Olympics Women's Road Race

[arielmoon]

Ah! Thanks for that insight! I had been wondering if they even really rode as a 'team' in the Olympics. It seems it is more of a 'every man/woman for themselves' kind of a deal.

[Trekhawk]

Ah! Thanks for that insight! I had been wondering if they even really rode as a 'team' in the Olympics. It seems it is more of a 'every man/woman for themselves' kind of a deal.

I think some countries were riding as a team. Kathy Bates of Australia and Vera Carrera of Italy were out the front covering any breaks and setting the pace. I don't think either of these girls finished the race I think they did the job they were meant to do and were spent before the finish. This may not have worked for Australia but Italy got a bronze.
I loved watching Vera Carrera ride she just looks so good on her bike.

[RoadRaven]

Thanks for entering into this debate, spokewench. The more I watch of road racing, the more I wonder why the difference is so huge.

You say women are smart... in this instance (road racing) I beg to differ. To me smart would be understanding that any televised event is show-casing women's cycling, and if they treat it as a "tootle" then time and money will not be invested. Therefore "smart" would be to mix it up, to make a break, to chase a break... to me, that would be the smart move. Do you see where I am coming from and what has me so bugged?

Racing should be about courage - the courage to have a go... to risk everything for glory. Thats what a race is fundementally about - whether you are racing others for gold / a yellow jersey... or whether you are racing yourself for a personal best.

If men didn't take risks, then names like Armstrong, Evans, Hushovd, Dean and Contador would not be household names... household names to even non-cycling folks.

By the "smartness" measure, the men who make it to Paris-Nice, to Le Tour, to the Giro, to Paris-Roubaix etc etc etc are pretty damn stupid, right? Of course not. They calculate, they form alliances, they communicate contantly and above all they take risks, they are willing to give everything in order for a small chance at something. They are truly smart, because they know that if they give everything, it just might work, and if it works, money and job security and possibly immortality are theirs.

Without having to pause and think, how many of us could name more than 5 of the women who raced the 2008 Olympic RR?

Too easy? OK - here's a toughy... name 10 women who raced in the last Olympics - or in one of the womens protours...

I bet if most of us thought about the men's RR or one of the pro-tours, we could find 20 mens names with less effort than it took to find 5-10 womens names?

Why? Because men have courage. They will take risks. They will lay everything on the line, and come back tomorrow and do it again...

Why do women at this level lack courage? How do they learn it and demonstrate it? When will see it from more than just a handful of our top female representatives?

[pyxichick]

This is from a young woman who used to race for Velo Bella when she was an exchange student in the US. Now she's a pro racer in Europe and was the only woman in the road race representing Belgium.

She has done quite well in the European pro races. Here's her take on the Olympic road race, which she posted to a VB site:

I am back in belgium since yesterday from Beijing! It was a great experience although the race itself was horrible. If there is one thing that i can't stand, it's cold and rain, hypothermia is pretty common for me in such conditions...and yeah it was there again...You train all year long on conditions of extreme humidity and hot weather and then this is what you get! I performed way underneath my abilities, normally I climb way faster, but anyway...it happened and there is nothing i can do about it! One world...one dream was pretty much one nightmare :-) The first 80km were flat and the pace in the peloton wasn't really high. Then we came on a local circuit of 24km, with 10.5km climbing, normally really my thing! We had to do this lap 2 times and then we finished at the bottom of the climb. Once we started climbing, my legs blocked right away due to the rain and coldness and I felt right away that this wasn't gonna be my day. I managed to stay in the group untill the top of the first climb, but then we had to go down and my body started shaking from the cold and the rain. My muscles cramped up...We started climbing again and I get dropped pretty early. I first was in a group, but then the group broke and I was left behind with 3 other girls...It was pooring so much that I didn't even see that our group broke; all I could see was the rear wheel from one girl in front of me, no further! It was like we were riding our bikes in a river! Puddles 30cm deep, unbelievable! They said the conditions in Beijing would be extreme...well this was extreme!