I applied for this as an aspiring racer. I'm a huge supporter of women's racing, and I think that the fact that they didn't pick someone (definately doesn't have to be me- just SOMEONE) more involved with racing shows how not even the big manufacturers of the sport care too much about women's racing. It's painfully obvious that they don't feel that highly competitive women are a valuable demographic to market to. Instead, they wanted to tug on the emotional heartstrings of the average Caucasian-American female who, at one point in life, has struggled through some sort of personal hardship- whether it's been body image, illness, or the like.
I think that this type of thing inadvertently discourages women from competitive cycling. I feel like they are sending the message that rather than competing with each other, we should just focus on ourselves. It's not that I don't think that overcoming personal hardship isn't an important, life-changing process. I just think it's pretty sad that they didn't include someone to represent those of us who aspire to achieve victory over our opponents as well.