Milano-Sanremo Donne 2025, first edition of women's race, March 22

[Peyroteo94]

You just don't like the fact Wiebes won. That's it. The final was just as exciting as most Sanremo finals for the men. A race Mark Cavendish has won, remember.

Touché

 

[Samu Cuenca]

One of the issues on the Poggio was that Cille's pace simply wasn't hard enough (although still her best performance this year) and it even led to Labous getting tired of waiting for Kasia to attack. I had thought Demi would be ready to counter immediately, but that didn't really work out.

Sometimes it can be hard to know what to expect from women's races, cause smaller climbs can create big differences one day, but nothing on another.

 

[Red Rick]

Nah DE's main gripe is race distance. And I think it's fair to think that Sanremo Donne should be the longest race on the women's calendar. I think it should too

I just disagree distance is the reason for the disappointing outcome we got today.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

You just don't like the fact Wiebes won. That's it. The final was just as exciting as most Sanremo finals for the men. A race Mark Cavendish has won, remember.

2009 men's cycling might as well be a different planet than current men's cycling, for the better in the case of Sanremo.

And no, my issue here is not with Wiebes individually, but with the fact that this race failed to capture the same dynamism the men's race has fairly consistently had since 2017. The fastest sprinter in the peloton winning without ever being on the absolute limit is merely a symptom of that.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Cavalli finishing 13th and just missing out on the front group is her best result in almost a year. Hopefully she'll be fully ready for the Ardennes.

 

[Red Rick]

One of the issues on the Poggio was that Cille's pace simply wasn't hard enough (although still her best performance this year) and it even led to Labous getting tired of waiting for Kasia to attack. I had thought Demi would be ready to counter immediately, but that didn't really work out.

Sometimes it can be hard to know what to expect from women's races, cause smaller climbs can create big differences one day, but nothing on another.

I think generally climbs are more selective, but women are also less explosive, so unless they can drop each other clean off the wheel with a high tempo they can struggle getting a gap. And even Pog struggles to get a gap on the Poggio cause it's a short 7% section you're launching into at 45kph.

IMO it should be way more possible for the women to attack early on the Poggio and use the congestion in the hairpins and changes of wind direction.

But th biggest issue is simply Kopecky and Wiebes being on the same team.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I think generally climbs are more selective, but women are also less explosive, so unless they can drop each other clean off the wheel with a high tempo they can struggle getting a gap. And even Pog struggles to get a gap on the Poggio cause it's a short 7% section you're launching into at 45kph.

IMO it should be way more possible for the women to attack early on the Poggio and use the congestion in the hairpins and changes of wind direction.

But th biggest issue is simply Kopecky and Wiebes being on the same team.

Wiebes being a stronger climber than she used to be also makes a big difference here. Ok, she might not have been pushed to the max on Poggio, but there were still other riders that could potentially have made it that didn't.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Nah DE's main gripe is race distance. And I think it's fair to think that Sanremo Donne should be the longest race on the women's calendar. I think it should too

I just disagree distance is the reason for the disappointing outcome we got today.

Fwiw I don't think distance is the sole reason for the disappointing race, it definitely also is true that the obvious puncheuses didn't do the job they were supposed to (Vollering first attacking. 100m from the summit, really?). But Poggio also simply would have hit harder if it came farther into a race than any woman has ever had to go

Oh, and it also didn't help that the pace between Cipressa and Poggio was so much slower than what we're used to seeing in the men's race, that allowed for more recuperation. This would be the first place I would change my tactics next year if I wasn't riding for a sprint, but the women's peloton has never been exactly renowned for setting a strong pace when it's required...

 

[Didinho]

Puck her time on Poggio was 6:44. At 32km/h.

 

[Mina.S]

PFP was impressive. Still think she is more of a classics girl than grand tour but can't wait for her to prove me wrong.

 

[Dk one]

One of the issues on the Poggio was that Cille's pace simply wasn't hard enough (although still her best performance this year) and it even led to Labous getting tired of waiting for Kasia to attack. I had thought Demi would be ready to counter immediately, but that didn't really work out.

Sometimes it can be hard to know what to expect from women's races, cause smaller climbs can create big differences one day, but nothing on another.

Yes, CUL looked to have okay legs for the first time this season, so my cq ranking team is mad she had to pace for a not 100% Kasia, who is also on my team

 

[Mina.S]

Does anyone know who crashed?

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Puck her time on Poggio was 6:44. At 32km/h.

That's faster than what Climbingrecords has for the 2014 men's edition.

But tell me more about how distance doesn't matter.

(and yes, wind is a part of that too, but even so)

 

[Didinho]

Any news on DNF’s?

 

[Red Rick]

That's faster than what Climbingrecords has for the 2014 men's edition.

But tell me more about how distance doesn't matter.

Do you really wanna ignore the 3 elephants in the room buddy?

 

[AmRacer]

Do you really wanna ignore the 3 elephants in the room buddy?

One or two goats maybe.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Do you really wanna ignore the 3 elephants in the room buddy?

Why are you not quoting the part of that post where I mention a major caveat, then post a mildly condescending reply criticising me for ignoring caveats?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Does anyone know who crashed?

Any news on DNF’s?

Cromwell looked like someone who had a broken collarbone after her early crash and Barale didn't look great either. Movistar say they will give an update on Baril later.

 

[Didinho]

It’s because there’s only a top 20 from the race. Would like to see the other finishers, especially those who crashed if they could continue.

 

[jmdirt]

I love seeing the rainbow kit cross the line first, but its pretty cool watching the world champ lead a teammate to a win also!

Congrats LW!

 

[Lequack]

Why didn't Wiebes work for Kopecky instead?

 

[SafeBet]

Why didn't Wiebes work for Kopecky instead?

Because Wiebes is the fastest in the world and Kopecky isn't?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Why didn't Wiebes work for Kopecky instead?

Kopecky can lose sprints against Vos, but Wiebes only does that when she celebrates too early.

 

[Didinho]

The finish list is there. A lot of DNF’s for this race.

 

[yaco]

Does anyone know who crashed?

Smulders brought down Baril. Then shortly after Paternoster brought down Colonel and half the peleton. Jayco managed to have three of their four riders crash in 2kms and then Garcia got a mechanical on top of the Poggio.