Woman Cyclist has to slow down before she catches Men

[jackstar7]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/04/sport/cycling-women-belgium-intl-scli-spt/index.html

Woman cyclist forced to stop race after catching up with men

And so here we see the fullest absurdity of sports and issues of gender.

Really hopeful that a certain poster shares his concerns about this.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

They won’t unless She is Trans

 

[dank69]

You misspelled ciclist.

 

[dainthomas]

Didn't see why they wouldn't let her pass? Seems really weird.

 

[IronWing]

Men don't concede races
To women who make passes.

 

[soulcougher73]

Obviously on PEDs!!

 

[Yeroon]

Its not that she caught up with other cyclists, she caught up to the support vehicles. I dont see how it would be safe, or fair, if she went through that to join the mens pack. Its unfortunate, but I understand how little options they had once the situation occurred.
Easy fix, gap the starts more.

 

[realibrad]

How is this a gender issue?

 

[jackstar7]

How is this a gender issue?

Great question. Your thoughts?

 

[Ventanni]

Great question. Your thoughts?

I see it as less of a gender issue and more of an issue for the racing organization to run both events, which is supported by the statement, "The cycling publication described Hanselmann's surge to the front as "a brave solo move" for which the race organizers were unprepared." They didn't slow her down because she was going to make the men look bad. She was going so fast that she was entering into a completely different race, which probably wouldn't have effectively tracked her even if they didn't stop her and let her pass through the finish line.

 

[Jimzz]

They should have just pulled the men not able to keep up and kick them out so the support vehicles could move up. Or "worse" let the women move up and pass the slow men.

Instead they basically killed the women's race. When the leader of the women's race caught up to the men's race, that had a good 10 minutes head start, they stopped her and she ended up finishing 74th.

 

[Meghan54]

I see it as less of a gender issue and more of an issue for the racing organization to run both events, which is supported by the statement, "The cycling publication described Hanselmann's surge to the front as "a brave solo move" for which the race organizers were unprepared." They didn't slow her down because she was going to make the men look bad. She was going so fast that she was entering into a completely different race, which probably wouldn't have effectively tracked her even if they didn't stop her and let her pass through the finish line.

BS. It wasn't a completely different race, just the men of the exact same race.

And catching the support vehicles shouldn't be any concern for anyone. Ever watch the TdF (Tour de France) or any of the other pro bike races? Many times riders get dropped off the back, be it from a flat, crash, whatever, and guess what they do when they get restarted. Cruise through the support vehicles. Done ALL the time. Hell, they even draft off the support vehicles to regain the peleton. Of course, they limit the amount of time that one can draft behind a car/truck/whatever, but it's done in every damned bike race men participate in.

It's more the embarrassment factor that a female would dare finish faster than the men. Nothing else. And despite what the race organizers claim, there was never a safety issue at all.

 

[outriding]

Is this @Amused?

 

[UNCjigga]

This is a non-scandal. Witness my non-outrage.

 

[pmv]

Just bad planning by race organizers. I don't see how it's any more than that. Is it not the case that she just caught up with the tail end of the men's race?

There was a case a few years ago where it was sort-of the other way round. The women's race started first, but the men caught up with them. Now I think about it, maybe there's a sexism angle in how the two cases compare. In that case they made the women stop while the men passed through, then resumed the women's race. But one could still say the difference was it was pretty much the entire male group that ran into the back of the women's group, not just one outlier.

Anyway, cycle racing isn't a realistic challenge. It's not proper cycling if it doesn't include an angry red-faced man in a white van, possessed of his own idiocyncratic idea of the rules of the road, reading the Daily Mail website on his mobile, while trying to run you down from behind.

 

[Yeroon]

BS. It wasn't a completely different race, just the men of the exact same race.

And catching the support vehicles shouldn't be any concern for anyone. Ever watch the TdF (Tour de France) or any of the other pro bike races? Many times riders get dropped off the back, be it from a flat, crash, whatever, and guess what they do when they get restarted. Cruise through the support vehicles. Done ALL the time. Hell, they even draft off the support vehicles to regain the peleton. Of course, they limit the amount of time that one can draft behind a car/truck/whatever, but it's done in every damned bike race men participate in.

It's more the embarrassment factor that a female would dare finish faster than the men. Nothing else. And despite what the race organizers claim, there was never a safety issue at all.

Theres a difference between single riders falling behind, and the leader working through the support vehicles.
1) The obvious aero benefit of both the support vehicles, and joining the tail end of the mens race. Thats fine for a straggler, not fine when it gives the leader an advantage.
2) The logistical and safety nightmare of the runner up peleton doing the same to catch said leader.

Its all down to poor organizing, and a clickbait tile.

 

[realibrad]

Great question. Your thoughts?

That the organization running that event did not leave enough time between the two groups. I think that mistake probably caused the rider to finish much further back. I don't see the issue of gender playing any role here.

Do you think gender is involved?

 

[jackstar7]

That the organization running that event did not leave enough time between the two groups. I think that mistake probably caused the rider to finish much further back. I don't see the issue of gender playing any role here.

Do you think gender is involved?

I think it's a metaphor.

 

[Zorba]

BS. It wasn't a completely different race, just the men of the exact same race.

And catching the support vehicles shouldn't be any concern for anyone. Ever watch the TdF (Tour de France) or any of the other pro bike races? Many times riders get dropped off the back, be it from a flat, crash, whatever, and guess what they do when they get restarted. Cruise through the support vehicles. Done ALL the time. Hell, they even draft off the support vehicles to regain the peleton. Of course, they limit the amount of time that one can draft behind a car/truck/whatever, but it's done in every damned bike race men participate in.

It's more the embarrassment factor that a female would dare finish faster than the men. Nothing else. And despite what the race organizers claim, there was never a safety issue at all.

I wonder if it was actually they didn't want her to catch up to the male peloton. If she was able to catch them and ride with them she would've been uncatchable by the other women while being able to draft.

I've said this in every thread about gender in sports. Men's should be open to anyone that can qualify. If she can hang with them she should be allowed to race with them.

It sounds like the real issue here is the gap wasn't big enough to start with or there were a lot of men that shouldn't have been in the race. But I can understand why they didn't want the two races to mix.

 

[outriding]

Well i can see their point..

I did a race several years ago...

The Cat4 riders passed the Cat3 riders and just mass confusion was after that..

Roadies just have their ideas stuck in the past and will not let go of them..

/end rant

 

[Meghan54]

Theres a difference between single riders falling behind, and the leader working through the support vehicles.
1) The obvious aero benefit of both the support vehicles, and joining the tail end of the mens race. Thats fine for a straggler, not fine when it gives the leader an advantage.
2) The logistical and safety nightmare of the runner up peleton doing the same to catch said leader.

Its all down to poor organizing, and a clickbait tile.

Male leaders fall behind all the time, be it a pee break, flat tire, crash, etc., and then use the vehicles as aero aids to catch up....so, it's ok when men do it but verboten to have a woman catch a men's peleton?

And if the entire peleton begins to catch the support train, guess what happens in a men's race? The support vehicles pull over en masse and allow the catching peleton pass through.

When there's a break away, when the peleton begins to close within X amount of time to the breaking riders, they park the support vehicles and let the peleton by. And I have yet to see a peleton not run down a single rider unless there was no incentive to chase said single rider down. A peleton can move vastly quicker than any single rider.

This was no safety issue or competitive issue.

 

[Meghan54]

Well i can see their point..

I did a race several years ago...

The Cat4 riders passed the Cat3 riders and just mass confusion was after that..

Roadies just have their ideas stuck in the past and will not let go of them..

/end rant

Why the confusion? Were they using the same bib number for different cats? Hell, I've seen masters obliterate some cat 2/3 riders and no confusion ever ensued. The old guys just laughed...at the finish.

 

[nOOky]

Pretty much bullshit, they should have let her pass, and just informed her that she could not legally draft off of the men for any further advantage. Also her support vehicle or riders would not have been able to reach her without going through the whole back of the men's race, but she could have received aid somehow same as any other rider of the event.

 

[nOOky]

Why the confusion? Were they using the same bib number for different cats? Hell, I've seen masters obliterate some cat 2/3 riders and no confusion ever ensued. The old guys just laughed...at the finish.

The race organizers probably honestly never expected anyone to catch up. Then they simply handled it wrong imho.

 

[Yeroon]

Male leaders fall behind all the time, be it a pee break, flat tire, crash, etc., and then use the vehicles as aero aids to catch up....so, it's ok when men do it but verboten to have a woman catch a men's peleton?

I'm not aware of this practice, I'd like to see some footage of this occurring for enough time to make a difference. Seems poor conduct regardless of who does it though, if its actually a common thing to do.
And while that might be similar, thats not the same as a leader catching up to support vehicles or the ensuing group.

And if the entire peleton begins to catch the support train, guess what happens in a men's race? The support vehicles pull over en masse and allow the catching peleton pass through.

This was no safety issue or competitive issue.

I disagree, there's plenty of safety and unforseen competitive issues that could arise from two races merging in an unplanned manner. Which do you think would get more flak, how this was handled, or if the leader was deemed to get a competitive edge, or a rider hurt in the process?

The obvious easy solution is to fix the scheduling. If it continues to happen, make more drastic changes to how the groups interact.