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


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Posted

Where's all the "they must ride harder" protagonists now? Oh wait they gone with the flow...

 

Excellent amendment to the rules. Brings the event back into the 21st century as far as woman's racing is concerned. Now we'll see who responds to the challenge

I still think the winners this year will ride away with it... 2nd to 10th will be far closer though. 

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Posted

Where's all the "they must ride harder" protagonists now? Oh wait they gone with the flow...

 

Excellent amendment to the rules. Brings the event back into the 21st century as far as woman's racing is concerned. Now we'll see who responds to the challenge

i was one of the "she must ride harder"

i was also one of the she has good points but i didnt like the emotional way she brought her message accross, clearly it worked, i just dont see why all opinions have to be engaged like the world cup of measuring, 

YES I DID SAY RIDE HARDER with the time splits there was a valid point

I DID SAY good point

 

so now do i get slated for being a DRAAD SITTER???

 

OKES REALLY NOT LEFTY SPECIFICALLY,maybe just accept there are 2 sides to a story and stop making issues, and 2 possible opinions

 

anyway as i said lets see how it works  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:

Posted

 

OKES REALLY NOT LEFTY SPECIFICALLY,maybe just accept there are 2 sides to a story and stop making issues, and 2 possible opinions

 

 

Just because there can be 2 opinions doesn't mean one isn't wrong...

Posted

Hahahaha, glad the organizers are sitting up & taking note, you want to promote the most prestige MTB event in the world then play fair.

So maybe she never got her message across the "right way" but don't forget English is not her first language as mentioned before in this thread, so her message/emotion got lost in tranlslation. And that is what many failed to see, instead it was easier to jump on the "train harder & moaner" bandwagon.

Maybe next time first learn Norwlish (Norwegian+English) before criticizing.

Now sit in the corner & eat your humble pie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit G-R from Norway & Annika from Denmark  :ph34r:

Posted

Can't wait to see Gunn-Rita's performance next year at the epic. Hopefully there will be no excuses for poor performance.

 

This is a domain reserved exclusively for south africans

Posted

Why did it take a ex world champ in different disciplines to speak up before others (I assume Sally wasn't the only one) made some noise.

 

Goodness me, why haven't the girls raised this concern before.  Or maybe they have, but maybe they have just been ignored by race organizers.

 

THIS is a very good thing for ladies racing, it is long overdue and just thinking about it, it just baffles my mind that it wasn't changed long ago. Marathon races the ladies start in a separate batches.. they all give us the don't interfere with the Elite ladies out on course speech before we start.

 

THIS is also good because now there will no doubt be some ladies teaming up together that had previously ridden in the Mixed category because they are going to amend the "same kit rule".

Posted

Can anyone please post what this says for those of us who cannot see twitter feeds due to internet restrictions!

 

Big step forward for women's cycling!!! Latest news from Absa Cape Epic: UCI women will get a separate start + the rule regarding identical team clothing will be relaxed making it easier for combined trade team pairings!!!!

Posted

Can't wait to see Gunn-Rita's performance next year at the epic. Hopefully there will be no excuses for poor performance.

 

I think it had more to do with equality than aspirations of winning the event.

 

Either way, the outcome is good for the sport, and will attract more foreign and quality riders.  We'll also see stronger teams. Many pro teams only have one lady in their team, which means that some team pairings aren't possible due to the identical team jersey requirement.  Now that this requirement will be relaxed there will be less clash of sponsors and better team combinations will be possible.

 

Edit:  There will be a good mettle tester before next year's epic:

 

http://www.sellarondahero.com/en/race/val-gardena-2015

 

Looks like it will be a real climber's route:

 

SELLARONDA HERO 87 KM / 4.700 HM
Posted

Whilst in twitter darkness there I thought Rita and Sally had mentioned racing together next year, reading into the comments already posted!

 

Never the less , this info will only have a positive impact on the ladies racing efforts at this event! Would like to genuinely see a sizable increase in the total and quality of the ladies field moving forward!

 

Hoping they can at some stage do a seperate ladies and men's trail for the final 1 - 2 kms of the course, to ensure that racing for stage line honours does not involve any possible interference from men's elite, masters and grand masters teams. The mixed team can finish the same lane as the ladies to make the effort worth the volume of riders!

Posted

probably going to be a logistical nightmare to have two separate finish lines for men and women category line honours. Just have to accept that out on the course alliances are forged and unless you have rules specifically forbidding this from happening then its just part of the racing.

Where it is unfair is when that advantage is provided from the start line and category they start in.

 

I think this is a big step forward so Kudos for Gunn-Rita for raising it and Sally Bigham for supporting her with comments of her own.

Posted

I'm happy this was raised and sorted out. I didn't know how the start groups worked before this thread, and we all want the racing to be as fair as possible.

 

To be honest though, I really don't think it would have had any impact on the race winners this year. To be in the same starting group as the leading ladies you just had to be in the top 5 teams (and within an hr on the overall). None of the teams could go with the RECM ladies from the start at most of the stages.

 

The new rules will help teams that want to go for stage wins later in the Epic.

Posted

I'm happy this was raised and sorted out. I didn't know how the start groups worked before this thread, and we all want the racing to be as fair as possible.

 

To be honest though, I really don't think it would have had any impact on the race winners this year. To be in the same starting group as the leading ladies you just had to be in the top 5 teams (and within an hr on the overall). None of the teams could go with the RECM ladies from the start at most of the stages.

 

The new rules will help teams that want to go for stage wins later in the Epic.

 

Yip, the split times don't lie... they were in a class of their own this year - but it will be far more interesting racing from here on. They will have to actually attack each other and make the decisive splits - Ariane isn't exactly going to just ride away from Gunn Rita on a climb, or drop her on a descent. If you look at World Cup events from this year, the 41yr old actually beat them in every single XC outing. A lot of the time gap will have been those long bunch riding sections that make up a good chunk of the Epic.

 

The other rule change (the relaxing of the matching clothing/sponsor) is where the biggest change will come for me. Should mean stronger pairings (also in the men!) and also hopefully attract some of the top riders from cross country, which let us not forget, is where the majority of the serious talent lies. Hopefully the Epic idea will appeal a bit more as their sponsors can actually get some exposure for a change! Neff, Pendrel, Spitz, Osl etc... can definitely cook up some teams to give Annika and Ariane a go!

 

And in the mens... could we finally see Absalon and Schurter tussling it out at the Epic  :drool:

 

So much of win  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:   

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