Women's Paris Roubaix

davidof

L'Appartient says it is in the works (whatever that means from a politician) but is it a good idea given the current strengths (and weaknesses) of the women's pro peloton.

It's going to be short, for a start, and bumpy and will the ladies care for the cold showers at Roubaix :-)

If the course is anything more than some kind of token PR I can see the field splitting even more than it does in the current races.

Ok the Champs has cobbles but they rode that in the summer and the road is wide and reasonably well maintained. If they do any of the classic Roubaix sections it is going to be a different thing entirely.

RichN95.

There’s been a Women’s Tour of Flanders for quite a long time now, so cobbles aren’t alien to them.

davidof

RichN95 wrote:

There’s been a Women’s Tour of Flanders for quite a long time now, so cobbles aren’t alien to them.

and I mentioned la Course already but PR is supposed to be on an "epic" scale.

ddraver

Van Vleuten will still win...

awavey

ddraver wrote:

Van Vleuten will still win...

who cant bend her knee more than 75 degrees at the moment :roll: though she did get taken down in a crash on the Tour of Flanders last year, dislocated her shoulder, popped it back in and rode back to 3rd place, so anything is possible.

according to Lappartient, the same organisation who cant even organise La Course properly anymore are apparently working on this and a 10 day Womens TdF, which is nonsensical first step for reintroducing a proper race anyway.

Ill believe it when I see it, and even then Id check the calender wasnt April 1st, or happened to coincide with the next run of presidential elections in the UCI...

ddraver

agreed, if it happens, it will be in spite of ASO, not because of them...

Annemiek will still win

DeVlaeminck

It'll be interesting if we do get anything approaching a traditional Paris Roubaix for the women. Not intended to sound sexist but are there enough women at that level with the bike handling and the desire to race that kind of race?

ddraver

There are certainly enough with desire, that comes up a lot!

Not really sure how ability comes in to it any more than any other race

DeVlaeminck

When I say desire I mean specifically to race Paris Roubaix and the associated risks - I mean there are a lot of the men's peloton that don't want to do that especially those who come from countries that aren't known for cobbled classics.

The women's peloton doesn't have the same strength in depth - if you just compare the number of full time pros between the women and the men - and if say 2/3rds of them don't really fancy taking the risks associated with Paris Roubaix does that leave the race short of quality ?

I'm not saying women don't want to race Paris Roubaix any more than men don't - but there are plenty of male pros that don't so I'm assuming the same applies to the women.

davidof

DeVlaeminck wrote:

When I say desire I mean specifically to race Paris Roubaix and the associated risks

which is my point, is this the best race to organize next, certainly some of the women pro have been asking for it but getting another longer tour (in other words a return to the situation before l'Appartient took over the French Cycling Fed) would seem like a better idea.

This is an article from The cyclist

http://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/4554/ ... be-serious

I'm not sure it is "banned" - anyone who wants to could organize a womens race over the cobbles even if they couldn't use the TM Paris-Roubaix (and given the men's race doesn't even start in Paris that's no bad thing).

Then they come up with this nonsense

As a French rider, Ferrand-Prevot is also a huge advocate for there being a race, even if it’s one that doesn’t necessarily suit her skillset: 'I think it would be great to have, not just because I’m French but because it’s one of the most beautiful races on the calendar.'

How could a race over cobbles not suit the skillset of a road rider who has been world mtb and cyclocross champion? Do these people even know who she is?

Why not let some of the elite women rider the junion men's PR first?

Working out how sponsors can make money from women's cycling would be another aim.

Vino'sGhost

davidof wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

When I say desire I mean specifically to race Paris Roubaix and the associated risks

which is my point, is this the best race to organize next, certainly some of the women pro have been asking for it but getting another longer tour (in other words a return to the situation before l'Appartient took over the French Cycling Fed) would seem like a better idea.

This is an article from The cyclist

http://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/4554/ ... be-serious

I'm not sure it is "banned" - anyone who wants to could organize a womens race over the cobbles even if they couldn't use the TM Paris-Roubaix (and given the men's race doesn't even start in Paris that's no bad thing).

Then they come up with this nonsense

As a French rider, Ferrand-Prevot is also a huge advocate for there being a race, even if it’s one that doesn’t necessarily suit her skillset: 'I think it would be great to have, not just because I’m French but because it’s one of the most beautiful races on the calendar.'

How could a race over cobbles not suit the skillset of a road rider who has been world mtb and cyclocross champion? Do these people even know who she is?

Why not let some of the elite women rider the junion men's PR first?

Working out how sponsors can make money from women's cycling would be another aim.

The UCI could sell the TV rights and spread the money around. Screw the ASO and its monuments and tours

larkim

The point about some in the men’s peloton not wanting to race PR is surely about the fact that there are so many other high profile races that the men can do that the risk isn’t that they are fearful of it per se, it’s more that they are fearful that it will disrupt their season and there are plenty of other opportunities.

The Women’s top echelon is so relatively sparse and the volume of potential high profile races is so low that surely all of the top women would have to choose to do it?