UCI MTB World Cup - Women's Cross Country

[Loraura]

I've been watching all of the available UCI World Cup races, and last night I just finished watching the Nove Mesto na Morave race in the Czech Republic.

Great race, but by the end, the announcers were REALLY irritating me!!

Forgive me for indulging in a little rant.

They started right away on the intro loop by saying "Well the Men do this loop in X minutes, what do you think they women will do it in?"

They went on to mention comparisons to men, in a derrogatory manner, MULTIPLE TIMES! There was a very tough technical climb that was steep and rocky, and some women, and sometimes lots of women, ran it. Well they had to comment on how the men would ride that, blah blah blah. (As it turned out, in the mens race, there were men running it as well...)

There was a BMX section with some jumps that could be doubled. Only a few women jumped the doubles. They went on and on about how great it is to see a woman jumping the doubles. I would bet EVERY SINGLE ONE can jump those doubles without thinking twice, but most chose to mitigate risk based on the lack of the need to TAKE THAT RISK based on how the race was unfolding. Did they really think pro MTB women can't jump a double? REALLY?

There was one steep rocky vertical drop. One woman endo'd pretty tragically (she was OK and continued racing). When the men got there, they commented on how the (poor little inferior) women were crashing there. And low and behold, a man ALSO crashed there. Eat your words, Mr. Commentator. I hope they go well with humble pie.

I swear, by the end of the race you would think they were handing out lip gloss and tampons in the tech zone!

And then I watched the men's race. And low and behold, they mentioned the poor inferior women while commentating the mens race!!! WTF?

If I knew where to send a complaint, I would!

1) There is a reason races are not co-ed. Making comparisons is pointless.
2) Each race is it's own event. Just becuase someone goes out hard, driving the pace up, and the pack must follow, does NOT mean another race that does not experience a high pace would or should set the same pace! There is no reason to expend extra energy at the very beginning of a race if the race itself doesn't demand it. It's tactics, not skill. Did they mention Pendrell making up 15 seconds per lap? No. That is a heroic effort to bring back that kind of time per lap. Not a word about that.
3)I would bet good money that every one of those women could out ride the commentators. Implying that they are "less than" simply becuase they come with boobs, is just rude.

*breathe*

OK. Done ranting!