The Women's Road Racing Thread 2016

[Armchaircyclist]

Incredible race, and my thoughts go to van Vleuten, and hoping she will have a good and Complete recovery from her crash. Good that her teammate won after all.
The descent seems to have surprised too many of the contestants, probably because the road was more slippery then the cyclists actually were aware of. Today it was wet, and one would think that cyclists would take it a bit easier on hot wet asphalt, but these athletes are so used to being on the limit, that surely it can easily happen that one goes just that little bit too fast. If you look at the Clip on youtube, it's easy to see that she came in wrong into the turn, she was far too far to the right before the turn... which of course can happen when you have been pushing hard, and you're tired as hell.... Mistakes happen, but one could consider fences and soft Barriers in selected Dangerous turns in a downhill like this.
It seemed to me that the Italian girl pulled hardest in the Chase Group, would have liked to see her get silver, anyway, great race, and a pity the Girls are almost real amateurs.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

@NOSsport

UPDATE: Van Vleuten heeft een hersenschudding en drie scheurtjes in haar wervelkolom. Ze ligt op de Intensive Care.

That's been translated as a concussion and three spinal fractures. The last bit is pretty self-explanatory. I know it could have been worse after seeing the crash and its aftermath, but still awful. I hope she can recover fully, because even if the back injuries don't turn out to be as grave as they could be (we still don't know just how bad those injuries are, of course) a full recovery is going to be a long process.

 

[Amsterhammer]

"Three cracked vertebrae and severe concussion."

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

That's terrible news. Let's hope for a full recovery.

 

[peloton]

 

[Andy262]

Awful - Best wishes to Annemieke for recovery. Having seen the way her back hit that kerb I feared a spinal injury. Could they have padded the worst of those raised kerbs?

 

[Red Rick]

Hopefully she can recover quickly, both physically and mentally.

 

[The Barb]

Those injuries are horrible for sure, although the moment it happened my mind immediately went towards the worst possibilities: namely death, permanent brain damage or paralysis. In that moment I would have said that anything better than those three possibilities would actually be a "good" outcome.

 

[Jungle Cycle]

I came down just after the broom van.. it was nether slippery, nor dark. Ok, i did it 1.000 times before but they have been here for a week doing the course every day.. Saw it later and i think she used a bad inside line(?!).. good she is ok, considering..
I think the fact that they risked so much was not the descent itself but the fact the hard climb most certainly would break the whole group and with the bottom so close to the finish encouraged everyone to go 101%...

 

[bigcog]

According to BBC she is in intensive care with severe concussion. Let's hope for the best.

 

[huge]

After seeing all those crashes and potential lethal consequences I firmily believe that the race organizers have been utterly irresponsible. Not covering with soft protections those exposed cement curbs along the dangerous corners was a huge unforgivable mistake! Two riders with spinal fractures says it all! And thanks God those injuries turned out not to be life threatening or permanent.

 

[Jungle Cycle]

After seeing all those crashes and potential lethal consequences I firmily believe that the race organizers have been utterly irresponsible. Not covering with soft protections those exposed cement curbs along the dangerous corners was a huge unforgivable mistake! Two riders with spinal fractures says it all! And thanks God those injuries turned out not to be life threatening or permanent.

This is UCI's race. There were soft protections where were dozens of pointy gutters and the green net on the sharp turns that saved Porte of falling over... but soft protect the whole 5km?? what about those unprotected alpine turns or where Zaka and so many others ended up? should they soft protect and net all alpine descents??
maybe you should watch more control racing. maybe track but even there can be real problems...
my point is i wish i could hear from those who know best to form a better opinion; the riders..
havent heard them yet.. did anyone? im searching but nothing yet...

 

[glassmoon]

after all, some good news:
https://twitter.com/AvVleuten/status/762465519844732930

"I am now in the hospital with some injuries and fractures, but will be fine. Most of all super disappointed after best race of my career."

 

[IndianCyclist]

After seeing all those crashes and potential lethal consequences I firmily believe that the race organizers have been utterly irresponsible. Not covering with soft protections those exposed cement curbs along the dangerous corners was a huge unforgivable mistake! Two riders with spinal fractures says it all! And thanks God those injuries turned out not to be life threatening or permanent.

This is UCI's race. There were soft protections where were dozens of pointy gutters and the green net on the sharp turns that saved Porte of falling over... but soft protect the whole 5km?? what about those unprotected alpine turns or where Zaka and so many others ended up? should they soft protect and net all alpine descents??
maybe you should watch more control racing. maybe track but even there can be real problems...
my point is i wish i could hear from those who know best to form a better opinion; the riders..
havent heard them yet.. did anyone? im searching but nothing yet...

most crashes were at a particular curve. So essentially that part of the downhill had to be protected. Everybody did the recon. Nobody said anything about downhill though. probably no recon done of the same

 

[IndianCyclist]

Women's race eerily similar to men's race

 

[lemon cheese cake]

van Vleuten's tweet:

I am now in the hospital with some injuries and fractures, but will be fine. Most of all super disappointed after best race of my career.

Very good to hear.

 

[Armchaircyclist]

Re:

I came down just after the broom van.. it was nether slippery, nor dark. Ok, i did it 1.000 times before but they have been here for a week doing the course every day.. Saw it later and i think she used a bad inside line(?!).. good she is ok, considering..
I think the fact that they risked so much was not the descent itself but the fact the hard climb most certainly would break the whole group and with the bottom so close to the finish encouraged everyone to go 101%...

-------------
From the Clip it was obvious that she basicly missed the entry to the turn, then had to panic-brake, ended up in the horrible crash. The descending she did before, and also the descending of the men, was super-impressive, the motorbikes could not even keep up. But nevertheless she made a quite simple mistake, ending in a horrible crash.

There were not that many turns on that downhill, that it would be too much work to pad up the kerbs on each Dangerous turn. Maybe most of the crashed riders would then not have broken anything, and the risk to life-threatening damage would be lower.

 

[Jonhard]

In the world of normal news, Lucinda Brand will leave Rabo-Liv for Liv-Plantur, ensuring a consistent supply of sponsor products.

With AvdB going to Boels, and PFP and Niewiadoma rumoured to be off too, it's starting to look like Rabo are not what they were financially - or else they have a devo team full of future stars, which is possible. Even if all four go, they have Vos, Thalita de Jongh (world cross champ at 22), Anouska Koster (NL champ at 22) as well as older hands like Knetemann and Gillow. If they retain Kasia, say, that would still be a fearsome team.

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

In the world of normal news, Lucinda Brand will leave Rabo-Liv for Liv-Plantur, ensuring a consistent supply of sponsor products.

With AvdB going to Boels, and PFP and Niewiadoma rumoured to be off too, it's starting to look like Rabo are not what they were financially - or else they have a devo team full of future stars, which is possible. Even if all four go, they have Vos, Thalita de Jongh (world cross champ at 22), Anouska Koster (NL champ at 22) as well as older hands like Knetemann and Gillow. If they retain Kasia, say, that would still be a fearsome team.

There is no Rabobank next year. Same with the u23 squad.

 

[Jonhard]

Re: Re:

In the world of normal news, Lucinda Brand will leave Rabo-Liv for Liv-Plantur, ensuring a consistent supply of sponsor products.

With AvdB going to Boels, and PFP and Niewiadoma rumoured to be off too, it's starting to look like Rabo are not what they were financially - or else they have a devo team full of future stars, which is possible. Even if all four go, they have Vos, Thalita de Jongh (world cross champ at 22), Anouska Koster (NL champ at 22) as well as older hands like Knetemann and Gillow. If they retain Kasia, say, that would still be a fearsome team.

There is no Rabobank next year. Same with the u23 squad.

That was the initial announcement, but I thought they'd subsequently said that the women's team will continue for 2017. (edit - not as Rabo-Liv maybe, but not folding)

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Yea, there was an announcement that a sponsor had been found so the team would continue, but obviously in a different package and probably on a reduced budget, which obviously makes keeping the full lineup of stars they have on their roster pretty difficult. However, news has been fairly quiet with the Olympics dominating proceedings for better or for worse. It's a real shame to see the band breaking up, as it were; the team vibe there was pretty special and they gave the impression of enjoying riding together. And while 2014 did get a bit repetitive (Vos, Ferrand-Prévot, Anna vdB and Annemiek all in the same race lineups did become overkill at times), I really enjoyed them over the last 2 years after that Giro with the infamous final stage; especially once Vos was out, and even more so once PFP was hurt as well, they were left with some of the strongest riders in the péloton but nobody who could sprint, so they enlivened and animated nigh on every race with secondary and tertiary talents and long range attacks in the need to narrow the field at the front down enough that Anna VDB or Kasia could contest the win. At the same time, no Vos and only limited PFP due to her MTB commitment also means comparatively limited prize money when compared to when they bossed the field; Wiggle have caught up and Boels have overtaken them at the head of the field now, and so they may have struggled to keep everybody in one place anyway (as had already been the case when they were unable to retain van Vleuten into 2015).

Also in "normal" news, the first couple of stages of the Route de France have been and gone. The prologue was obliterated by Amy Pieters for the second year in a row, this time taking 10" on the competition over just 4'18", ahead of Aussie sprinter Sarah Roy and Dutch superstar-in-waiting Floortje Mackaij.

1 Amy Pieters (Wiggle-High 5) NED 4'18"
2 Sarah Roy (Orica-AIS) AUS +10"
3 Floortje Mackaij (Liv-Plantur) NED +10"
4 Aude Biannic (Poitou Charentes-Futuroscope '86) FRA +11"
5 Elise Delzenne (Lotto-Soudal) FRA +12"
6 Danielle King (Wiggle-High 5) GBR +12"
7 Amélie Rivat (Poitou Charentes-Futuroscope '86) FRA +13"
8 Tayler Wiles (Orica-AIS) USA +14"
9 Mia Radotić (BTC City-Ljubljana) CRO +15"
10 Anouk Rijff (Lotto-Soudal) NED +15"

In the second stage, Eugenia Bujak of BTC-City Ljubljana took the stage in a fairly rolling course in the north of France; no idea of timegaps as of yet, but she finished at +17" and hasn't passed Pieters in the GC. Bujak's not a great sprinter so it would be surprising if the finish was a straightforward sprint - indeed the presence of Mackaij in 2nd and Pieters in 3rd suggests it was either a solo or small group that managed a meagre few seconds at the line or a more complex, technical run-in that advantaged the more canny riders over the stronger sprinters.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Dutch-language interview/article with Annemiek at the hospital (warning: still photos and clickable videos from the incident).

Basics (a native-speaker can hopefully fill in the details):
- physically she is "ok" (as OK as one can be in the circumstances), mentally she's still "een wrak" (literally "a wreck")
- she knew the descent was treacherous, but pushed on and took risks as she knows ELB is a great descender who she needed to keep at bay
- she can't remember any more than that; nothing between the fall and the hospital.

There's more (about her feeling of disappointment to come away with nothing after having the form of her life, about her mother thinking she was dead) that's not directly related to her condition, but obviously her health is the most important point.

 

[Jonhard]

Glad I didn't invent it! I was struggling to find confirmation. Changes I expected, but not so many I must say.

In the Route, Floortje tweeted that Molly Weaver was 25 metres from winning, so sounds like a late break or catch disrupted things.

 

[barmaher]

Really enjoyed reading this topic in the runup to the road race. Can you mark my card for the time trial?

A little birdie told me that Lisa Brennauer is nailed on for a medal. Is this true?

 

[Jonhard]

Re:

Really enjoyed reading this topic in the runup to the road race. Can you mark my card for the time trial?

A little birdie told me that Lisa Brennauer is nailed on for a medal. Is this true?

There was a bit of TT chat on p18 before the thread got mobbed…

Brennauer’s certainly a good bet for a medal and could win, although I tipped van der Breggen and unsurprisingly I stand by that. Trixi Worrack is no mug and looked better in the RR than I expected, so maybe. Eve Stevens was not prominent in the RR – saving herself for the TT? Or just tired, given that favourite Guarnier was also a no-show?

It’s a tough one to call, but I would guess:

5* AdvB

4* van Dijk, Brennauer, Longo Borghini

3* Garfoot, Villumsen, Stevens, Moolman, Kristin Armstrong

2* Worrack, Pooley, Amialuisik, Niewiadoma, Zabelinskaya

Just my two penn’orth, which includes a degree of personal bias