The Women's Road Racing Thread 2016

[lemon cheese cake]

King can time trial though. She was 8th in the hilly prologue at the Emakumeen Bira (Yes it was a prologue, but it shows she can TT. Plus I presume it was hilly.) She can also climb as she finished 16th overall in the same race. Last year in the Boels rental Ladies Tour she came 19th in a TT.

What about Hayley Simmonds for the ITT? She is the defending ITT champ currently (maybe not tommorrow evening) but she was in the teams for Richmond last year when she didn't have a pro contract. This year she did until a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

It is a very strange selection.

Pooley obviously was a much better road cyclist than King, but there's no evidence that she is now. Harris probably will be a better road cyclist than King, but she probably isn't yet. I note that King's complaints have focused on Pooley's selection rather than Harris, saying that she and Harris had both done what they were told they had to do to be selected, with the obvious implication being that Pooley hasn't.

Really the only way the decision can be made sense of is if you assume that British Cycling think Pooley can get a TT medal.

 

[Jonhard]

Well, the GB nats TT is done and Hayley Simmonds won again, with Claire Rose second and Sarah Storey third. Pooley got fourth, somewhat ho-hum but it was pretty flat.

None of the three Wiggle girls on the start list (King, Roberts, Christian) raced, which seems a bit odd.

Returning to the subject of Rio picks, I can see why you might pick that three. Emma needs to be a lot better but that could happen, she'll ride the Giro now with Lotto Soudal. But I don't really think it's fair to pick riders on the basis of belief rather than 2016 performance, unless you make that clear at the outset. And Emma is not in on the basis of 2016 performance by the look of it.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Emma and Claudia in the same team

Pooley's decision to come back probably threw a bit of a curveball from a selection point of view. Certainly King has shown more than Harris on the type of terrain they'll be on, and Pooley's TT today is somewhat disappointing but of course the course is very different to Rio, then again the apparent confirmation that Kristin Armstrong has the selection ahead of Carmen Small in the US ranks has created similar feelings of discontent and fans debating whether a part timer specialising for the TT is really a better selection than somebody who's performing against the World Tour elites regularly (and who beat the other in the national TT anyway). It's odd, clearly a lot of politics in the selections.

A few other, perhaps less key national results: Niewiadoma won the Polish nationals, though how often we'll see the jersey is up for debate given she'll probably be in the maglia bianca by the time the TT comes up in the Giro; Audrey Cordon defended in France, though PFP didn't enter this time around, so knowing where her form is is still a question unanswered; Lepistö won clearly in Finland rather predictably; Doris Schweizer edged out Nicole Hänselmann in Switzerland; Ann-Sophie Duyck took her third consecutive Belgian title; Vita Heine won in Norway by a really long way; Annemiek van Vleuten won by almost as much in the Netherlands, ahead of Blaak and Knetemann - their two most likely Olympics selections, Ellen van Dijk and Anna van der Breggen, didn't enter - and an exciting race in Italy as Elisa Longo Borghini edged out Tatiana Guderzo, who's been uncharacteristically quiet of late, by less than a second. Not quite as close, but Emma Johansson edged out Emilia Fahlin by just four seconds in Sweden as well.

 

[Jonhard]

USA have picked Mara too. Again kind of understandable albeit tough on Small and Rivera in particular, and maybe Tayler Wiles come to think of it.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

This is the only chance Mara will likely ever have to be an Olympic champion, but at the same time it's a frustrating selection; the last time Mara made the top 20 of a one-day race against an international field was Mendrisio, back when she rode for HTC-Columbia, and given the talk about her going for the win at Firenze and her lack of racing outside of the US domestic stage races and the Giro makes it again a frustrating selection for Small, who's been much more visible on the right terrain this season (although of course Mara's season is built around the Giro so she will likely have her peak yet to come) and if the decision is to race for Guarnier or Stevens, she's much more of a team player than Mara, who's never really settled in one team, and seldom races in anything other than the races she leads the team at. Mara's a really frustrating rider to follow, because she's a stupendous talent, but she seems to have found her niche and doesn't expand beyond it, her skillset is knowingly and wilfully lopsided, and she's so much like a female Andy Schleck it's unbelievable.

That is to say:
Mara's only hope to win is to come to the line solo, and I'm not convinced the climbing is enough for her to open a sufficient advantage that she can keep it on the descent and flat to the end. Guarnier seems a better shout for the win, if Mara can be persuaded to be selfless enough to work for her.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Mara's only hope to win is to come to the line solo

Well, she could come to the line with Niewiadoma and have a 50/50 shot.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

Mara's only hope to win is to come to the line solo

Well, she could come to the line with Niewiadoma and have a 50/50 shot.

Idunno, I'd probably back Kasia in a two-up against Lichtenberg, so it might not be as good as 50/50 for Mara.

 

[jmdirt]

Re:

Emma and Claudia in the same team

Pooley's decision to come back probably threw a bit of a curveball from a selection point of view. Certainly King has shown more than Harris on the type of terrain they'll be on, and Pooley's TT today is somewhat disappointing but of course the course is very different to Rio, then again the apparent confirmation that Kristin Armstrong has the selection ahead of Carmen Small in the US ranks has created similar feelings of discontent and fans debating whether a part timer specialising for the TT is really a better selection than somebody who's performing against the World Tour elites regularly (and who beat the other in the national TT anyway). It's odd, clearly a lot of politics in the selections.

A few other, perhaps less key national results: Niewiadoma won the Polish nationals, though how often we'll see the jersey is up for debate given she'll probably be in the maglia bianca by the time the TT comes up in the Giro; Audrey Cordon defended in France, though PFP didn't enter this time around, so knowing where her form is is still a question unanswered; Lepistö won clearly in Finland rather predictably; Doris Schweizer edged out Nicole Hänselmann in Switzerland; Ann-Sophie Duyck took her third consecutive Belgian title; Vita Heine won in Norway by a really long way; Annemiek van Vleuten won by almost as much in the Netherlands, ahead of Blaak and Knetemann - their two most likely Olympics selections, Ellen van Dijk and Anna van der Breggen, didn't enter - and an exciting race in Italy as Elisa Longo Borghini edged out Tatiana Guderzo, who's been uncharacteristically quiet of late, by less than a second. Not quite as close, but Emma Johansson edged out Emilia Fahlin by just four seconds in Sweden as well.

It seems that USAC did put a lot of weight on KA being the 2X defending Olympic Champion (maybe they read my posts here She can be a solid workhorse for the RR too.

"The top set of criteria involve medal capability, including top finishes at the most recent Olympic Games. Armstrong, who has twice won time trial gold at the world championships and Olympics, checked several of those boxes with past performances, including a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London, while Small was third at the 2013 world championships."

That's what I was contending, but din't read that in the selection criteria that I read, Hopefully the athletes got a more complete criteria than the one VeloNews published.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

A few more national races:

- Eri Yonamine of Hagens Bermans won the Japanese TT ahead of Kajihara and Hagiwara. She's 25 and having a bit of a breakout getting to race better events, finishing well in California and just outside the top 10 in Philly.
- To the surprise of absolutely no-one, Christine Majerus won in the Luxembourg ITT and will probably double up in the RR too. It's her 10th consecutive win in the race.
- Tatiana Antoshina won the Russian TT ahead of Boyarskaya and Yakovenko. Yakovenko was the best of a sequence of 20-21yo riders outdone by the more experienced duo ahead; also Olympic bronze medalist Olga Zabelinskaya had a disappointing race, only finishing 6th despite the hilly route in Sevastopol' suiting her.
- Astana unsurprisingly dominated the women's RR in Kazakhstan, with Saifutdinova, the most experienced of their Kazakh riders, taking the win in a two-up sprint against teammate Sokovnina. Most of the top 10 are from years 1995-1997 though so the team is really trying to develop a young generation.
- Mavi García (Mavi being MArgarita VIctoria) of Bizkaia-Durango won the Spanish RR solo to surprise the favourites; Anna Sanchis and Sheyla Gutiérrez were unsurprisingly the next ones home after the anticipated favourite, Ane Santesteban, who has been strong on hilly terrain this year, did not start. García was impressive in the final stage at País Vasco; she's a former triathlete and runner who only took up cycling a couple of years ago and is in her first full season (turning pro mid-season last year), winning the GP Cantabria, Vuelta a La Rioja and Vuelta a Burgos from the national field. She is 32 years old, however.
- Trixi Worrack is back and she's bad - the veteran crashed out of the Trofeo Binda heavily and had to have a kidney removed, only returning to competition a couple of weeks ago, but she won the German TT ahead of Cervélo-Bigla's Stefanie Pohl and a surprisingly anonymous performance from Lisa Brennauer. Defending champion Mieke Kröger was only 5th, but has had a very quiet season thus far on the road as she focuses on the track for the Olympics.
- In arguably the most competitive of all the national championship events, the Dutch road race, the Rabo trading game continues, and this year Anouska Koster will get to wear the driekleur. She's a very promising young rider (22) who has often been "attacker #1" in Rabo's multi-attack policy as their way to wrest control away from the likes of Boels to try to produce a situation where they can win the race from their less sprint-oriented riders; in their "all chiefs no Indians" types of lineups she is often the helper of choice so it's good to see her get a chance to be more visible like this. She held off Janneke Ensing of Parkhotel, with the bunch sprinting for 3rd behind, from which Vos won the technical sprint ahead of Pieters and Wild.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

In Sweden, Emma Johansson goes solo and rides well away from everybody else after taking everything they can throw at her. She has 4 minutes with 12km remaining so she is surely safe. And indeed she is. EMMA JOHANSSON IS SWEDISH CHAMPION.

In Italy, Elisa Longo Borghini was solo from a chasing group including Ratto, Bronzini and defending champ Cecchini, but was brought back. Cecchini now ahead by a few seconds and ELB has been put to work chasing her for Bronzini at the finish, but she's spent and only has Ratto for help with others saving themselves for sprints. ELENA CECCHINI DEFENDS THE TITLE AND IS ITALIAN CHAMPION.

In Poland, the break of the day is Niewiadoma and Anna Plichta, and the duo were four minutes ahead of the field at the halfway point; the two are good friends on and off the bike, and with the national péloton looking to Jasińska to chase, and Bujak (also of BTC) not wanting to chase Plichta, they stretched it to eight minutes with 10km remaining. In the last few kilometres the unknown one decided that she didn't fancy the sprint, which is no surprise; she quickly got away from Plichta who seemed to sit up once she realised Kasia was gone, and looks to have sewn this up. KATARZYNA NIEWIADOMA IS POLISH CHAMPION.

In France, Elise Delzenne had a double mechanical within a couple of minutes that dumped her out of the back after she'd been off the front solo. There's now Marjolaine Bazin off the front with the main favourites having caught the Futuroscope trio around 40" behind. Cordon and PFP seem to have locked eyes, as all moves by others are being ignored, but each time either of the two moves the other shuts it down immediately. Bazin is still solo but is now being chased by Edwige Pitel who is also chasing solo. Pitel has caught and dropped Bazin with 7km remaining, Leleu attacked behind but caught again by Cordon, some of the chaff shelled from the chase. Unless she collapses completely Pitel will win, the oldest national champion of the weekend for sure - she recently turned 49!!! It is so weird to see PFP in a normal Rabo kit but we shall get used to it; EDWIGE PITEL IS FRENCH CHAMPION.

In Denmark, the numbers game worked for Rytgers as they were able to outdo the pros riding alone; Emma Norsgaard (who is just 16 years old!!!) takes it ahead of Amalie Dideriksen. It would be legally possible in France and Denmark for Edwige Pitel to be Emma Norsgaard's grandmother. EMMA NORSGAARD IS DANISH CHAMPION.

In the Czech Republic, although they don't have the greatest depth in their women's field considering they have a couple of pretty good level races (not one woman on a pro road team at present), nevertheless their prospects will be somewhat aggrieved to lose out once again in both road race and time trial to pro speed skater Martina Sáblíková, who defends both titles after soloing in from afar. This isn't a converted wintersport athlete like Chloé McConville, Tara Whitten or Jip van den Bos; this is a current pro speed skater who just crops up on the road as part of her summer training, and she has made mincemeat of the field. MARTINA SÁBLÍKOVÁ IS CZECH CHAMPION.

In Luxembourg, no surprises despite the return of three time former champion Nathalie Lamborelle (who won her first national title at 17, won again in 2008 and 2009 then was second four consecutive times before retiring). Not clear on how the race transpired, but Lamborelle was third and the country's two top tier pros were ahead, with Majerus triumphing over Hoffmann. CHRISTINE MAJERUS IS LUXEMBOURGIAN CHAMPION.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

From twitter it sounds like everyone else in the Polish field is going to need counseling for post traumatic stress disorder after the beating the lead two gave them. Was this a case of the only pros in the race just riding away?

[edited to add: Ah, I see from Libertine Seguros' post above that there were a couple of other pros, but one was a teammate of one of the leaders]

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Norsgaard was one of the stars of the Ras na mBan already last year. Which is a small race, but still not one you expect to see someone that young winning a stage at.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

From twitter it sounds like everyone else in the Polish field is going to need counseling for post traumatic stress disorder after the beating the lead two gave them. Was this a case of the only pros in the race just riding away?

[edited to add: Ah, I see from Libertine Seguros' post above that there were a couple of other pros, but one was a teammate of one of the leaders]

There are some Polish teams with UCI status (MAT Atom Sobótka, LKS Atom Boxnet and TKK Pacific Toruń-Nestlé Fitness, the latter being the team Niewiadoma and Plichta previously rode for as juniors). In addition to the two that laid the smack down on the group, Jasińska (defending champion) and Bujak (teammate of Plichta who therefore wasn't contributing) there was also Kasia Pawlowska who was 2nd in the ITT and rides for Boels-Dolmans, but has had a quiet season, not sure how she played into the race storyline tho, and MTB specialist Maja Włoszczowska.

 

[RedheadDane]

At what age does one become a Junior (U19) rider?
Because, if I'm not mistaken, there's a U17 level, which Emma Norsgaard would technically belong to. Unless of course the age-groups are a bit different for the women, bit like how there isn't a U23 level...

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re:

At what age does one become a Junior (U19) rider?
Because, if I'm not mistaken, there's a U17 level, which Emma Norsgaard would technically belong to. Unless of course the age-groups are a bit different for the women, bit like how there isn't a U23 level...

In Britain, junior racing level starts in the year that riders turn 17. So, if you're birthday is on the 31st of December, then you can race the whole season as a first year junior, but as a 16 year old, when others are virtually three years older than you (second year junior born on the 1st of January.

I don't know about other countries, but that is what happens in the UK.

 

[Sciatic]

Re:

I enjoyed watching the French nats, but <quelle malchance!> for Delzenne.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

It seems Norsgaard came second in the Danish elite RR last year. I was only aware of her existence from the Ras na mBan, when people were taken aback at a kid being one of the strongest in the race (won a stage, came second in another, wore the leader's jersey for a while). She must be a freakish talent.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Yea, I do feel sad for Delzenne, that race was hers for the taking.

More racing today of course.

In Belgium, a quintet of Demmy Druyts, Githa Michiels, Isabelle Beckers, Maaike Polspoel and Sanne Bamelis have a minute on the favourites group but are expected to be pulled back. The favourites group has now trimmed to just 5 itself, with Lotte Kopecky, Anisha Vekemans, Jolien d'Hoore, Valérie Demey and Céline van Severen. Lotto are weirdly in charge of both the break and the chase but it is now looking like becoming a lead group of 10 - then swelling to 11 as TT winner Ann-Sophie Duyck role across to them. Michiels then attacked again, but it was futile, the group taking her... then falling into the clutches of the péloton as they squabbled, with Lensworld's Kaat Hannes emerging unexpectedly from the group behind to surprise the tired favourites in the sprint ahead of Kopecky and d'Hoore! KAAT HANNES IS BELGIAN CHAMPION.

In Britain, Dame Sarah Storey is solo at the front early on, with Dani King & Nikki Harris pursuing ahead of the larger bunch. Lizzie Armitstead apparently did not take the start. Storey's advantage grew to over a minute from the duo, and obviously a larger gap back to the bunch, but King and Harris were then swallowed by the chasing pack. Storey has now been brought back coming towards the finish, but the bunch has been shredded to do so, we're left with a group of 13 which includes King, Harris, Storey, Weaver, Garner and both Barnes sisters. The group had around 40" with 10km remaining so it became touch and go whether the group behind could bring them back, but as the front group included most of the biggest names in the race the smart money was still on them - especially with a couple of riders having teammates in the group. Eventually it went to a sprint, where Lucy Garner was a probable favourite only to find herself outfoxed in the dash for the line by not one but two Barnes siblings. HANNAH BARNES IS BRITISH CHAMPION.

In Germany, Mieke Kröger and Romy Kasper were fighting at the front, with the former escaping. Having described Kröger's season as disappointing a couple of days ago she makes me eat my words, comfortably having enough to take it to the line. Kasper was caught, Tony Martin-style, almost literally on the line by the chase group with Brennauer winning the sprint for 2nd to make it a Canyon-SRAM 1-2. MIEKE KRÖGER IS GERMAN CHAMPION.

In Norway, with 30km to go Vita Heine, the former Latvian and latecomer to the sport (much like Spanish champion Mavi García she only dedicated herself to cycling in her late 20s) is a minute up on the bunch which is being marshaled by her Hitec Products teammates. This has now been cut to 30" with a chasing group of four, from which defending champion Miriam Bjørnsrud has attacked to ride across to her teammate, however she couldn't bridge the gap in time and Heine stayed away to the line. VITA HEINE IS NORWEGIAN CHAMPION.

In Switzerland, a quartet of Schweizer, Hänselmann, Eicher and Stienen have made a two minute gap ahead of the rest of the field. No defending champion Neff. It became clear with a lap to go that the group wasn't going to be caught and they started in-fighting as a result, which resulted in a solo attack from Schweizer; the others had no answer and she crossed the line alone. DORIS SCHWEIZER IS SWISS CHAMPION.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

A good win for Barnes. I wonder did the two sisters collaborate in the finale or full on race against each other?

 

[damian13ster]

Niewiadoma with really hard decision not to start in Tour De Pologne. Going to Italy to prepare better for Rio where she wants to do both ITT and RR

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Niewiadoma with really hard decision not to start in Tour De Pologne. Going to Italy to prepare better for Rio where she wants to do both ITT and RR

Tough for the race.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Absolutely. Especially when you bear in mind it goes through an area not far from her home region and was, looking at the parcours, designed with her in mind. That said, it's straight after the Giro, which is obviously a major target for her. Any other year, that's perfect cos riders will be peaking, but in an Olympic year she'll want to rest after the Giro to not be on the downward form curve at Rio. I really hope the race is a success nonetheless and maybe somebody like Jasińska can plug the gap (she's a climber at a decent enough level who would also be on strong form as she is one of the most visible members of an Italian team so will likely have Giro form too). The training cycle and trying to keep from overworking the riders (especially as Rabo started the season with Vos out and PFP's doing a reduced calendar) meant she missed out on her Emakumeen Bira defence as well, which is a shame because the battle between her, Emma J and Moolman-Pasio was so good before, I was also really looking forward to the Tour de Pologne because there are precious few REAL climbers' races in the women's calendar and this would be one. I'm still looking forward to it, but I think it would have been a better (and bigger with fans too) event with Kasia there.

 

[Jaunty Monty]

Re:

A good win for Barnes. I wonder did the two sisters collaborate in the finale or full on race against each other?

They raced. It wasn't the cleanest of sprints. Hannah came across Alice at the end causing Alice to sit up. She might have been demoted had it not been her sister. There was a suggestion that Alice might have interfered with Hannah at the start of the sprint but unfortunately the TV coverage from 200m to 50m was dreadful (for the Mens race too).

 

[Jonhard]

Alice seemed unconcerned post race, she may have been done at that point anyway... dunno, it was hard to see the sprint as noted above.

It was a long sprint, which tends to work for HB. She was in better form winning a stage for UHC at the Women's Tour last year I'd say, given the field that day, but seems to be on the way again now.