The women’s road race is this Sunday and promises a duel between Belgium and the Netherlands but plenty of other riders will fancy their chances, especially after Anna Kiesenhofer’s surprise win the last time.
The Course
157km and 1,700m of vertical gain. It’s out to Versailles but before the famous palace, a left turn and straight to the Chevreuse valley to pick up much of the same course as the men but skipping the climbs of Senlisse and Herbouvilliers on the run back to Paris.
Then it’s three laps of the by-now familiar 18km Paris circuit with the Butte Montmartre as the obvious climb with the narrow road and cobbles but the other boulevard ramps and drags along the way.
The Finish: after the third time up the Montmartre climb a left turn and then back down past the Louvre to the banks of the Seine and a run alongside the river to the Eiffel tower where there’s the right turn for the finish on the Pont d’Iena by the Trocadéro.
The Contenders
Having picked the world champion for the men’s race, Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) is the obvious pick here too because the course suits. She’ll be much more wary of a sprint from a group given the rivalry and having written up a duel above between Belgium and the Netherlands it’s Kopecky vs. the Dutch which makes it much harder for here.
The sprint scenario winner is Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) but being there for the final right turn is a tough ask. Not Inly if she can get over the climbs but so many rival teams will base a part of their tactics to avoid a sprint against her. Team mate Demi Vollering is their card to play on the climbs and there’s also Marianne Vos too.
The Italian team can play similar tactics with Elisa Longo Borghini for the attacks and Elisa Balsamo in condition for the sprint.
Home hopes find in-form Juliette Labous (France) but she’d want more climbing and if the team can play the sprint card with Victoire Berteau they’d surely sign now for a bronze given the competition.
Australia’s Grace Brown stormed the time trial and she can and does win road races too so has to be a contender with Ruby Roseman-Gannon able to play off this too.
Denmark have similar options with Emma Norsgaard for a sprint and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig for an attack but form this season makes then a harder pick.
The British team can cover and make more moves with TT medalist Anna Henderson , Lizzie Deignan and Pfeiffer Georgi.
Arlenis Sierra (Cuba) is an outside chance for the sprint. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland) is a rare winner but can hope to pick her moment so can Alison Jackson (Canada).
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Lotte Kopecky |
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Vollering, Longo Borghini, Vos, Wiebes |
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Niewiadoma, Brown, Balsamo, Georgi |
Weather: cloudy and 24°C.
TV: KM0 is at 2.10pm CEST and the finish is forecast for 6.00pm. The race returns to Paris around 4.30pm.
I think Kopecky and team will be super motivated after witnessing Belgium’s standout performance to dethrone Van der Poel from his rainbowed pre-race favouritism. Benoot had a great ride in support although Ellen van Dijk will want to atone for her under par time trial too. Can’t disagree with the favourites selected although Vos could profit from from Kopecky/Wiebes/Vollering shenanigans. I’ll pick ELB with Kiwi Kim Cadzow the outside medal chance.
I think Pfeiffer Georgi is a good shout, maybe to win from a break.
Wow! Don’t give Kristen a gap.
Wow, that was an epic ride for Kristen Faulkner! I really thought Vos and Vas would manage to stay away, and as she got closer I was wondering if Kopecky was being handed the race by getting a limo ride to the front (yes, I know she did some pulls, but she had no chance till Faulkner went into beast mode and was clearly doing as little as possible). The commentators did a good job of laying out what to expect, and I’m sure Vos, Vas, and Kopecky all knew it, too, but seeing Faulkner ride away while the three exhausted superstars looked at each other was every bit as impressive to me as Remco’s ride yesterday. And far more exciting.
Also, young Remco could learn a thing or two from Kristen on how to win a big bike race with class.
Whether or not it was “classy” is purely subjective of course, but I for one found Remco’s celebration to be as masterful as his ride. The course provided him with a ridiculously iconic stage and he put on a show to match. The fact that he took a beat between his hands up “serious” celebration and the humorous hanging-up-the-phone celebration was just… perfection, and was so full of personality and power that people outside of the typical fandom took note. In my twenty+ years of following this sport I don’t think I’ve seen a better finish line moment (maybe Sagan’s extended celebration at the 2015 WC). (Another parenthetical someone needs to do an edit of Cavendish’s answering-the-phone celebration with Remco hanging it up).
And there was no one else in the shot! I wish more races would pull the cars out earlier and leave the finish line to cyclists. Watching the tour it feels like the red car always dominates the shot. Chapeau to Faulkner but when she finished I thought, does she know she finished? Does she know she won??
Two very entertaining road races, especially after they hit the circuit. The absence of radios and precise knowledge of the gaps was evident in both Remco’s panic when he needed a bike change and Kristen’s head-down power over the line.
I think Kristen was maxed out and didn’t even want to look behind in case that would cost her the split second that would lose it to an onrushing Kopecky. She wasn’t to know that there was a tactical stalemate between the favorites.
I had no problems with Remco’s celebration. An iconic image of a charismatic racer with just the right amount of arrogance.
Remco’s celebrations always seem a bit bitter to me. Does he get criticized constantly in the Belgian press and is responding to that. There’s always a feeling of non-spontaneous “I showed them”ness in his finish line demonstrations. I think it may come off less classy but maybe he’s just responding to something even less classy he saw on Sporza?
@Cd – Yes! That’s a key thing that bugs me about Remco’s celebrations. He’s still quite young, and he’s been treated like cycling royalty for several years now, but he seems to have a chip on his shoulder. It’s as if the world has wronged him and now he’s getting his comeuppance.
Sagan’s big celebrations seemed to be expressions of joy. He clearly loved playing up to his many fans. Remco’s celebrations look more like “Haha, losers, I showed you!” Which might be cool if he really were an underdog, but he was one of the two big favorites.
If you listened to Faulkner’s post race interview, she actually went into the race believing she had a chance to win, and she had a specific plan which she’d practiced a couple of times this year and which she executed perfectly. I think she was letting the reality sink in as she powered to the line, and not worrying about iconic finish line photos. I loved that she almost kept riding right into the photographers, even though they were well back from the line (actually, I wonder if the fact that the photogs were so far back that she wasn’t 100% sure that the line wasn’t closer to them).
There’s a famous story in American football about a coach telling a running back who’d just scored a touchdown, and then engaged in some theatrics in the end zone, “Next time you score, act like you’ve been there before.”
@cd & KevinK
Perhaps Remco is simply… right.
The Sagan comparison is very significant. Sagan was also a shining pure talent and he also received an (un)fair amount of attacks by critics back then because of his victory antics. With hindsight, we can all agree that Sagan was great for cycling and his expression of pure joy was welcome in an environment way too prone to other narratives, even more so as the days of surprise, discovery and being allowed a certain degree of racing freedom – in every sense – wouldn’t last forever.
I don’t like as much Remco’s attitude, which looks indeed more obscure and aggressive, in a sense.
Yet, he sure constantly need to prove a point, no doubt, because apparently some people actually struggle to perceive the sheer greatness of what he’s doing – at 24. Most of it unprecedented. And against one of the most qualified opposition, well, in history.
Sagan, also an early talent, was several steps below… but he was more than legitimate to celebrate his brilliant stage winning (note that his greatest feat at Remco’s age had probably been his first Gent-Wevelgem). Imagine when you’re really making history.
BTW Women races in contemporary cycling are often more exciting than men’s, but yesterday was far from a clear-cut case in that sense, quite the other way around, I’d say. But that’s very personal.
“… Sagan was great for cycling and his expression of pure joy was welcome in an environment way too prone to other narratives…”
Absolutely. I think Remco still gets a lot of negative press for a few interviews he gave when he was much younger and much less media savvy. These days he seems a little more measured, which is probably a good thing. As far as celebrations go, as long as it’s not the omertà “Shhhh,” I say go for it. The world can be such a dour place sometimes, so surely we should take joy and happiness where we can.
Regarding Faulkner, she really did put in a masterclass of a ride. Strategically, she didn’t put a foot wrong the whole race. I’m really looking forward to the TDF Femmes. It should be a barn burner.
Two great races, and two great finishes. Kristen was incredibly strong, as was Remco obviously. Felt like Remco earned that celebration too.
Similar winners: one a TT, the other a team pursuit specialist.
Faulkner is a road racer by default
Huh? She was a rower at university and then began road racing. Later picked up track.
Hats off to the two ladies from Afghanistan for going in the break and not being content with just being in the race.
Both Remco and Kristen’s races were interesting and enjoyable to watch.
US tactics were perfect, have Chloe take out 3/4 of the field with a pinch point crash and
then Faulkner has only a few to deal with.
lame.
Perhaps so. But quite funny, too – unless, of course, you are convinced the only motive for such a quip can be a desire to besmirch Faulkner´s Olympic win.
4761 Lamy, it’s a joke Kristen was clearly the strongest and won on her strength and ability. Not contested she rode away from some of the best women in the pro peloton.
Road race and team pursuit gold. Wow. Simply wow.
I have to admit that I don’t follow track cycling very closely, so I just assumed that New Zealand or Great Britain would win it. Dygert is an engine, though, so I don’t know why I was surprised. I just wish US Cycling put even half the resources into supporting road racing as they do for track. And no, criteriums don’t count as “road racing.” There should be institutional support (at least at an organizational level) that puts things like the Tour of Utah and the Tour of California back on the calendar.
Road racing is in its death throes in the US. Gravel is partly to blame.
Gravel may be partly to blame, but money is probably the more likely issue. My town used to host the Tour of California nearly every year, but one year they had to cancel the 4th of July fireworks because budget was spent on ToC, which was not popular. We never hosted the ToC again after that, and when the race did pass by it skirted the edge of town as much as possible to minimize local resources. I also got the sense that Highway Patrol was using it as a way to rack up some sweet overtime pay.
You may right about the bad state when it comes to road races in the US, but don’t act like track is very founded, as you say, you don’t follow track closely.
The US of A has just 6 athletes competing on track, 5 women which are the Pursuit Madison and Omnium team, that’s all. 2 of these women also did the road races.
And one lonely male starter, who comes from gravel.
https://velo.outsideonline.com/olympics/grant-koontz-road-to-paris-olympics-2024-track-cycling-omnium/
Does that look like a very supported sport with lot of resources to you? Not for me. Compare that to other much smaller countries, that’s almost nothing.
Yes, you’re absolutely correct, but at least at the youth and junior level USA Cycling does some work supporting and developing riders on the track. Like any sport, many of these athletes do not continue, but the programs, at least, are there. Unfortunately , like many American sports, the youth programs for road cycling for the most part operate on a “pay to play” model. The cost of a bicycle alone is already an insurmountable barrier for many families. When you add on specialized coaching, etc, it’s easy to see why cycling has trouble making inroads here. There really is no equivalent here to the small Belgian or French club level or Conti teams that identify talent, develop it and pass riders through on the way to becoming professional. There are some high schools and universities with cycling teams, but they are very much in the minority. Road cycling is a small niche inside of a niche. USA Cycling’s support for road cycling is…?
A series of Criteriums.
So, until some bored billionaire decides putting kids on bicycles would be a good way to get a tax deduction, don’t expect to see a lot of new Sepps and Matteos showing up at start lines any time soon.