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Paris-Roubaix Femmes, 2021 - Oct. 2nd

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as mentioned...my tip....

Mark L

She and Vos will be the first riders who'll be able to accomplish wins in both RVV, G-W and in P-R), though because of its longer history on the women's calendar Omloop should probably rank above G-W here, but VdBB has won that as well. Getting another big win either here or during the coming spring would be a great way to finish off her career.
 
Also I'm intereseted in seeing how TIBCO will fare in this race. Faulkner was unfortunate to crash out of the Vuelta, but was in her own words having her best legs all year in Leuven, where she got caught behind a crash which took her out of the running.
Veronica Ewers is their joker, because I'm still not sure what kind of rider she actually is (she probably don't know herself yet either), but I guess her inexperience with both WWT racing, cobbles and riding in a bunch might become an issue in a race like this.
 
Sadly, many (most) female pro cyclists (and in athletics as well) have been shamed and even punished for not getting down to their dictated/expected weight. So please be clear I’m not bringing this up casually.

Over the years reading predictions and projections for successful P-R performances, the question gets raised whether rider tso-and-so is “too light” for the Roubaix pave, since the stones and the gaps make it more severe—and bounces a light rider around and makes it hard to produce the same amount of power as a heavier rider.
Does this apply for the women riding on Sat as well? Or are they ALL too light for it to make much of a difference between individuals?
 
I can see why they don't want to have the same distance as the men's race, because it would take longer for the women to ride it, and it would also create either too much of adifference and/or a more boring race, but less than half of the men's distance is also joke. But finally having a women's edition and being able to watch it live, are the main things here. Is it meant to finish before or after the men's race next year?

Most of the WWT one-day races this year have taken between three and half and four hours to complete for the winner. La Course only took 2:50, and depending on the weather, P-R should also finish in less than 3:30.

If we look at the WC RR it took almost 40 years from its debut in 1958 before it broke the 100 km barrier for the first time, and then another 20 years to get to 150. Today the maximum length for a WC or a WWT one-day race is 160 km (the WC was 157.7 and De Panne 158.8). Trefeo Binda was longer than 140 km for the first time this year, and Strade Bianche is also about an hour longer than it was in the first edition in 2015. So things have changed/are changing, but they shouldn't happen to rapidly either. But it is of course a classic case of the chicken or the egg; should we wait until the level is high enough to require longer races, or will the level automatically get there anyway if we make the changes today?

But it's obviously also a question of money, especially when it comes to TV coverage where there still isn't a lot to be made from women's races.
I wouldn’t even look at it from a distance POV. 117km of PR will take the women less that 3 hours, where the men’s race will take them double that or more. There’s no reason women can’t be riding 4-5hr classics.

And yes, include Arenberg.



But hey. This is progress, hopefully we’ll see a longer course next year etc.
 
Sadly, many (most) female pro cyclists (and in athletics as well) have been shamed and even punished for not getting down to their dictated/expected weight. So please be clear I’m not bringing this up casually.

Over the years reading predictions and projections for successful P-R performances, the question gets raised whether rider tso-and-so is “too light” for the Roubaix pave, since the stones and the gaps make it more severe—and bounces a light rider around and makes it hard to produce the same amount of power as a heavier rider.
Does this apply for the women riding on Sat as well? Or are they ALL too light for it to make much of a difference between individuals?
It will probably be less severe a difference than in the men's bunch owing to less specialisation and more genuine all-rounders, but then again the least suited men's riders don't do Roubaix (but might be seen on a Tour cobbled stage). I'm sure the difference between, say, Ellen van Dijk and Eider Merino when it comes to capability dealing with the cobbles would be clear, and a lot will come down to bike handling as well as power on the flats, so some cyclocross or mountainbike experience may be beneficial. Let's remember that flat cobbled stages are included in events like the BeNe Tour and the women do handle flat cobbles in the Ronde and Omloop so it's not like they'll be complete novices even if the nature of the Roubaix cobbles are different from those much more commonly-used, better-aligned and better-maintained Belgian roads like the Haaghoek and Paddestraat.
 
I think there is a slightly higher % of cobbles per km in the womens race.

Anyway, considering this is the first PR pour des femmes, who are the biggest favorites? Apparently Brand is not riding this, she's starting he CX season... Mind blown. Especially since physiologically i think this should suit her very well.
 
Such a shame Grace Brown had to miss the Worlds due to surgery. Will no doubt miss out here as well.

I admit I don't watch loads of women's races, but when I do watch, Grace Brown is one of the most exiting riders in the peloton for me. Would love to see how she would have gone in this.

I shall certainly be watching this race in full.

Edit: Just reading we're only going to get 90 minutes of coverage! Really? WTF is that all about!?

Yes - Brown is injured and she needed surgery BUT this could have been delayed - The team placed her on gardening leave - Brown would have been in my top three selections.
 
Disappearing?! :eek: Did they send out a search-team?
No, they just went round to BlueRoads' house.

Edit: also, I love how rapidly things have developed that people are upset with 90 minutes' coverage of a race organised by the same people that wouldn't show any live coverage of La Flèche Wallonne. No joke, it's great.
 
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“ 'We can’t just launch the whole of the women’s peloton onto the Trouée d’Arenberg as a first cobbled section' says ASO”


I mean, nobody said it HAD to be first, and you’d prefer if it was in the race somehow, but it’s not the worst point ever made.
 
“ 'We can’t just launch the whole of the women’s peloton onto the Trouée d’Arenberg as a first cobbled section' says ASO”


I mean, nobody said it HAD to be first, and you’d prefer if it was in the race somehow, but it’s not the worst point ever made.
It is a problem of their own making. They chose the route, they could easily have made the race longer and included more cobble before Arenberg.
 
Even though it is a longer race, they haven't used Arenberg in the U23 race either or at least not in recent editions.

The first kilometers of the race is different, but they enter the men's route in the same place as the juniors do on Sunday, so the junior race actually has a higher percentage of cobbled roads, because it's 5-6 kilometers shorter.
 
The argument would be that it's one of the places where you can truly swing the race in your favour, especially with cobbles of that condition being relatively new to the female peloton as a collective.

I kind of see it. I'd like to see the Arenberg in the race, but as the third or fourth sector if possible, so everyone has at least a chance to feel their way into the race on the day. All 3 five star sectors in both the men's and women's races would be great if it can be done.
 

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