Women’s RR - World Championships 2024 (September 28)

[RedheadDane]

As opposed to Demi Vollering, who combined acting like a clown with being at the race.

It's a well-known fact that women are just better at multi-tasking.

 

[Jagartrott]

Oh my god it's like watching 18yo remco again, yes I will just lead out the best sprinter in the race for a win, i won't try anything at all except to be in the first group .

Well, the first group in 18-year-old Remco's case mostly consisted of only Remco.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

As opposed to Demi Vollering, who combined acting like a clown with being at the race.

I ended up having my niece's nail polish on my nails, which almost matched the colours of the UCI rainbow.

 

[Oldermanish]

I don't think it's nerves as such, it's fomo, she puts so much pressure on herself to win, she fears losing it all, so all her moves are too early tactically. Which puts her in worse positions which just spirals in a race like today

It also is the frequent distinction between GT specialists and one day winners. You almost always have to risk losing to respond correctly to a winning opportunity. Fans decry time bonuses in GTs occasionally but you would see some pretty dull finishes if there weren't any.
I haven't seen a broadcast but Chloe Dygart seemed to be present at the finish and closed at the 20km mark. Most of the rest of the action did seem to be Ned "teammates" rejoining a lead group at the expense of effort. Kinda like Demi's Tour.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I sometimes wonder if the Dutch come into these races with such a strong team that the riders need to prove themselves worthy of being the one they ride for ON THE DAY, meaning they have all these bizarre antics to drop or chase their own teammates to prove themselves strongest but wasting energy in the process. They only ever seem to win these races with absolute brute force like Annemiek and Anna VDB did, or in a sprint, unless it's Vos who is just far more tactically astute than the others. The Belgians by contrast - and the Italians, this is something they're usually pretty good at - make their plan and stick to it, but it seems the Dutch have a standing plan of winging it based on who has the form so they all battle each other as well...

Also too many egos, that's why they want to prove their strength.

 

[Jagartrott]

Very undeserving winner imho, wheelsucked the whole way. Great from Dygert. Poor tactics from the Dutch.

I don't think I would call this wheelsucking. She was perhaps 6th best on the climbs out of the front group. Then it is not up to her to ride in front. That's the prerogative of the weaker rider - it's up to the stronger ones to close gaps, and also to make sure to drop her and never let her return. They didn't do the latter. They got what they deserved.

 

[Valv.Piti]

What a disasterclass by so many riders...

Almost as bad as Wollongong and Tokyo.

This is women's cycling more often than not. Amateurish and flat out mindboggling at times.

 

[Oldermanish]

Albeit why ? If they've gone into the race to support Demi, and Vos is smart enough to give Demi the support she needs and knows she needs and this is the best they could do as a result, Why be frustrated you tried your hardest right?

You can only be frustrated if you think actually I'd have done better in that setup, in which case you weren't riding for the team goal were you.

And this might be the heart of the issue in the Dutch team.

The lack of radios should actually give them an advantage with that much talent. You can talk directly in the race to confirm strategy making the "errors" more about individual ambition without DS oversight.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Vollering was arguably the strongest in the Tour and the WC, but she wins neither. The Dutch could have used simple tactics: form a train in the penultimate lap, to set up an attack by Vollering in the beginning of the final lap. Instead they did too much and neutralized each other.

Kopecky wasn't the strongest today, but she did what she had to do to keep a chance of winning. Last year she was the strongest; this time it was a tactical victory - which can be just as nice.

Justine Ghekiere is the heroine of the race. She controlled everything that looked vaguely orange, worked for Kopecky, and pulled the most expressive faces while wearing a parachute. I hope she does the classics as a leader next year!

 

[KOM]

2 quick thoughts after just I just finished watching the race

1. Womens cycling tactics are so bad that its borderline impossible for me to enjoy the sport and the whole hahaha atleast its somewhat interesting to watch the trainwreck unfold way of looking at it is getting old increasingly fast.
2. I was/am always team Vollering and thought its really despicable how she was treated at SD-Worx, but idk beeing this braindead I can see how that makes all your teammates dislike you after a while

 

[Valv.Piti]

2 quick thoughts after just I just finished watching the race

1. Womens cycling tactics are so bad that its borderline impossible for me to enjoy the sport and the whole hahaha atleast its somewhat interesting to watch the trainwreck unfold way of looking at it is getting old increasingly fast.
2. I was/am always team Vollering and thought its really despicable how she was treated at SD-Worx, but idk beeing this braindead I can see how that makes all your teammates dislike you after a while

Yes. It's simply not enjoyable. Look, the men do a lot of stupid stuff, but this is literally every time I decide to watch a big women's race, Im just left wondering what the heck is going on.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Vos seems to be getting a free pass, but she didn't have a great race tactically; chasing Markus, and bringing the gap down, then bringing Kopecky back to the front........

 

[Gwbert]

Dutch tactics aside i enjoyed seeing Ava Holmgren hanging with the favourites so long.

 

[Pantani_lives]

At one point Kopecky and Dygert were chasing together. Who would have thought they'd end up taking gold and silver?

 

[Coffeeplanter]

Ugh just watched on catch up.

Very undeserving winner imho, wheelsucked the whole way. Great from Dygert. Poor tactics from the Dutch.

That does not make this victory undeserved. In fact, I'd argue it makes this win more than deserved. Kopecky is the one-eyed queen in the land of the blind. Just keep bluffing, counting on the total tactical ineptitude of the others. It works, and it will continue to work. Especially if the ban on ear pieces is upheld.

It does not take a genius to figure women's racing out. Each time you are left, thinking to yourself that there is no way they keep giving Kopecky free rides, but low and behold, here they go, giving her, you guessed it ... another free ride.

At some point it stops being a coincidence or luck. That stage has been long reached.

 

[Coffeeplanter]

It almost happened in the Olympics as well, fyi. Longo Borghini and Mavi Garcia just pulling and pulling and pulling, chasing Vos and Vas with Kopecky in the wheels. Faulkner then did it too, closing that very gap. The only reason it didn't work for Kopecky that time is because Vos is one of the few with more than half a brain cell (see Omloop), not immediately offering to close a gap to Faulkner. Anyone else is chasing that wheel like a dog chasing sticks.

 

[RedheadDane]

I'd argue Balsamo rode more tactically by finding the one right moment to attack but Vollering *** it for her.

Wrong Elisa.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

It wasn't even particularly tactical. At every point it was the most logical, easiest decision.

I'd argue Balsamo rode more tactically by finding the one right moment to attack but Vollering *** it for her.

I‘d argue Balsamo didn‘t ride very tactically considering she abandoned the race. Longo Borghini played it well, though.

 

[Lequack]

Vollering wanted it too much, and it showed, and Kopecky used that to her advantage. She should have let Longho Borghini go and win it for Italy.

 

[KOM]

Btw was that the best showing of Zygerts carreer? Being in a semi relevant group ~100km from the finish? Im impressed

 

[RedheadDane]

Btw was that the best showing of Zygerts carreer? Being in a semi relevant group ~100km from the finish? Im impressed

There was also that time she came close to winning a stage in TdS.

(And then some dumbass paper referred to her as "Pogacar's girlfriend")

 

[Andy262]

But that's the problem, a team goal just to win creates this situation where riders on the same team compete with each other, and consequently wreck each other's chances of attaining that goal.

It's a horrible management speak quote, but it's true, you have to fly in formation to be an effective team. As soon as people take it upon themselves to do things slightly out of formation even if they believe the goal theyre aiming at is the same, team cohesion breaks down and it becomes alot harder to do things.

Thing is, when you know Vollering can only realistically win solo or perhaps from a break of two you have to have a Plan B. Vos was the obvious Plan B but Vollering’s pressing kept dropping her.

 

[Escarabajo]

I just watched the race and I have to tell you, that was probably one of the the worst displays of team work I have seen in my life. I have to say that using too much the radios make them a bit stupid when they don't have it IMHO. LOL.

Chapeau to the winner. But She got lucky because She was on her knees several times.

 

[Izzyeviel]

Btw was that the best showing of Zygerts carreer? Being in a semi relevant group ~100km from the finish? Im impressed

Did you not watch the Tour de France Femme Avec Zwift?

 

[Sciatic]

Dygart, though she managed a 2nd place, also played a role in Kopecky’s victory by helping pull the latter back to the leaders when she was thoroughly dropped. The way Kopecky was climbing at that point Dygart could have put in an acceleration to drop her and still ridden herself back to the front. But she just rode tempo up the rest of the climb, though perhaps she feared going over the limit herself. I guess she figured her sprint might be good enough. Such an undynamic racer.