TdF rules gender biased?

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Ken M wrote in part:

> ... Surely there must be
> at least a few female cyclist that would be capable of competing at
> this level.

Not really at pro level, although I'm certain
some of the best female climbers could easily outclimb
the slower climbing men of the tour. So you definitely
can't allow that. Imagine the psychological destruction,
poor bastards dropping off the pace in the mountains
to be picked off by Luperini or some other chick.

Down in the amateur ranks, men everywhere are
surprised by the strength of their female counterparts.
Strong cat 3s and expert class mtn bike racers get
torched by women all the time. Just this Friday in a
local "alleycat" race, twelve dudes got beat by the
lone female competitor. the poor ******* who came in
second, arriving at the finish just behind her, was
convinced that he had nearly lapped her. But,
no, sorry. I've seen this kind of thing so often that
it doesn't really surprise me anymore.

I just got back from a 30+ mile singletrack ride with
my strongest riding companion who happens to be a woman.
The fact that I was able to ride away from her on a few
climbs means that I was going pretty well today. None
of my other riding buddies would've been in the same
zip code.

Robert

 

[Aspiring Tortoise]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Strong cat 3s

Oh, the cat3 pros. If they were strong, they wouldn't be cat 3s.

 

[[email protected]]

One might have placed in the prologue:

<\url:
http://www.thebikezone.org.uk/thebikezone/riders/berylburton.html>.

The women have their own race.

regards,
Daren
--
remove outer garment for reply

 

[[email protected]]

Aspiring Tortoise wrote:
> <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > Strong cat 3s
>
> Oh, the cat3 pros. If they were strong, they wouldn't be cat 3s.

If you can win a cat3 race around here, you are strong.
Plain and simple. Some regions of the country, cat3 is
kind of a joke.

Robert

 

[Aspiring Tortoise]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> Aspiring Tortoise wrote:
> > <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >
> > > Strong cat 3s
> >
> > Oh, the cat3 pros. If they were strong, they wouldn't be cat 3s.
>
> If you can win a cat3 race around here, you are strong.
> Plain and simple. Some regions of the country, cat3 is
> kind of a joke.
>
Do they not have pro/1/2 races in your region?

 

[[email protected]]

Aspiring Tortoise wrote:
> <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> >
> > Aspiring Tortoise wrote:
> > > <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > > news:[email protected]...
> > >
> > > > Strong cat 3s
> > >
> > > Oh, the cat3 pros. If they were strong, they wouldn't be cat 3s.
> >
> > If you can win a cat3 race around here, you are strong.
> > Plain and simple. Some regions of the country, cat3 is
> > kind of a joke.
> >
> Do they not have pro/1/2 races in your region?


Yes, they do.

 

[Antti Salonen]

[email protected] wrote:

> Not really at pro level, although I'm certain
> some of the best female climbers could easily outclimb
> the slower climbing men of the tour.

I'd like to see this happen before I believe it. As far as I've
understood, women's major weakness compared to men in cycling is the
power to weight ratio. Unlike TT's or flat mass start stages, climbing
is all about available power relative to weight.

Some of the male sprinters, notably the Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu are awful
in the climbs and typically abandon the race when they head into the
mountains. Then there are many who just ride in the autobus trying to
save as much energy as possible and just finish inside the time limit.
I guess some of the best female climbers might manage in the autobus,
but then most of those men are not riding at their limit.

What happens in the amateur ranks somewhere does not have any relevance.

-as

 

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Antti Salonen wrote in part:

> [email protected] wrote:
>
> > Not really at pro level, although I'm certain
> > some of the best female climbers could easily outclimb
> > the slower climbing men of the tour.
>
> I'd like to see this happen before I believe it...

I doubt you'll ever see it happen. It wouldn't be
fair to the slow male climbers.

About the only place you're going to see women
lined up and racing head to head with men is in
mountain bike endurance races. Men almost always
win these races, but the top woman typically beats
a substantial portion of the mens' elite field.
There are no slouchy climbers in that field.

There is a bigger difference between the peloton's
slow climbers and fast climbers than there is between
the best female and best male climbers.

Robert