Men vs Women in cycling

[Deleted member 35268]

Where I work, in a large open plan "studio", there's a great debate going on about prize money in sport, such as Tennis (where it is equal) and cycling (where it is not).

Then, the great debate started to steer towards the physical abilities and differences of men and women in cycling. I didn't really like much of what was being said, such as, the womens' races are generally shorter and cover less climbs, and apparently "women can't build up the same muscle tone as men" and other cliche comments.

Now, I am a dude, (last time I checked anyhow), and I am probably being a bit silly, but I just don't like all this women are inferior crap that I have just had to listen to.

Personally, I like watching the womens' pro cycling, it's getting alot more airplay this year for sure. And what I do know is that many of the female pro-cyclists are self funded, often with full time careers, and spend years building up there careers for not much reward (in terms of prize money)

So please, someone help me shut up these ignoramuses

 

[BrumJim]

Iron man Triathlon. I understand that this involves the same distances for men and women.

 

[Hont]

Well it is true that women's races are shorter and it is true that in general terms women are not as strong (and therefore as fast on a bike) as men. That doesn't alter the fact Marianne Vos would drop most of us non-pro men whilst holding her breath, and it certainly doesn't have an impact on the entertainment value of the sport itself. And that is what determines how much anyone gets paid: how many people want to watch it in preference to some other sport or doing some other activity. Women's cycling needs to find a way to attract bigger audiences before the pay will be equal unfortunately.

 

[Beebo]

And that is what determines how much anyone gets paid: how many people want to watch it in preference to some other sport or doing some other activity.

This is the crux of the matter.
Who decided that tennis players can be millionaires yet badminton players can't?
Who decided that boxers should earn millions yet judo struggles to make money?
Why do female fashion models get paid more than male fashion models?
Everything revolves around money, and a commercial value.

 

[jarlrmai]

The problem is somewhat chicken and egg, due to a lack of interest/cash women's races are too short and there's not enough riders which means that there's not enough tactical variety which would allow different styles and rider types to come through which means that the best women's rider (Vos) is the generally best at all events so the lack of competition and interesting riding means there's not the interest to expand the sport which would make it more interesting.

 

[Hont]

I can only think that women's races need to tie in more closely with the men's. That's how women's tennis and athletics came to have much the same status as the men's - because they're basically at the same event. Of course it's not as simple to do in cycling because of the nature of the 'arena', which is much the same problem as women's golf has (arguably the sport with the narrowest gender gap).

Track cycling does not have this problem and I'm pretty sure I didn't see anyone leaving the Olympic Velodrome when the women came out on the track.

 

[oldroadman]

I can only think that women's races need to tie in more closely with the men's. That's how women's tennis and athletics came to have much the same status as the men's - because they're basically at the same event. Of course it's not as simple to do in cycling because of the nature of the 'arena', which is much the same problem as women's golf has (arguably the sport with the narrowest gender gap).

Track cycling does not have this problem and I'm pretty sure I didn't see anyone leaving the Olympic Velodrome when the women came out on the track.

Interesting. Would you rather watch a fast and tactical women's race or have them ride 220km where nothing much happens for the first 180km because everyone is thinking of the final and being able to handle the stamina requirements? Pro racing can be very dull at times, settling down to a predictable pattern once an acceptable break has gone and then the careful timing by the sprinters teams to get them back. Which does not always work. Exactly what happened in the last stage of the Women's Tour, Vos's team mates rode the break down to deliver her for a sprint win. It was just shorter!
Tennis is a strange one, the women's matches are shorter but money is equal, although is duration the sole reason for not having equality? Same way as triathlon insists on equal money and equal distances, but then you get a field of 60+ elite men racing for the same money as 20 or so women. You wonder who has the best deal there, and usually they only pay 6 places anyway, big bucks at the top end, nothing for anyone lower down. At least bike racing has that bit right, spreading the jam down a bit.

 

[Hont]

I was referring to holding the events at the same location and around the same time rather than doing the exact same races - in order to try and attract the existing cycling audience. The Tour of Flanders is a good current example.

re. Tennis. Men only play more sets than women in the grand slams. In all other tour events men play the best of three sets. And it's a bit of a red herring anyway because the women have their own tour and the men have theirs, often with differing prize funds. For example last week's Eastbourne Tournament carried more prize money for the women because it is a higher ranked event than for the men. So, outside of the bigger tournaments, saying that female tennis players earn the same as the men is not strictly true, doubly so when considering that most of the earnings for the top players don't come from prize money anyway. The equal prize tariff at the big tournaments was more of a PC move than anything else.

 

[Smokin Joe]

The simple answer for true equality is to have men and women ride the same events. There is no legal bar against that - indeed they do at a lower level than pro or elite - but the reason no woman has yet competed in a men's pro race is because there hasn't been one capable of doing it.

 

[Geoff Crowther]

I really know nowt about this stuff ... but I will chuck two words into the discussion:
Beryl Burton

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I can only think that women's races need to tie in more closely with the men's. That's how women's tennis and athletics came to have much the same status as the men's - because they're basically at the same event. Of course it's not as simple to do in cycling because of the nature of the 'arena', which is much the same problem as women's golf has (arguably the sport with the narrowest gender gap).

This is pretty much what several of us proposed last time we had this discussion (the thread is still around here somewhere).