Tour de France Femmes 2024 (August 12th-18th)

[solo80k]

Well, that's an excellent defense ride by the Pole. Dutch duo didn't cooperate, so they didn't deserve the GC win probably... Congratulations Kasia

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Demi could still win even if Wiebes crashed her if she decided to maybe help her after crashing her out of the jersey, oh well. Leaves a very sour taste in my mouth when the strongest rider loses like this.

Yep.

Kasia's most important domestiques in the race, in order:

1) Lorena Wiebes
2) Danny Stam
3) Anna van der Breggen
4) Lucinda Brand
5) Évita Muzic

Not to be critical of the Canyon team, they did everything they could for her, but when Neve Bradbury was dropped before the big move on Glandon I thought there was no chance Kasia could defend from there, but she got some crucial allies in the forms of those others, without whom she wouldn't have been able to hold on.

And she wouldn't have been in the position to hold on if it weren't for the first three.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Pauliena Rooijakkers interview.

"Has it sunk in to you what you've just achieved?"

(somewhat sheepishly) "Yeah, third"

 

[Lequack]

Well that was nail biting until the end, proper racing right until the last seconds. Sad for Vollering because of the crash, but happy for Kasia that she could battle on and on. Congrats to both of them. And what a ride by Rooijakkers as well, coming close to winning the stage and the overall in the end.

 

[Gigs_98]

I don't watch nearly as much womens cycling as I probably should but for years it feels like every time I've switched on to watch the womens peloton Niewiadoma was there. Always the consistent force batteling at the front but never really winning in the end. To see her take this win is just so unbelievably satisfying.

 

[Lequack]

Good ideas to have a final MTF in a TdF

For sure. Having another stage for the sprinters tomorrow would add nothing to the race really.

 

[yaco]

I do not believe the tactics of Rooijakers. She rides with Vollering and they fight out for the yellow jersey. Gigante destroyed her race with her inability to descend. She hauled the yellow jersey group up the last 2kms of Glannon.

 

[meat puppet]

On a more general view, isn't it nice that a long ranger by the top star is not always a done deal?

 

[xo 1]

Pauliena Rooijakkers interview.

"Has it sunk in to you what you've just achieved?"

(somewhat sheepishly) "Yeah, third"

And well deserved - not sure how she figured she would do better by not cooperating with Demi. From a karma perspective, I'm sorry she didn't finish fourth. Wheel sucker extraordinaire.

 

[Andre]

thank you women's cycling for the great race. This single stage was better than the entire Giro and Tour de France. The bad taste that I had from Pogascar is gone for the moment. Great fight between Niewadoma and Vollering and Rooijakkers. Even the Belgian girl got the queen of mountains. Beautiful race.

 

[JR1012]

First losing the Vuelta by seconds in 2023 and now the Tour by seconds.

 

[dobrien]

Very happy for Kasia, she fought like a cornered animal, equally sad for Demi; crashes are of course a part of the sport but she REALLY got screwed by her team. Shame shame shame on SD. Bittersweet.

 

[Lequack]

So Vollering loses the Tour because she barely got any help on stage 5. Whoever is in charge at SD Works should be fired, as simple as that.

This didn't age well

 

[hfer07]

Well,
In all fairness, Demi got the Iconic stage win, but Kasia fought with courage to retain the yellow jersey & the GC, so it's all good in my opinion

 

[Keelhaul]

This was an amazing watch, but the tactics were really sus to me and the long range attack from Demi didn't really do anything other than burn a lot of energy. I'm pretty sure she would've been capable of creating a similar gap if she nukes it at the bottom of AdH. Being separated only with Rooijakkers and creating a seemingly sufficient gap right away was a death sentence to cooperation IMO.

 

[awavey]

Yeah, I wanted SDWorx to be taught a lesson but it sucks that Demi pays for it like this, as I doubt the rest of the team a) care and b) won't learn from it anyway, plus she'd put so much prep in to it, it was her season goal.

Kasia defended her position well so chapeau for that.

But I can't celebrate it as much as I would have, because of stage 5

 

[Libertine Seguros]

And well deserved - not sure how she figured she would do better by not cooperating with Demi. From a karma perspective, I'm sorry she didn't finish fourth. Wheel sucker extraordinaire.

Pauliena can't descend, isn't good on the flat, will lose a sprint, and was on the rivet on the climb, she sat on too long for sure, but she attacked with about 3k to go having not done any work, but still couldn't create any gap.

She's won 2 races in 12 years, and only has a handful of races in her wheelhouse a year. I don't know how much is a lack of confidence because she doesn't believe she can win because she never wins, and how much is that she never wins because she rides like she can't win.

 

[Didinho]

This didn't age well

Van der Breggen this morning: Demi is recovered and gonna win the Tour.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

And well deserved - not sure how she figured she would do better by not cooperating with Demi. From a karma perspective, I'm sorry she didn't finish fourth. Wheel sucker extraordinaire.

Muzic deserved fourth more though.

 

[RedheadDane]

For sure. Having another stage for the sprinters tomorrow would add nothing to the race really.

Otoh, would also be quite nice to one day have a women's GT where they final stage can be a procession stage. Because that would mean enough stages to justify it.
As things stand right now; women's GTs just don't have enough stages for that. I would say they would need to be at least 14 stags to even begin considering it.

 

[meat puppet]

It's literally spelling out the garbageness of Alpe d'Huez. The death of all long range attacks

Sure, but I think there's more to it than that.

Working with the now typical mental model, we all essentially said GG when DV went on the glandon

 

[Libertine Seguros]

This was an amazing watch, but the tactics were really sus to me and the long range attack from Demi didn't really do anything other than burn a lot of energy. I'm pretty sure she would've been capable of creating a similar gap if she nukes it at the bottom of AdH. Being separated only with Rooijakkers and creating a seemingly sufficient gap right away was a death sentence to cooperation IMO.

Multiple other factors, though, as when Kasia was isolated with Bradbury dropped and Fisher-Black went to the front, that seemed like the time to force it, and it did work.

As you say, perhaps too well. But the problem is making it more or less a 1-stage race meant people behind had something to fight for still. Other things that had a small effect, but cumulative effects include that Cédrine Kerbaol descended like a demon to rejoin the Kasia group, and then led it down helping them on the descent, that Demi decided to wait for Rooijakkers to collaborate on the flat, slowing herself down on the descent, then got stroppy when Rooijakkers, a dreadful time trialist, turned out not to be that good on the flat, which killed the collaboration between them. Then the fact that they were hanging at a close enough gap that Évita Muzic had enough reason to believe that she could make the podium if one of the riders up front collapsed to collaborate with Kasia meant that she wasn't just doing it all on her own.

 

[Andre]

What was the gap to Kasia's group at the base of the Alpe? Did they do the climb in the same time?

It was about 44 seconds

 

[Miha81]

This didn't age well

Certanly did not. She will ship herself out of this team as soon as possible.

 

[awavey]

Van der Breggen this morning: Demi is recovered and gonna win the Tour.

The thing is you know the lesson they'll take from this is that it must be Demis fault then, she messed up the last stage, she should have ridden it differently or something not their ineptitude.