Lesser Known Road Racing for Women Thread

[RedheadDane]

The DD of M is Lippert and Mackaij with Mackaij's dog as its mascot.

They can have multiple DDs.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

They can have multiple DDs.

Sure, and perhaps this will be the beginning of a new great racing relationship.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Movistar have been in fairly good position over the last kms. They have Mackaij in the front group while Laboral Kutxa have been forced to chase behind. However Mackaij is not necessarily the strongest rider in front, so they might be hoping the chase succeeds.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

They did catch them, but then a new group of Blanco, Christie, Mackaij, Roberts and Vettorello got away. Winspace have chased them, but the gap is still 50 seconds with 4 km left. The climb starts now though.

Mackaij, Roberts and Christie quickly gapped the rest.

 

[RedheadDane]

Winspace have chased them, but the gap is still 50 seconds with 4 km left.

They want to get in the space for winning.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I wouldn't have necessarily called Floortje as Movistar's best bet for the finish but she's making the climb look very comfortable at the moment. If it was 'regular' Arrate with Usartza and then the slight descent perhaps, but not with this side.

Edit: and there with 1,8km to go, Christie gets away from her breakmates and Mackaij struggles. Probably needs a Movistar move in the group behind now.

For somebody who grew up climbing these hills, Iurani Blanco's technique uphill is not very aesthetic.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Christie is alone now. Mackaij is getting dropped by Roberts and Blanco, so Movistar have blown it.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Christie is alone now. Mackaij is getting dropped by Roberts and Blanco, so Movistar have blown it.

It's not that big a gap to write off the bunch yet, if the leaders start to struggle. The moto being still behind Blanco suggests they're doing decently, mind.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

For a bit it looked like Blanco was getting closer, but I don't think she's making it.

I spoke too soon.

 

[awavey]

these motorbikes are being a pain

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Aupa aupa!

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Wow, a Laboral Kutxa 1-2

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Laboral Kutxa 1-2 with Basque escaladoras on a summit finish in the Basque country. What a day to be alive.

 

[RedheadDane]

Congrats to Blanco.
Where on earth did that other Laboral rider come from?
(She probably came from somewhere further down the climb, to be realistic.)

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Congrats to Blanco.
Where on earth did that other Laboral rider come from?
(She probably came from somewhere further down the climb, to be realistic.)

The bunch were never more than about 36" behind, so the chase was never that far back to come from it. The real surprise for me is that it was Usoa Ostolaza and not Ane Santesteban who would have been somebody I would have looked at the constitution of the bunch behind and said "yes, she will be the best climber there".

You could see the bunch arriving fast behind Christie just after Blanco made the move ahead of her, so I thought there was a chance the podium or even the win was in sight if some of the favourites had come through, but it would have needed a more explosive move to bridge the gap. If Baril had the form (looks like Meijering was the best Movistar rider) or a healthy Lippert was there, they could probably have bridged that gap, but as it was they were just too far away for the bridge to be made.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

A real Basque winner would obviously have been better than a Mallorcan one, but Blanco has been on Basque teams throughout her career and (probably) also played a part in her fellow Mallorcan boyfriend Xavier Cañellas getting a spot on Euskaltel this season.

 

[awavey]

meanwhile in London the ceremonial battering of a papiermache unicorn

https://twitter.com/x/status/1794697037998588408

View: https://x.com/ceratizit_wnt/status/1794697037998588408

 

[Libertine Seguros]

PCS at least give us a mention of a cult classic at London, highlighting that Wiebes has the chance to win every stage of a stage race here (and would be the favourite to do so given the parcours you'd say) - the last woman to do this was... Lilibeth Chacón. Before that, it happened 3 times in 2022 - Vollering in Itzulia, Skalniak-Sójka in the Princess Anna Vasa Tour, and Lorena Wiebes... in RideLondon Classique.

Fix the course, guys and girls. When the same rider wins every stage of the race twice in three years without ever leaving the confines of the péloton, you need to do something about it.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

meanwhile in London the ceremonial battering of a papiermache unicorn

https://twitter.com/x/status/1794697037998588408

View: https://x.com/ceratizit_wnt/status/1794697037998588408

Balsamo was a lot more gentle with the unicorn Trek gave her that one time.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

PCS at least give us a mention of a cult classic at London, highlighting that Wiebes has the chance to win every stage of a stage race here (and would be the favourite to do so given the parcours you'd say) - the last woman to do this was... Lilibeth Chacón. Before that, it happened 3 times in 2022 - Vollering in Itzulia, Skalniak-Sójka in the Princess Anna Vasa Tour, and Lorena Wiebes... in RideLondon Classique.

Fix the course, guys and girls. When the same rider wins every stage of the race twice in three years without ever leaving the confines of the péloton, you need to do something about it.

When you call your stage race based on a one-day race from the 2010s a „classique“ for foreign language points, you don‘t deserve any route at all, though

 

[awavey]

PCS at least give us a mention of a cult classic at London, highlighting that Wiebes has the chance to win every stage of a stage race here (and would be the favourite to do so given the parcours you'd say) - the last woman to do this was... Lilibeth Chacón. Before that, it happened 3 times in 2022 - Vollering in Itzulia, Skalniak-Sójka in the Princess Anna Vasa Tour, and Lorena Wiebes... in RideLondon Classique.

Fix the course, guys and girls. When the same rider wins every stage of the race twice in three years without ever leaving the confines of the péloton, you need to do something about it.

I was hearing rumours in Colchester, that Maldon is confirmed for another 2 years at least as a stage and Essex county council infact confirmed theyve got a contract with Ride London till 2026, and the London crit isnt going anywhere, so more of the same I guess. sadly when Surrey council lost their nerve on the sportive, it left Essex to pick it up, so the race will only ever be around Essex and the finale in London which really limits the course options.

its annoying because Id far rather it was a 1 day race that followed the Olympic road course, as it was meant to be as the legacy event from the Olympics, instead of this kind of odd 3 day race thats only about sprinters, well a sprinter really, as when you add in the almost reluctance of other teams to work together to out think SD Worx, theres only one winner.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I was hearing rumours in Colchester, that Maldon is confirmed for another 2 years at least as a stage and Essex county council infact confirmed theyve got a contract with Ride London till 2026, and the London crit isnt going anywhere, so more of the same I guess. sadly when Surrey council lost their nerve on the sportive, it left Essex to pick it up, so the race will only ever be around Essex and the finale in London which really limits the course options.

its annoying because Id far rather it was a 1 day race that followed the Olympic road course, as it was meant to be as the legacy event from the Olympics, instead of this kind of odd 3 day race thats only about sprinters, well a sprinter really, as when you add in the almost reluctance of other teams to work together to out think SD Worx, theres only one winner.

Even within Essex, though, they could e.g. have a circuit around Laindon or Basildon including this:

Or you could have a circuit around Southend or a finish at the Olympic MTB park at Hadleigh Park (which would be about 2km after the summit of this) which would fit with the legacy idea of the race:

I assume the Central London finish is sacrosanct though, so they can't e.g. move it to a finish at Alexandra Palace and have the circuit include Muswell Hill.

Either way, you could at least have a stage that makes it a challenge for the sprinters to win it on time bonuses, even if their losses can be limited. Wiebes obviously is much more durable now than she was three or four years ago and likely wouldn't be dropped by enough to lose the GC, but you could still see people believe in foiling the sprinters.

 

[awavey]

When you call your stage race based on a one-day race from the 2010s a „classique“ for foreign language points, you don‘t deserve any route at all, though

weirdly they started out calling it the Ride London Grand Prix, when it was just an even more boring crit than the one we have now, with a mass sprint finish.

they changed the name when it ended up on the WWT calendar, and possibly a change in race organisation,though I think London Marathon events have only been part of it since it became a 3 stage race, but they went for Classique, I guess because the mens race was still called the Ride London Classic at the time.

 

[awavey]

there are definitely more interesting routes they could pick in Essex, but you run into the same problem most races in the UK have, there just arent that many councils willing to step up to get involved, either by spending cash, though all get some grants from the government to boost health & tourism, or to take the flak from the residents, who "pay their road tax and dont see why cyclists should close their roads". Thats the attitude you have to break in the UK for cycling and cycling races, and Ride London always causes some grief, theres bound to be stories tomorrow about how the closed roads prevented someone from doing something urgent.

and so you get a race thats largely dictated by which ever local area in Essex has the vision & money to support it.

central London is a given, simply because its easier to shut down central london at the weekend, and no-one really cares, though it used to make alot more sense when the sportive actually finished in the same place as the races did, now they are completely separate, even if they let you free cycle round the course. but a finish up to Ally Palace would be great imo & with good cycling history too.

unfortunately you then hit problem 2 with cycle races in the UK, in that the non cycle race watching public, and councillors, dont actually care about the quality of the racing, they just love sprint finishes & love bashing the boards to the beat of the music, and the race hosts go along way to creating that atmosphere & expectation.

 

[awavey]

and I should add as youll no doubt repeatedly hear during comms of this stage, in central london every picture is a tourist picture postcard of London, ooh look theres Buck house, ooh look a red telephone box, ooh look the River Thames.

south london isnt that picturesque

cue obligatory picture of Trafalgar square and nothing we can see of the race