While it took seven Belgians to dominate the Men’s Cyclocross World Championship race on Sunday, it only took a single Dutchwoman to dominate the women’s race. That’s seven times more dominanter, if my math is correct – which it always is.
Cyclocross fascinates me, mostly because it is completely insane. But I admit: I like the idea of combining Cycling and miniature golf. Put some canti’s on your road bike, take to the mud and woods, add some water hazards, sand traps, man-made climbs and jumps, and now you’ve got a sport for people who hate the way their faces look.
Marianne Vos took her fifth World ‘Cross Championship (a record) to further crowd here palmares with rainbow bands. She’s been World Champion in every discipline involving drop bars, many of them multiple times. She’s also won La Fleche Wallone more times than I can count (I can only count to three), National road and time trial championships, and the Giro d’Italia Femminile. She was even World Champion in Mountain Biking as a Junior. One could easily argue that “V”os is the best active cyclist in the world, bar none.
To that point, we don’t pay close enough attention to Women’s cycling. I’m as guilty as anyone; if I was going to pick the winner of a Women’s race, I’d likely pick Vos or Cooke (if she’s not broken, which she often is) or Teutenberg if the race is likely to end in a sprint, which I wouldn’t be able to tell you without first doing some research. And that pretty much exhausts my knowledge in terms of naming riders, which is disgraceful. After all, if one is to understand the great mystery, one should study all its aspects. (Yes, I just quoted Darth Sidious.)
With the ‘Cross season coming to a close, we’re ramping up to start the 2012 Velominati Super Prestige and with it, we are dragging ourselves into paying attention to Women’s Cycling: the 2012 competition will include women’s races with the points amassed counting towards the overall title.
We are also making some coding changes to the backend system in order to fix some problems which means we’re probably only introducing new problems without necessarily fixing the things that needed fixing in the first place.
We’re also adding more races like the Strada Bianca, changing the scoring model, and eliminating certain things such as free DNF swaps. Stand by for further updates and keep a weather eye on the VSP Page for the updated schedule and rules.
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@Bianchi Denti, @Mikael Liddy, @Anjin-san
Excellent points about women competing with men. (What's the PGA Tour?)
Especially this:
You have that enough already as it is - oh so and so was injured and didn't race or was suspended for doping and didn't race - blah blah blah. Best not to open that can of worms.
The goal is to have the sport stand on its own for its own (considerable) worth, and that starts with awareness, and that's what we're hoping to help out with.
@JC Belgium
Woah! The awesome thing to me, despite the pink underbritches, is that cross in on t.v. and being discussed. That's boss for me, again, in spite of pink britches...
@Anjin-san
Yes. What you said.
@Steampunk
How inclusive of you.
@Calmante
You say that, but here's the thing: at one point in my life I was a pretty decent cyclist. Climber mostly, but also could TT. Liked long hilly races too. And had decent results, including beating a #135lb guy who went on to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour du Pont, on a uphill TT. So one day I'm "hammering" up a hill, totally in the hurt locker and this girl pulls up next to me and smiles. "Hi, how ya doing?" she asks. Then takes off up the hill like she's on a beach cruiser on the promenade, and I'm walking.
I think that there are more women cyclists that could be competitive with men than we'd like to think. Just ask local Sue Butler (I'll let you look her up). or Ms. Vos.
@frank
It's the "old cycling"...
(Tried to post this twice but must have been caught by the spam filter).
A LBS hosted a showing of the CX Worlds at 9am Sunday. It enhanced the excitement to watch it with 30 other enthusiasts! Then we went on an urban ride to a city park and through a sandy beach.
I'm already saving up for some upgrades to my cross bike. Only 7 months left in the offseason. Start training now!
Also, there are some things you can't find on the Internet.
I found out about a local rave-style cross series that has two more races in February and March. There's sure to be rain and mud. If Frank builds his bike soon enough maybe he can join in the fun.
@frank
Exactly right. But doesn't it all hinge on TV rights? Isn't that where the big money comes from? Directly through network rights or indirectly through sponsors getting brand exposure. And TV dollars rely on ratings.
Ask the regular woman if she supports better pay for woman cyclists and then ask how much cycling she watches on TV. I just don't reckon theres enough women watching enough TV sport. Women's sport simply doesn't rate as well. Alot of men watch alot of sport but they watch mostly men's sport.
And don't even mention the LFL...
What Scaler said. Internet talk and hypothesis is one thing. I've had my arse handed to me by just about everyone, at some point in time, at everything including getting whipped by girls on bikes.
A bit of perspective helps from time to time chaps. We're talking about professional athletes, who have made it through talent camps, sports academies and years of racing. Whether they can beat boys who've done the same is missing the point. If you look at what women CAN do you get a lot richer picture of whats going on.