Pretty fun to see, especially after the year Marianne Vos had last year -- really, it put Phillipe Gilbert's to shame.

Forget the haters. Racing's racing, imo.

Out of 30 or so comments so far, there have only been four negative comments, and all by the same person. The rest are overwhelmingly positive and in support of not just Evie but women's cycling in general.

Don't let one bad apple spoil the barrel.

Correct. And let's see all the great 'supporters' of women's bike racing forego their next $3,000-8,000 bike and put that towards...

women's cycling sponsorship instead?

Don't all rush for your checkbooks at once!!

Women's bike racing-- "epic" 70 to 80 mile stages, woo, I almost soiled my pink Rapha panties-- is fine, it's usually VERY boring (with some spring finish exceptions), but ok, most men's Cat III bike racing is boring too.

The idea that anyone is "owed" or "deserves" more coverage of women's bike racing is absurd until YOU step up to pay for it.

What guy that rides a bike does not enjoy watching beautiful talented woman racing their bikes ?
Nobody I want to know
Cheers :)

And...we're back on our high horse. Nice, Ursula.

+1

I, for one, enjoy reading about her accomplishments. Her story is amazing and I am a fan.

What exactly is this thread about?

Evie?
The Giro D?
Dudes downplaying someone else's athletic performance while they're sitting on their asses in front of a computer?

Come on.

Any dude that ****$ on women's cycling needs to spend a season watching how quickly women start to "get it" while dudes' egos continue to ride bikes well into Cat 2.

While you might be speaking about a specific event or a specific female pro what you're missing is that the negativity seeps downward. My GF is a effin awesome rider and, next to the mechanics, the most knowledgeable at the LBS. The biggest thing she has to battle against is convincing women that their pursuit of the sport (recreational or competitive) is a worthwhile pursuit and not just a lame "women thing."
....

Brahs,

You'd do well to simply ride with a lady instead of trying to impress her by riding too fast for her to hold your wheel. You'd do well to chat up a women on a bike simply because its another person on a bike and not because you think that once you're done she's gonna model her bibs just like the Assos girl--just for you. And, when there's a lady that kicks your ass (happens out here frequently) you don't pull some bull**** fetishization of strong women or try to prove that you're just as strong by pulling around and giving yourself a heart attack while she rides comfortably in your fat-ass draft.

Fixed, its a nice sentiment but how bout simply watching a talented women? Why does it also have to be about looks? It's bull**** fetishization.

sorry to upset you but if ..
you look at one of my last post I said V. Nibali looked beautiful on the bike too . It's the blending of athelte and machine that is beautiful IMHO
Cheers

Let's face it -- it's about looks, talent, respect, all of it.

The same woman who wins the Giro will also wear lipstick, get her hair done and look great during a night on the town. She wants to look pretty then; what's wrong with admiring her beauty, in various forms, when she's on the bike? It's the same person, different facets.

Nothing is wrong with admiring beauty. But all too often women are described as "talented and beautiful" whereas men are just "talented." Speaking directly about one's talent places the weight fully and firmly in one place. Addressing looks de-emphasizes the talent... addressing looks means that the "hottie" gets more press.

Compare Liz Hatch with Emma Pooley. I'd wager that Liz is more of a household name than Emma even though she's got far less palmares. If Emma had Liz's (lack of...comparatively speaking) wins she'd be 100% ignored.

Whatever.

support doesn't have to come in the form of money. support can mean that you don't go spouting off negative comments to belittle something. what exactly did that achieve? what did you support by donating 3-4 thousand dollars too?

the issue with women's sports in general is that there's no coverage. imho, women's cycling would grow if they raced at the same events the men did- much like tennis. look at the coverage women's tennis gets at the grand slam events- they get just as much coverage as the men. thats where the UCI could start.

As I woman, I love the coverage but see both sides of it.

As a market, I don't know that I would necessarily watch as much or more.
If the men's final of Wimbledon was on at the same time as the women's , I would probably watch the men's.
So as women, we have to support too. I see the financial side of it also.
This is nothing specific to cycling or any of the current players involved. I'm kinda torn about all sports now as too much $$$ involved. The purity is gone.

+1,000. Thank you for saying this. How often do you see a male cyclist posing nude/semi-nude in a cycling magazine with just a Chris King hub covering his Johnson? Oh, that's right, you don't!


I totally agree with this.

i am a supporter of womens racing. problem is women arent supporters of womens racing. i'm a cat2 as is my wife. my races will run between 50~100 deep. Hers are lucky to break double digits. she bailed and now does tri's because of it