could do a stage around Richmond park which has lots of hills,
They could just race around Richmond park for 10-20 laps.
They could start a race at Regents park, go up to highgate park and do laps around there on some killer climbs (swaines lane 10/19 times anytime?) before descending back down to Regents park for the finish ala san remo.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

The route presentation for the Vuelta Challenge is taking place right now:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b5oygejwbI

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Quintana is there!

Raquel that is

 

[Samu Cuenca]

The first stage of five is a 20 km TTT. They haven't learned much from watching the Giro Rosa.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1531687668681252864

View: https://twitter.com/ChallengeVuelta/status/1531687668681252864

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The first stage of five is a 20 km TTT. They haven't learned much from watching the Giro Rosa.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1531687668681252864

View: https://twitter.com/ChallengeVuelta/status/1531687668681252864

That's uglier than a climbing technique masterclass taught by Fernando Escartín, Juan Mauricio Soler, Chris Froome and Paco Mancebo with a section on descents with Ilnur Zakarin, Mara Abbott and Ivan Basso.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Stage 2 has five categorised climbs.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1531689311342559234

View: https://twitter.com/ChallengeVuelta/status/1531689311342559234

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Stage 3 has a long climb which is similar to the one, Van Vleuten made the difference on last year.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1531690709694169092

View: https://twitter.com/ChallengeVuelta/status/1531690709694169092

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Stage 4 is the longest and has an uphill finish in Segovia.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1531692338241843200

View: https://twitter.com/ChallengeVuelta/status/1531692338241843200

 

[Samu Cuenca]

The last stage is the usual criterium in Madrid (presented by Escartín and Sandra Alonso).

https://twitter.com/x/status/1531693483219685376

View: https://twitter.com/ChallengeVuelta/status/1531693483219685376

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It's not bad but it's not great. Stage 3 would probably be nicer if they had Bardal and Orbó between Reinosa and Aguilar de Campoo if they're going to climb to Reinosa by the least interesting route, but stage 2 is really nice and I guess there would at least be time gaps regardless even if a stage 1 TTT is one of the worst ways to do that. Those two climbs are not especially challenging but given you'd expect a 16km climb to thin the pack out it could make things interesting.

There is a nice little repecho near the Embalse that they might use in the run-in though, that would be good to create a bit of intrigue but without making anything too decisive too. Stage 4 suffers from geography in that it's long but with an uphill finish that might hurt racing before that - however, the wind could play a role here.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

It's not bad but it's not great. Stage 3 would probably be nicer if they had Bardal and Orbó between Reinosa and Aguilar de Campoo if they're going to climb to Reinosa by the least interesting route, but stage 2 is really nice and I guess there would at least be time gaps regardless even if a stage 1 TTT is one of the worst ways to do that. Those two climbs are not especially challenging but given you'd expect a 16km climb to thin the pack out it could make things interesting.

There is a nice little repecho near the Embalse that they might use in the run-in though, that would be good to create a bit of intrigue but without making anything too decisive too. Stage 4 suffers from geography in that it's long but with an uphill finish that might hurt racing before that - however, the wind could play a role here.

Stage 2 looks like the Basque one-day races, so that should definitely be interesting to watch. In a five days race you wouldn't mind the fourth stage being more decisive (at least on paper). I had hoped for a MTF on Puerto de Navacerrada (or a similar hard stage), when it's going to be used for racing that day anyway.

 

[carolina]

2nd Edition of Volta a Portugal Feminina Cofidis was presented yesterday.

Teams:
5Quinas/Município de Albufeira/CDASJ
Cantanhede Cycling/VESAM
Discover Melgaço/União Ciclista de Melgaço
Korpo Activo/Penacova
Maiatos e Sicasal/Glassdrive
Paredes/Alenquer/Mato-Cheirinhos/D'Helvetia
Proteu/Retorta/Efapel
Velo Performance/Extremosul
Junior and U23 National Team
Kiwi Atlántico Louriña
Massi Tactic Women's Team
Zaaf Cycling Team
Seleccion Catalana
RFDA
Team LDN/Brother UK
Team Groupe Abadie Le Boulou

1 prologue + 3 stages. A total of 273,4 kms, starting on June 16th.

Volta a Portugal Feminina Cofidis terá 17 equipas à partida

Já são conhecidas as 17 equipas que irão formar o pelotão da segunda edição da Volta a Portugal Feminina Cofidis, assim como os patrocinadores das quatro camisolas. A prova estará na estrada entre os

www.fpciclismo.pt

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Alpes Gresivaudan Classic today, looks absolutely great with the Col des Mouillés, the Col de Barioz and then an MTF at Pleynet-les-Sept-Laux. Not a super strong startlist sadly, a lot of smaller French teams with young riders I don't know too much about. On paper this should be Évita Muzic vs. Clara Koppenburg, but always room for surprises on the limited number of real climbing races from some riders that don't normally get the chance to shine.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

The Alpes Gresivaudan Classic, a new mountaneous one-day race organised by the people behind the Alpes Isère Tour and Classique des Alpes Juniors , takes place today.
The last 60 km is expected to be broadcast through this link, though it's already set to air from 13:15 CEST:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC1Acwi9nxg


Evita Muzic, representing the national team, is the major favourite, but she faces possible fierce competion from the recent winner of the reVolta a Catalunya, Clara Koppenburg.

Startlist: https://firstcycling.com/race.php?r=16509&y=2022&k=8

Col de Barioz is the last 6 km of this profile

And Le Pleynet Les Sept Laux is this one

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Alpes Gresivaudan Classic today, looks absolutely great with the Col des Mouillés, the Col de Barioz and then an MTF at Pleynet-les-Sept-Laux. Not a super strong startlist sadly, a lot of smaller French teams with young riders I don't know too much about. On paper this should be Évita Muzic vs. Clara Koppenburg, but always room for surprises on the limited number of real climbing races from some riders that don't normally get the chance to shine.

Great minds think alike

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Over the top of Col du Barioz only 11 riders are left in the front group, but some might come back in the descent. 43 km left.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Muzic wins, but she was sensationally almost beat by Eglantine Rayer in the sprint. Koppenburg came third after she tried to break the other two in the final kilomteres. Adele Normand was dropped close to the top and finished fourth.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Rayer might be something pretty special if that climbing is anything to go by, and that bodes well for future routes of the Tour Féminin.

I mean, I know this isn't the strongest of fields, and Muzic and Koppenburg were the clear favourites on paper, and neither are really renowned for competitive sprints, but nevertheless, she is, you know, 17 years old.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

The current UK Women's Tour uses the term QOM
for Queen Of the Mountains.
Does this mean they will have a King's Stage
later on?

(please don't cancel me for this)

 

[RedheadDane]

I feel a bit sorry for the organisers:
Full stage coverage and... basically nothing's been happening...

Also, the random reverse graphics is really confusing!