Tour de France Tour de France Femmes 2022 (July 24th-31st)

[sir fly]

Wiebes untouchable these days.
Good effort by the breakaway.

 

[saunaking]

Slightly breaking the illusion that this race is just like the (men’s) Tour de France when commentators apparently need to call it “Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift” EVERY TIME. I guess they have strict rules to mention Zwift every time. And I guess Zwift sponsorship is important to make this happen. But still…

considering zwift bascially made this race happen, yes you should call the race

Where you going?

Is there a 3km rule for this kind of stuff? I didnt see where she finished but I imagine with a gap

 

[Stelvio]

I think the teams only have one car, but I might be mistaken. But if it is the case then I guess they couldn't do much else, since the car was following Christoforou in the breakaway. They should have punished the team and not the rider.

What they should do is let themselves be passed by the peloton and then give service from behind. If they only have one car it’s rough to throw it out, which I guess would be the applicable team punishment. But yeah, rough way to go.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Why is Balsamo sacrificing herself? Isn't she supposed to be a sprinter?

 

[RedheadDane]

Why is Balsamo sacrificing herself? Isn't she supposed to be a sprinter?

How was she sacrificing herself? Seems like she just got beaten by a stronger rider today...

 

[Samu Cuenca]

ELB clearly just wanted to move out of the way.
There was a 9 second gap, but it should be neutralised.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Stage

5 Italians in the top 10

 

[Samu Cuenca]

No podium baby for Wiebes this time. Only Scotty the Squirrel.

 

[Izzyeviel]

Good finish from Manly. She was like 30-40 back, in the middle, no teammates nearby. As i said in the other womens thread, a future star

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I'm very much looking forward to Côte de Klingenthal tomorrow.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1552672575582511104

View: https://twitter.com/ElisaLongoB/status/1552672575582511104

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I'm very much looking forward to Côte de Klingenthal tomorrow.

Course de la Paix avec Zwift?

 

[BR2]

I'm very much looking forward to Côte de Klingenthal tomorrow.

Are they going downhill or do they have to climb up?

 

[JosefK]

Wiebes looked like she was ready for some kickboxing at the finish. Chapeau.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Are they going downhill or do they have to climb up?

I assumed they were going to climb it like on LS' beloved Peace Race stage to Harrachov, but it turns out it's not actually the Klingenthal were they do the ski jumping and Nordic combined events.

 

[RobertCrawley]

Wiebes untouchable these days.
Good effort by the breakaway.

She went from a LONG way out and just rode everyone off her wheel. Incredible strength!

But selfish.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

Hey guys, I‘ve been watching men‘s pro cycling since 1997, and probably always will.

Would you, the experts, recommend me to watch also some women‘s pro cycling, for example the Tour Femmes? Are these women fast, and are the races nice to watch (tactics, bike handling, and so on)?

Thanks in advance

 

[RedheadDane]

Hey guys, I‘ve been watching men‘s pro cycling since 1997, and probably always will.

Would you, the experts, recommend me to watch also some women‘s pro cycling, for example the Tour Femmes? Are these women fast, and are the races nice to watch (tactics, bike handling, and so on)?

Thanks in advance

Yes! Watch it! Watch it AAAAAAAALL!!!!

 

[Wyndbrook]

Hey guys, I‘ve been watching men‘s pro cycling since 1997, and probably always will.

Would you, the experts, recommend me to watch also some women‘s pro cycling, for example the Tour Femmes? Are these women fast, and are the races nice to watch (tactics, bike handling, and so on)?

Thanks in advance

I would use the words 'thoroughly enjoyable to watch'. So yes go for it.

 

[RobertCrawley]

Awesome pic.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1552577833616248838

View: https://twitter.com/GcnRacing/status/1552577833616248838?s=20&t=cCmkgULELlbyatX2HkWrAg

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Yes! Watch it! Watch it AAAAAAAALL!!!!

But you'd say that about every race, wouldn't you? Even the chance to watch a local coffee ride would excite you.

Hey guys, I‘ve been watching men‘s pro cycling since 1997, and probably always will.

Would you, the experts, recommend me to watch also some women‘s pro cycling, for example the Tour Femmes? Are these women fast, and are the races nice to watch (tactics, bike handling, and so on)?

Thanks in advance

I think, you should give it a chance to see if it will entertain you or not.
Not all races are as great as others, but that definitely goes for men's races as well.

You won't see someone ride at 20 km/h at 10% at 2000m of altitude, but you might see someone ride very fast compared to their opponents.
You might see some questionable tactics at times, but that is also a part of what makes the women's races less predictable (at least sometimes).

 

[RedheadDane]

But you'd say that about every race, wouldn't you? Even the chance to watch a local coffee ride would excite you.

Well... maybe...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Hey guys, I‘ve been watching men‘s pro cycling since 1997, and probably always will.

Would you, the experts, recommend me to watch also some women‘s pro cycling, for example the Tour Femmes? Are these women fast, and are the races nice to watch (tactics, bike handling, and so on)?

Thanks in advance

It is worth noting that women's pro cycling has only really taken huge leaps forward in professionalism in the last decade or so, after some initial salvos in the 80s and 90s, and then a long period of 'racing in the dark' where major organisers were not invested in women's cycling and so most races were put together by small independent organisers, meaning only a precious few could make a decent enough living from the sport and so would bogart all the top placements. This is changing considerably now, with the Women's World Tour being introduced and the increased TV exposure resulting in more investment from teams and races and more riders being able to make enough from racing, as opposed to the days when we would lose the likes of Eleonora Patuzzo, a climber who beat van der Breggen back in the junior ranks, to studies because there simply weren't enough climbing races for her and it wasn't worth the effort for the meagre money available at the time.

As a result of the rapid recent development, however, riders are still getting to grips with much of the new calendar, and the gap between the best and worst rider in a bunch on a given day is bigger than in modern day men's cycling; the traditional formats with the break of the day are only now establishing themselves because for a long time there was no TV time to be getting in that break for, and the shorter stage lengths often meant that by the time the battle for the break was done, it was already time for endgame. This has also meant that the races have for many years been far more dependent on sponsors and so we have seen a domination on the calendar of the slightly rolling to hilly routes, with less variation in terms of real high mountain stages (especially multi-col stages as a lot of the time these have tended to be Unipuerto) and time trials. This has meant that the péloton is less specialised into sprinters, leadouts, rouleuses, baroudeuses, puncheuses and grimpeuses than the men's bunch and so the top few riders will crop up over the majority of terrains, although this situation is rapidly improving.

However, on the other hand, it is harder for races to be tightly controlled, more races have small team sizes, so leaders are expected to front up more of the action themselves than we might typically see in men's cycling (this year's Tour is somewhat of an outlier compared to recent editions in that respect), leadouts and chases are less well organised and tactics are less formulaic - and sometimes that means counterintuitive, sometimes that means crazy gambles and solo moves we would rarely see in men's racing (take the epic chasedown and the soloing from La Course a few years ago, for example, or the 2016 Giro queen stage). Similarly the increased variety in specialisation means that the differences that can be made up and lost in different formats are exaggerated - it's improved from a few years ago, but you would literally see the likes of Emma Pooley and Mara Abbott ride five minutes into people up a climb and then lose almost all of it going back down the hill afterwards.

Watching women's cycling now is like what men's cycling was like in the 70s and 80s, at a comparable stage of its development (and getting to watch it is a massive improvement over ten years ago, believe you me, when scraping the Twitters of DSes and soigneurs was among the best ways to keep track of many races and the finale of Flèche Wallonne was only viewable via one of the ASO commentators hanging their mobile phone out of the window of the commentary box). It's a lot easier to get to know the characters of the sport now, but there is still considerable variety and less parity than in men's cycling, which is good in that it means fewer tightly controlled stages where a bunch sprint is the only likely outcome and more chance of unexpected outcomes like the Olympic Road Race, but simultaneously bad in that it does mean you have nervier riders in the bunch and people in high level races who are still only just getting used to riding in a full pro péloton. Professionals range from domestic pros of fairly low experience level in high level stage races, largely competing in crits and short races at home with occasional invited in the bigger races in their homelands, all the way through to dominant elites who are top 10 over almost every terrain throughout. And while the names that appear on the first page of the results sheet might be more predictable day on day than in the men's equivalent races... simultaneously, how they got there is often less predictable.

The Tour de France Femmes is in its first year after a looooong hiatus, and many of the races are still in their infancy, as the calendar is in the middle of pivoting toward a calendar that more closely resembles that of the men. I'm obviously going to recommend you watch more women's cycling, seeing as I'm one of the forum's biggest followers of it, back into the era when it was nigh on impossible to find any coverage at all, but at the same time, just think about how you consume men's cycling - the more you see, the more you understand, the more riders you come to know, the more you recognise which types of stages favour which types of rider and so on. It's the same with the women; the racing is similar to that of the men, but there are enough differences that it's best to watch a few different races and different types of races to get a real feel for it, now that that is actually possible to do so; back in the day you had the issue that if a boring men's race was broadcast, people shrugged and moved on, but if a boring women's race was broadcast it was kind of a disaster as they had so few race days broadcast that a negative impression could be long-lasting. As a result, bearing in mind you already watch men's racing so understand the main concepts of road racing, it's worth watching a few different races and a few different parcours to get a real feel for the differences, and then judge for yourself - and also come to have favourites and learn a bit about the riders to know which moves and actions are significant to the narrative.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

Hey, RedheadDane, Wyndbrook and Samu, thanks a lot for your answers… So I think I‘ll watch my first women‘s pro race within the next few weeks… I‘m already a bit excited now…

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

It is worth noting that women's pro cycling has only really taken huge leaps forward in professionalism in the last decade or so, after some initial salvos in the 80s and 90s, and then a long period of 'racing in the dark' where major organisers were not invested in women's cycling and so most races were put together by small independent organisers, meaning only a precious few could make a decent enough living from the sport and so would bogart all the top placements. This is changing considerably now, with the Women's World Tour being introduced and the increased TV exposure resulting in more investment from teams and races and more riders being able to make enough from racing, as opposed to the days when we would lose the likes of Eleonora Patuzzo, a climber who beat van der Breggen back in the junior ranks, to studies because there simply weren't enough climbing races for her and it wasn't worth the effort for the meagre money available at the time.

As a result of the rapid recent development, however, riders are still getting to grips with much of the new calendar, and the gap between the best and worst rider in a bunch on a given day is bigger than in modern day men's cycling; the traditional formats with the break of the day are only now establishing themselves because for a long time there was no TV time to be getting in that break for, and the shorter stage lengths often meant that by the time the battle for the break was done, it was already time for endgame. This has also meant that the races have for many years been far more dependent on sponsors and so we have seen a domination on the calendar of the slightly rolling to hilly routes, with less variation in terms of real high mountain stages (especially multi-col stages as a lot of the time these have tended to be Unipuerto) and time trials. This has meant that the péloton is less specialised into sprinters, leadouts, rouleuses, baroudeuses, puncheuses and grimpeuses than the men's bunch and so the top few riders will crop up over the majority of terrains, although this situation is rapidly improving.

However, on the other hand, it is harder for races to be tightly controlled, more races have small team sizes, so leaders are expected to front up more of the action themselves than we might typically see in men's cycling (this year's Tour is somewhat of an outlier compared to recent editions in that respect), leadouts and chases are less well organised and tactics are less formulaic - and sometimes that means counterintuitive, sometimes that means crazy gambles and solo moves we would rarely see in men's racing (take the epic chasedown and the soloing from La Course a few years ago, for example, or the 2016 Giro queen stage). Similarly the increased variety in specialisation means that the differences that can be made up and lost in different formats are exaggerated - it's improved from a few years ago, but you would literally see the likes of Emma Pooley and Mara Abbott ride five minutes into people up a climb and then lose almost all of it going back down the hill afterwards.

Watching women's cycling now is like what men's cycling was like in the 70s and 80s, at a comparable stage of its development (and getting to watch it is a massive improvement over ten years ago, believe you me, when scraping the Twitters of DSes and soigneurs was among the best ways to keep track of many races and the finale of Flèche Wallonne was only viewable via one of the ASO commentators hanging their mobile phone out of the window of the commentary box). It's a lot easier to get to know the characters of the sport now, but there is still considerable variety and less parity than in men's cycling, which is good in that it means fewer tightly controlled stages where a bunch sprint is the only likely outcome and more chance of unexpected outcomes like the Olympic Road Race, but simultaneously bad in that it does mean you have nervier riders in the bunch and people in high level races who are still only just getting used to riding in a full pro péloton. Professionals range from domestic pros of fairly low experience level in high level stage races, largely competing in crits and short races at home with occasional invited in the bigger races in their homelands, all the way through to dominant elites who are top 10 over almost every terrain throughout. And while the names that appear on the first page of the results sheet might be more predictable day on day than in the men's equivalent races... simultaneously, how they got there is often less predictable.

Hey Libertine, thanks a lot for your comprehensive text… That will give me valuable information to understand pro women‘s cycling better. Very much appreciated

Now I‘m actually looking forward to watching… Kind regards to (all of) you…