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

[RedheadDane]

Looks like I had better luck with the GC side of the Prediction Game than what it looked like earlier this week.
Too bad Cille exploded, though.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Demi made some time there on the gravel.

She is actually the Dutch gravel champion, so no surprise there

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Looks like I had better luck with the GC side of the Prediction Game than what it looked like earlier this week.
Too bad Cille exploded, though.

I got 2/3 the GC podium I wanted for the prediction game and 2/3 the GC podium I wanted not for the prediction game

 

[sir fly]

Shame Van der Breggen transferred to the car, Vleuty didn't have a proper rival among these riders.

Great racing, nevertheless.
Brave efforts.

Very good race overall.
A successful inauguration.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Congrats to Kasia on the third place! Historical success for women's road cycling in Poland.

This is 10x worse than Pogacar and UAE. Completely one man army, her team can pull a few kilometres on the flat into dead

Wrong comparison. I think after this year's TdF the consensus is clear: Teddy is clean.

 

[Savant12]

Great win by AVV. Strong showing by Vollering. Nice battle in the chasing group. Crowds were amazing. The future of women's cycling is bright.

 

[Pirazziattacks]

Moto crash.

Also my reaction to trying to ride up a steep gravel climb that it turned out AVV also has the fastest time on. Well no moto, but you know what I mean.

 

[RobertCrawley]

I didn't follow the TdFF as carefully as the TdF, but it's really nice to see more good racing after the TdF. It's always a sad farewell every year when the guys are done on the Champs.

It would be nice to have the women finish on the Champs also, but likely for a while they won't close the Champs for two races and the Quatorze juillet.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Stage

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Really impressive of García to ride in with her upper body so totally still on that finish, especially with Lippert bouncing around like a jackhammer immediately behind her.

Mavi will be an important helper for Persico in non-gravel races next year.

 

[JosefK]

Really impressed by the grit of Vollering. She continues on the ascent in her career.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

What on earth is Orla on about regarding Niewiadoma? How is this a coming of age as a general classification rider, she's been a general classification rider for at least seven years?!

WHAT ON EARTH IS BLYTHE ON ABOUT REGARDING NEVER DOING THIS AMOUNT OF CLIMBING?

They've been up fricking Stelvio, Mortirolo, Zoncolan, Ventoux?!

Yes, multi-col stages have been lacking but this is the Vosges, not the high Alps!?

 

[75Driver]

That was BRUTALLY hard. Wow…wasnt expecting those gradients. It was almost too hard for them. There wasnt any suspense but still a positive for womens cycling.

 

[Izzyeviel]

Please tell me AVV is going to the Vuelta...

 

[sir fly]

What on earth is Orla on about regarding Niewiadoma? How is this a coming of age as a general classification rider, she's been a general classification rider for at least seven years?!

WHAT ON EARTH IS BLYTHE ON ABOUT REGARDING NEVER DOING THIS AMOUNT OF CLIMBING?

They've been up fricking Stelvio, Mortirolo, Zoncolan, Ventoux?!

Yes, multi-col stages have been lacking but this is the Vosges, not the high Alps!?

PR, talking up what we've just seen.
Who'd hook on ordinary merchandise?

 

[Wyndbrook]

Please tell me AVV is going to the Vuelta...

Well they need the points.

 

[yaco]

Never seen Niewiadona perform so well on long climbs - She's had little reward in the last two years for being the best punchy climber - When you consider the Vuelta will be eight days in 2023 then there is a chance for her to change focus.

Overall route design was good - Probably needed one stage which has 2 cat 3 climbs in the last 20kms.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

PR, talking up what we've just seen.
Who'd hook on ordinary merchandise?

Assuming that's in reference to Blythe's comments (as I don't feel it reasonably refers to Chennaoui's), sure, but sell it in a way that isn't pure unadulterated nonsense. Say, the women have historically had one-climb stages when they've visited significant climb s and how rare it is for them to get stages with this kind of back to back tough climbing, especially on consecutive days and at the tail end of a long stage race. That would be truthful and still sell the TDFF as progressive.

 

[Red Rick]

Assuming that's in reference to Blythe's comments (as I don't feel it reasonably refers to Chennaoui's), sure, but sell it in a way that isn't pure unadulterated nonsense. Say, the women have historically had one-climb stages when they've visited significant climb s and how rare it is for them to get stages with this kind of back to back tough climbing, especially on consecutive days and at the tail end of a long stage race. That would be truthful and still sell the TDFF as progressive.

It feels strangely they're selling it as the the end product of womens cycling rather than a good start.

 

[sir fly]

Assuming that's in reference to Blythe's comments (as I don't feel it reasonably refers to Chennaoui's), sure, but sell it in a way that isn't pure unadulterated nonsense. Say, the women have historically had one-climb stages when they've visited significant climb s and how rare it is for them to get stages with this kind of back to back tough climbing, especially on consecutive days and at the tail end of a long stage race. That would be truthful and still sell the TDFF as progressive.

Nah... doesn't sell.
The buyer was surfing through the channels, sipping cool lager, and BAM! Kasia dances discretely zipped down, girls gasping and sweating all over the screen... "What the hell is this?!" the buyer screamed, staying on the channel just to learn from Blythe.
That's something to look forward to in the future.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Nah... doesn't sell.
The buyer was surfing through the channels, sipping cool lager, and BAM! Kasia dances discretely zipped down, girls gasping and sweating all over the screen... "What the hell is this?!" the buyer screamed, staying on the channel just to learn from Blythe.
That's something to look forward to in the future.

The buyer who happens across it because they're surfing the channel is a novice to the sport, though, so it doesn't matter whether this is something new and innovative or something which is par for the course as long as it is new to them. Cycling wasn't new when any of us started watching it, but we all got bit by the bug. Saying "the women have never had races with this much climbing before" if anything suggests that this is a one-off, so if you were excited or inspired by it, it isn't normally like this. Saying "the women have never had races with this much climbing before in such a high profile race" is more accurate and doesn't lose anything to the sell (because the Giro Rosa of a few years ago where they did have multi-col stages and the likes did not have anything like the audience reach or coverage that the TDFF has had).

I just feel like they're selling the previous generations, and the race organisers with less clout than ASO, short in order to present an ASO-sanitised version of the history of the sport whitewashing their entire period of refusing to turn the cameras on at Flèche Wallonne and taking as many steps as they could to do as little as possible for women's cycling, only to then turn around and demand we congratulate them on how they're so much better than everybody else because they finally caught up with the pack. Their status and the branding may mean they may be able to run where others could only walk, but you'd think if they want to encourage people to watch more (and they should, since they have a stake in Unipublic, and they run several of the women's classics, and also need to sell hosting rights for future editions of this race), then directing them towards other events that may enable them to see more of what they saw here and drive the audience figures up might be advantageous.

Blythe's just a shill - and there's nothing inherently wrong with that as whoever pays the piper calls the tune - but he just isn't very good at doing the shilling without it being too transparent.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I don't understand why they've given the super-combatif to Vos. They should have given it to Kasia for her coming of age performance.

 

[Izzyeviel]

Please tell me AVV is going to the Vuelta...

Wait i'm confused, is there a womens vuelta this year? Or is it next year? Didn't we have a race last year?

 

[RedheadDane]

Wait i'm confused, is there a womens vuelta this year? Or is it next year? Didn't we have a race last year?

There is the Challenge by la Vuelta.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Wait i'm confused, is there a womens vuelta this year? Or is it next year? Didn't we have a race last year?

There is the Vuelta Challenge, and it has been her aim from the start of the year to win all 3 sort of GTs.