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

[awavey]

Well I might ponder what they consider their 'moon' target was, if the 'stars' are only winning the highest profile race in the WWT calendar 🤔

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It's a common saying.

It is, however, a very odd saying seeing as the stars are both far further away and far larger than the moon!

The usual saying is the other way round, "reach for the stars and you might hit the moon."

 

[RedheadDane]

It is, however, a very odd saying seeing as the stars are both far further away and far larger than the moon!

I always interpreted it as meaning "Even if you miss your original target, you might get something even better."
Of course, actually landing on a star would not be better than landing on the moon.

 

[awavey]

I always interpreted it as meaning "Even if you miss your original target, you might get something even better."
Of course, actually landing on a star would not be better than landing on the moon.

well the original self motivational quote was that youd land among the stars, not on a star, and its really about goal setting, the moon is a pretty specific target, but also a really hard & difficult one to get to, simply contemplating it might seem impossible to achieve, and inevitably you might set your sights lower to guarantee success and not achieve your full potential

but if you set the moon as your goal to aim for, even if you fail and miss, youll end up among the stars, in space, which itself is a great achievement and probably further than youd have got with a more manageable goal.

so yeah it doesnt really work for this example at all, clearly their goal either was to win TdFF, or get the best GC result they could. So they either achieved getting to the moon, or they actually went alot further and ended up on Mars or something instead

 

[Kaptain Kool]

I always interpreted it as meaning "Even if you miss your original target, you might get something even better."
Of course, actually landing on a star would not be better than landing on the moon.

Yeah, to me it's saying that everyone has the potential to achieve something good even it takes tens of thousands of years.

 

[Black Betsy]

Is the one million euro sponsor still a viable option for Princess Demi?
Missed some episodes on this saga.

I wouldn't be surprised seeing him walk away
(and with him a great opportunity for a rise
in the contracts of the female riders).

Can't see Realini or Labous as ambassadresses of women cycling
at the moment, who may allure big sponsors ($$$) into the sport.
Obviously, I hope that I'm wrong.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Is the one million euro sponsor still a viable option for Princess Demi?
Missed some episodes on this saga.

I wouldn't be surprised seeing him walk away
(and with him a great opportunity for a rise
in the contracts of the female riders).

Can't see Realini or Labous as ambassadresses of women cycling
at the moment, who may allure big sponsors ($$$) into the sport.
Obviously, I hope that I'm wrong.

It's unclear whether the alleged 1 million Euro a year offer from UAE ever actually existed, or if it was just used by either Vollering or SD Worx to put pressure on the other party in their contract negotiations or to save face after those negotiations had broken down. However it has since become the main rumour that Specialized will follow Vollering to her new team, which would also possibly mean that UAE with its close ties to Colnago was never an actual option. The same goes for a lot of other teams, except for FDJ-SUEZ where she is now expected to end up.

UAE have also allegedly signed Elisa Longo Borghini and Brodie Chapman, but I don't know if Trek were aware of their departures when they reportedly said no to Vollering. Nor do I know whether or not ELB will be earning a million a year or close to it on her new contract.

 

[awavey]

UAE have also allegedly signed Elisa Longo Borghini and Brodie Chapman, but I don't know if Trek were aware of their departures when they reportedly said no to Vollering. Nor do I know whether or not ELB will be earning a million a year or close to it on her new contract.

part of me wonders if she won't end up on some new RedBull sponsored by Nike team bankrolled by Apple.

Could happen... 🤣

The ELB to UAE rumours came after the Demi rumours but before the NFB to Trek rumour. Which might suggest the sequence of things.

I'm still not sure FDJ is the right team for her, but its the only door left open it seems, which seems remarkable.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

part of me wonders if she won't end up on some new RedBull sponsored by Nike team bankrolled by Apple.

Could happen... 🤣

The ELB to UAE rumours came after the Demi rumours but before the NFB to Trek rumour. Which might suggest the sequence of things.

I'm still not sure FDJ is the right team for her, but its the only door left open it seems, which seems remarkable.

With FDJ having got multiple Dutch riders already, she should at least be able to feel somewhat welcome on day one. But Labous will of course hope to get her own chances, too, and the team have done nothing but praise Muzic all season and tell her how much they believe in her, so time will tell how much they're prepared to work for anyone else.

 

[mrgmyers]

Don't forget SDworx may be the most successful team, with the riders they've got, they aren't necessarily the team with the most money behind them. Trek are supposed to be the best funded.

Now fair enough it's a situation SDworx created when they paid Wiebes that deal of reportedly 500,000 Euros, because obviously she won't have taken a pay cut to extend that deal. Kopecky I'd have thought demanded at least equivalent if not more for being world champion. And I doubt Demi was going to accept a cut price offer either as best GC rider in the team.

Meaning on 3 riders you could have been looking at wages of 2-3milliom euros alone. See where the problems start ?

FDJs budget for 2023 was only supposed to be 3.5million euros in total. Which makes me wonder how they afford Demi anyway.

But you don't get much money from winning these races, even the TdFF, CanyonSRAM earned only 58,980 euros in total that's not enough to fund a team paying millions out.

So no you can't afford to pay 3 riders on your team crazy money. Even 2 feels like pushing it, but what can you do until you find cheaper quicker better riders.

AvdB moving back to riding is almost an acknowledgement of that, she won't be on a crazy wage but good enough to race still and they've got Lars Boom as a DS and only one car apparently, plus based on past performance I doubt her DS skills will be missed.to be replaced

And they've still got to sign 7-8 riders for 25, just to be back at the same squad size as this year which arguably is the minimum squad size at this level for the number of races they'll compete at.

Ok interesting theory, but that still leaves my question why her team did not ride to support her unanswered.

 

[awavey]

Ok interesting theory, but that still leaves my question why her team did not ride to support her unanswered.

until someone from within the team spills the inside story, assuming there even is one as I always favour muck up than conspiracy, I think we'd just be speculating without end.