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epic women's race not up to scratch - Gunn-Rita


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Posted

Theresa Ralph (never been a full time) finished prologue in 9th position Womens and 4th position GC at the end ahead of rider's like Esther Suss  :thumbup:

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Posted
  On 3/25/2015 at 9:55 AM, HOEKVLAG said:

Could anybody find out / confirm where the RECM ladies started after their time penalty. If they started as per the rules they took half an hour out of everybody on the stage after having started behind them - and won the stage...

 

They started in the front group. They were still amongst the top 3 teams and only 29 or so minutes behind the new ladies leaders' jersey at that point in the race.

 

Also that day the new leaders had major issues with RdG so they fell away...

Posted
  On 3/25/2015 at 8:13 AM, Dick said:

1. there is a prologue to get the seeding sorted, so if you are that far out of the seeding following the prologue you either are not good enough, or you had a mechanical.

.

Or you had a badly matched partner......

 

I suspect that with her XCO Palmares she would have kicked most butts in the prologue, and all of the women's.

Posted

I can see her point. And she is very positive about the event. Very complimentary of the standard of organisation.

 

I think this issue should be sorted by CSA. It's a sanctioned event and its up to the race commisairs to sort this out.

 

Elite ladies are usually sent off with VC group in road races. Annoys everyone in the group and has never been sorted out.

 

Sorry but I have to agree with her and it's not an attack on the precious Epic.

Posted
  On 3/25/2015 at 9:13 AM, Tubehunter said:

1. Yes, in the current format the issue is theirs!

 

2. But herein lies the rub SV. How do you expect the top ladies teams to commit to this event when they know that 2 days of issues sees them completely off the radar for anything, including stage win opportunities? Why do you think the ladies field is so thin 12 years down the line? Clearly something needs to change and make the racing in the ladies teams closer to competing with one another.

 

1. Exactly, ent van prent

 

2. Well that's life in racing, if you cant stay in front you get swallowed by the herd.

I doubt the ladies entries are thin because of the rules, just look at ladies elite racing in just about any endurance event and you will see the ladies fields are normally pretty "thin"

 

Even if she has a point, whining about it in a her public diary is not the way to go. She would have done much better to leave out those 4 paragraphs and put them in a registered letter to the organizers / UCI. 

Posted
  On 3/25/2015 at 10:02 AM, HappyMartin said:

I can see her point. And she is very positive about the event. Very complimentary of the standard of organisation.

 

I think this issue should be sorted by CSA. It's a sanctioned event and its up to the race commisairs to sort this out.

 

Elite ladies are usually sent off with VC group in road races. Annoys everyone in the group and has never been sorted out.

 

Sorry but I have to agree with her and it's not an attack on the precious Epic.

All a great idea but no MTB events work like road events .

Yes she makes a valid argument, but she also had oodles of time to get herself seeded within that elite group .

It really sounds to me more of a cry having to ride as an outcast .

Posted
  On 3/25/2015 at 9:57 AM, Tubehunter said:

They started in the front group. They were still amongst the top 3 teams and only 29 or so minutes behind the new ladies leaders' jersey at that point in the race.

 

Also that day the new leaders had major issues with RdG so they fell away...

They were fourth so as per the rules had to start a group back...

 

This now takes Kleinhans and Langvad out of the category leader’s jerseys and into fourth place on the standings, with Team Ascendis Health’s Jennie Stenerhag and Robyn de Groot moving into first place in the standings.

 

Team RECM Specialized now find themselves 27.06,8 behind the new leaders. Third-place finishers of the women’s race on Stage 2, Sally Bigham and Christina Kollman of Team Sellaronda Hero, moved into second for the day and third in the overall standings.

 

Posted
  On 3/25/2015 at 10:23 AM, HOEKVLAG said:

They were fourth so as per the rules had to start a group back...

 

 

Without having to go through 11 pages, are only the first three ladies teams allowed in the first group?

Posted
  On 3/25/2015 at 10:23 AM, HOEKVLAG said:

They were fourth so as per the rules had to start a group back...

 

This now takes Kleinhans and Langvad out of the category leader’s jerseys and into fourth place on the standings, with Team Ascendis Health’s Jennie Stenerhag and Robyn de Groot moving into first place in the standings.

 

Team RECM Specialized now find themselves 27.06,8 behind the new leaders. Third-place finishers of the women’s race on Stage 2, Sally Bigham and Christina Kollman of Team Sellaronda Hero, moved into second for the day and third in the overall standings.

 

Incorrect. They were in the top 5, and within an hour of 3rd place so they were allowed in the front group. 

Posted
  On 3/25/2015 at 10:31 AM, El Capitan said:

Incorrect. They were in the top 5, and within an hour of 3rd place so they were allowed in the front group. 

Apologies, I missed the "within 1 hour part". :blush:

Posted

One side of this I think a few people are missing, is the pedigree attached to an Epic stage win...

 

Kevin Vermaak has pushed the idea himself many times of an Epic stage win holding similar pedigree to that of a Tour de France stage. It's still a long way off, but in the men's race it was clear to see the huge prestige already attached to the stage wins. There are of course good financial incentives too, as well as great coverage for sponsors etc.

 

It may not have been the case in the ladies this year with the dominance of Ariane and Annika, but teams outside the top 5, and over an hour back, can still often be in the running for stages.

Posted
  On 3/25/2015 at 10:14 AM, Wyatt Earp said:

All a great idea but no MTB events work like road events .

Yes she makes a valid argument, but she also had oodles of time to get herself seeded within that elite group .

It really sounds to me more of a cry having to ride as an outcast .

 

No doubt she is. And yes I agree she could have worked harder to get seeded in the elite group.

 

I still think it would make ladies racing more interesting if the separation between them and the men was a little more clear.

 

Anyway it's really non of my business. Quite like my MTB but not a fan of racing MTB.

Posted

just a quick look at women's finishers/entries from the epic site

 

2006 - 14/18

2007 - 13/18

2008 - 16/23

2009 - 11/12

2010 - 12/15

2011 - 19/20

2012 - 17/20

2013 - 18/27

2014 - 20/23

2015 - 17/23

 

looking at the mixed entries.

2006 - 58

2007 - 72

2008 - 58

2009 - 76

2010 - 68

2011 - 65

2012 - 58

2013 - 62

2014 - 71

2015 - 64

 

in general there's been about 100 ladies riding out of a field of 1200. I think by promoting the ladies only (now prize money for mixed AFAIK) they'll probably see less total ladies enter over time.

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