It's now clear that women's cycling is increasingly resembling men's. This applies to prize money, team structures, tactics, and, with due consideration, distances. And so it is increasingly common to see women's races lasting well over four hours..
The 176 kilometres of the fifth stage of the Tour de France Femmes certainly caused a stir and they represent the season record but are not an absolute novelty when it comes to long stage races or classics. Many years ago, there were races in the United States, like the Tour de Toona (in Pennsylvania), that had significant mileage.
Beyond the exemptions
Over the years there have been many examples of marathon races, such as the first stage of the 2007 Giro Rosa, which was 168 kilometers long. Or the exponential growth of the Tour of Flanders: from 94 kilometers, or 2 and a half hours of effort, of the first edition in 2004 to 159 this year, 4 and a quarter hours of effort.
Or again, in 2020 at Giro Rosa The Assisi-Tivoli race was 182 kilometers long: 170 kilometers of racing and 12 kilometers of transfers, with nearly 3.500 meters of elevation gain. It was no walk in the park, in short, and it sparked more than one discussion regarding women's cycling.
According to the regulation, theUCI has set a limit of 160 kilometers for WorldTour races, with some exceptions. We wanted to gather opinions on this topic to understand whether this trend could continue to spread and how, as a result, it might change the preparation and execution of women's races.
Not too many kilometers
«Personally, I hope it doesn't go any further. – he explains to us Davide Arzeni of Valcar Travel&Service - also because the result would not changeI'm a bit against these distances because they become a threat to the athletes and then you risk having a boring race. Then the girls get distracted and they fall. If we get involved, the show is no longer good for our movement.
«You have to take into account the hours and the altitude difference, as happened in France for the mountain stages. But even then, with a little common sense. Adding climbs upon climbs or making the races excessively tough doesn't make much sense to me. I repeat, the final result wouldn't change."
"However, I understand the organizers' needs," the "Chief" continues, "who want to accommodate the departure and arrival locations. These decisions are driven by economic interests. But even in this, the various transfers must be taken into account.
«To get to the start of the fifth stage of the Tour Femmes We'd already done an hour and a half of transfer. Finally, think about the last girls who reach the finish line. In that long stage or in the seventh with the finish line At Le Markstein, the athletes who reached the finish line pedaled for almost five hours, some arriving outside the maximum time limit. My girls, for example, except for a few rare cases, have never trained for more than five hours and I think many others do the same."
Arzeni is echoed by his colleague Fortunato Lacquaniti.
«We must not exaggerate, the mileage must increase gradually – analyses the sport director of the UAE ADQ Team – but up to a certain point. The UCI is trying to push hard on certain aspects to help women's cycling grow, but it shouldn't rush things. The level has risen but not all girls have the right competitiveness to compete in the WorldTour.
The average should be around 130-140 kilometers; there's already enough of that. Think about the Cesena stage of the Giro Donne, which was only 120 kilometers and created incredible gaps. That said, I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing to want to increase the gaps in the women's race. The schedule is increasingly intense and tight. It's becoming difficult to manage with teams of fourteen athletes and limited staff, even though we're growing in that regard.».
Typical tactical situation. Photo from the same spot: the four-man breakaway... And behind the elongated group that chases
Typical tactical situation. Photo from the same spot: the four-man breakaway... And behind the elongated group that chases
Tactics that change
"There has also been an evolution on a tactical level," Arzeni continues, "where breakaways can play an important role, as happens in men's cycling. Although there are some special cases. For example, in the sixth stage of the Tour Femmes There were about fifteen athletes from fifteen different teams out. That breakaway would probably have happened in men's cycling, but not here. They were filmed even though the biggest teams had their own girlfriends. We at Valcar weren't in that breakaway and helped close the gap, but I won't deny that it was a strange stage."
The leveling up has led to many teams having more solutions for each stage.
«Once there was Boels-Dolmans (the current one SD Worx, ed.) which dominated in all the races – concludes Lacquaniti – while now there are more teams that can compete. When you arrive in a sprint now you can count at least eight trains pulling to close the gap on the breakaway for their sprinters».
"Both at the Giro and the Tour, we saw the leaders have decent advantages, but they were kept under control by the peloton. And when they decide to close the gap, they do so. I also think that now we find teams that finish the season with at least fifteen victories. I think this uniformity of level is a good thing."
