tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post700530281586186301..comments2024-03-28T11:56:48.304-04:00Comments on The Retrogrouch: The First American to Win the Tour de FranceBrookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110998345857993287noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-91902837595481027992018-07-13T18:01:35.356-04:002018-07-13T18:01:35.356-04:00Great article! This is the best bike trivia questi...Great article! This is the best bike trivia question, who was the first American to win a Tour de France stage, and the first American to win the Tour de France. Guaranteed to spark a hot discussion, and maybe win you a beer!Thomas David Kehoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17844083013557414742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-40662313687559191542016-09-20T02:26:14.998-04:002016-09-20T02:26:14.998-04:00They could, but most of the women would be disqual...They could, but most of the women would be disqualified because they would not make the time cut. On average, women are 4-5kph slower than men over shorter distances. The difference is bigger on time trials.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00518909092982637229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-71991026073940482742016-09-19T14:10:07.836-04:002016-09-19T14:10:07.836-04:00Can't the UCI just remove the restriction on w...Can't the UCI just remove the restriction on women not competing in the race? Let men and women start and finish in the same race. The same should go for professional football, baseball, basketball, soccer, etc. Bathrooms can't discriminate in some people's minds - just let the player's abilities discriminate between the winners and losers.Pawl Bearerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06728224685136703633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-23357927491774532512016-09-17T10:48:09.368-04:002016-09-17T10:48:09.368-04:00I'll have to check it out - thanks!I'll have to check it out - thanks!Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12110998345857993287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-50879222306588282632016-09-17T10:01:56.131-04:002016-09-17T10:01:56.131-04:00"Half the Road "by Bertine, a documentar..."Half the Road "by Bertine, a documentary on the ladies of the peleton , reccommended!ofoabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02145180145442539127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-35116458933455732572016-09-16T17:54:33.968-04:002016-09-16T17:54:33.968-04:00I think an indepth sexism in cycling would be a gr...I think an indepth sexism in cycling would be a great followup to this article.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07237808652720717219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-55303727429745791982016-09-16T00:10:32.207-04:002016-09-16T00:10:32.207-04:00""I like women, but I prefer to see them...""I like women, but I prefer to see them doing something else." I wonder if Marianne Martin made Laurent Fignon eat those words?"<br />I doubt it. He probably could have rode her out of his wheel...we are talking about one of the best rider of his generation. At a time when the gap between women and men in cycling was even bigger than today. And you imply that his sentence was sexist, when he just said that he didnt care for it.<br /><br />Look, there is a simple reason why la grande boucle femininE (you forgot the last E) folded: money. Women could not bring enough money in for it to be profitable.<br /><br />The uci sanction, but do not organize races. Promoters do. I have a friend who is one and lost money on every women's race he organized. Every single one. And got flak about it because the prize money for women was lower. He tried to give the same prize money to women,but did not see more women coming to race (and pay their fee) nor he had more sponsors. In the end, he just dropped them altogether. Less grief, no more financial losses.<br /><br />And he organize small criterium type races. For a tour de france, the logistics a far far more costly. Then you have to block roads, wich some mayors do not want since the women's tour do not bring the same publicity to their town/region than the men's version do, but anger people who dont care for cyclism the same.<br /><br />On a personal level, i rarely watch women's cycling. Why? Because i have limited time to watch sports and i want to watch the bests there is. And thats the men.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong: i am all for women competing. Thats their right, and if it motivate young girls to become cyclists its a huge win. But professional sports is a business. Entertainement business. And sexual dimorphism make men better at it. The same way it make women better at gymnastics...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00518909092982637229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-3196743223214466692016-09-15T20:25:57.152-04:002016-09-15T20:25:57.152-04:00I think there were two reasons why we heard so lit...I think there were two reasons why we heard so little about Marianne Martin's victory:<br /><br />1. Women's racing was considered a second-class sport, at best, and a sideshow, at worst, in most of the world. Fignon's comment is evidence of that.<br /><br />2. To the extent that Americans paid attention to racing in the early '80's, they were watching the Olympics and races like the Coors Classic because, well, those are the races where American men made their mark. <br /><br />Brooks, I am so glad that you write about women in racing. We can't let this part of cycling history--forget about that, this part of history--be lost!Justine Valinottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852069587181432102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-65548257307678830582016-09-15T14:18:15.870-04:002016-09-15T14:18:15.870-04:00Sexism indeed. i witnessed it at local races in th...Sexism indeed. i witnessed it at local races in the '70s and 80's from the State rep on down. Some women were eventually allowed race "with the boys" but only in cat 3 or 4 races. i was at a race where Debbie Bradley -working in a breakaway of 3 or 4- lapped the field in a men's cat 3 crit, and IIRC, finished on the podium, much to the chagrin of some of "the guys." There were fewer female racers, but the talent pool was pretty deep and most could hold their own in any peloton.mike w.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10317710564489321690noreply@blogger.com