“”Volleying shared that she had told Van Vleuten that her performance was ‘not normal’ and Van Vleuten was quick to offer Vollering a few words of comfort in return.
“She said ‘I have so much more training experience and training overall, it will come to you’,” Volelring recalled. "So let’s hope.””
I mean most of the allegations directed towards Pog and Vingegaard were based on their progression and that they seemed to ‘come from nowhere’ which is very much not the case with AvV. She’s been consistently climbing at a level above the rest of the women’s peloton for pretty much her entire career, and it was remarked upon by a number of commentators that >2 minutes probably wouldn’t be a big enough gap heading into the mountains if she was back to her usual form.
Not to mention comparing parity in men’s and women’s sports can be pretty misleading given the differences in field size, resources, research etc- we’re seeing simiarly unprecedented performances across women’s sport as a whole, with many records within the endurance sphere being set by women in their mid-to-late 30’s. Not saying they weren’t doping either, but looking at time gaps alone is missing a lot of context- which is sort of important in determining what constitutes enough of an outlier to be suspicious based on that alone.
I don’t have a strong opinion either way, but I don’t think basing doping accusations off of what is ‘normal’ in suituations that are not necessarily comparable is particularly compelling or productive in lieu of any other evidence.
Just a side question - how much aerodynamic disadvantage does Kasia Niewiadoma have for riding non stop with that open jersey? I mean it really seems like her zipper broke on day 1 and she doesn’t have a spare.
Are time cuts calculated the same way for the women’s race as for the men’s?
Worried that AvV could eliminate the peloton one day but think the time cut was around 40mins yesterday which seems quite long.
@kevstraining According to cyclingtips, 6 women didn’t make the cut yesterday.
It was 18%, which seems on par with the men’s. They were often saying it is between 15-20% based on various factors (presumably number of climbs or distance).
Yeah I was wondering same. Maybe the jersey now merits making the trek from France to Poland à la G’s gilet.
It’s a bit, especially on the flats. But it’s a question of what’s worse. More drag or being really uncomfortable and have a higher core temp?
Van Vleuten is NOT having a good equipment day 
“Infinite bike changes” -gcn dude
Ouch.
I am that motorbike driver on any 8% climb.
Mind-blowing that AvV is 39 years old.
Van Vleuten is an exceptional athlete. The way she rode up that climb…
Inspiring to say the least! I’m a bit ignorant to the business side of our sport but, thank goodness Strava and others put up $$ to make this happen. As the commentators alluded, hopefully young girl watched and were inspired. I know I was inspired to pursue a sport by top athletes when I was young. We just need more NICA type avenues for kids to get involved (over here in the US). Europe seems fine but not sure…
IMHO more women riding and racing=rising tide. We all benefit. No data or facts just thinking there is more potential in more women entering the sport compared to men as there are so few women in the sport compared to men.
The end of that stage and the race overall make the men look soft sipping champagne in the flats. (Yes, I know they ride 3 weeks).
Too bad the women don’t get the visibility of the finale in Paris. Ending the tour in the dirt on top of a mountain isn’t quite as glamorous…
I was thinking that as well. I do think it was nice that the women started on the day and in the same place the men finished–hopefully it helped carry interest over from the men’s race to the women’s. But the women should at least get some chance to drink champagne and act silly like the men do somewhere gorgeous, if not Paris. Ending on a 20-25% dirt climb instead? Ouch. (Metaphorical?) Also, tangent: I wish there had been a time trial stage.
I find the stage into Paris interminably boring….I’d much rather see the Tour finish with a stage that matters. Based on the size of the crowds on the side of the road, I think the public was fully engaged.
As noted, the women also got to start their race in Paris, which probably helped build a bigger audience overall for them.
Guessing the city isn’t keen on shutting things down twice, so the compromise was to do it once, let the women roll out on the similar course, then have the men finish all in one day.
As was mentioned, I’d rather they finish with a stage that matters instead of the show, but not my race!
I also like the idea of letting the women set their own traditions / make their own race.
It doesn’t have to be the women’s version of the Tour, down to the traditions. Let the prestige of the name act as an umbrella, but let the women make their own traditions.
