UCI Women's Elite Calendar 2011

[Flying_Monkey]

I think last year, Carla Ryan had won the final stage of the Tour de l’Ardeche after a long solo breakaway. The former Australian time trial champion escaped at the second attempt, after just 10km, and rode to the finish alone. It was an exciting win but, I think this will not happen again, there will be a tough competition this time.

You didn't 'think' this. You just cut 'n' pasted most of that irrelevant post from Velonation. What do you 'think' you are doing?

 

[Cinq]

LOL. Busted

 

[oldroadman]

Oldroadman, we have had some excellent debates on this topic on this forum in the past. You have written this appearing to be ignorant of the current situation or those debates. Let me try and sum up in 1 paragraph. If others can do better please dump my attempt. I am confident it can be bettered.

Society does not now accept women are 2nd class citizens. Sport hails from an earlier era and therefore is male dominated and reporting is male centric. Cycling is one of the most reactionary of sports. Those in power - all male, commited to preserving the status quo. Men - strong good, women - token gesture, e.g. mens 1000m TT, girlies can do a 500m version. Women's scene has grown organically for 30/40 years, new races being added each year. Last 4/5 years has been all decline. Reasons - e.g. organiser of the biggest race ever on the calender - Tour de France Fem which was 2 weeks, with Paris finish, now totally dead, I paraphrase him - the press not covering the race and thus sponsors do not get a bang for their buck, the governing bodies - putting obstacle after obstacle in the way in an manner they don't do for the men. We did everything they asked and still they did not give us a proper slice of the cake, year after year. I and my team have had enough, forehead left too much blood on the brick wall.

It aint going to get itself better. Establishment and bigoted supporters of the status quo, wheel out unfounded cliches to justify status quo - girls are rubbish, can only do short races, boring to watch, no sponsor interest, no TV interest, podium girls look better, no public interest etc, etc.

I am not going to put up the counters to the above, someone else can do that, if they have to.

What skip is suggesting is the business and the only option. Organic growth failed.

If the legislation came in and a Protour team was to pull out because they could not support the small funding necessary to support a women's team I would be delighted that we had worked out to put the principles of running a fair society as prime. I would put the ideals I attempt to hold about being a fair citizen well beyond my need to see a full men's peloton.

Oh dear, some raw nerves about since I've been away...

Where is it suggested that there are any 2nd class citizens due to gender? Nowhere. Quite a lot of us equal people are married to one and there's plenty of equality in that relationship - or at least there is in mine. She and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ideals are fine, and in an ideal world you are right. The world is not ideal, and I would love you to have had to explain to some of my old team mates who were out of a job which supported their family, just why it was more important that their team had to fold because they couldn't operate within their own business plan, due to a newly imposed requirement they simply could not support financially, Remember it's not just riders but support staff too, so let's say 60+ unemployed because of your principles? Hmmm.....

In this hard old commercial world of professional sport, team organisations will choose to move into women's racing for good sound business reasons, when the sponsors demand it. Which suggests that pressure on funding sponsors is the way to go, because if a good enough case is made then they will demand it of the team management organisations.

 

[Skip Madness]

Ideals are fine, and in an ideal world you are right. The world is not ideal, and I would love you to have had to explain to some of my old team mates who were out of a job which supported their family, just why it was more important that their team had to fold because they couldn't operate within their own business plan, due to a newly imposed requirement they simply could not support financially, Remember it's not just riders but support staff too, so let's say 60+ unemployed because of your principles? Hmmm.....

If Garmin/Cervélo can do it, if HTC can do it, if Topsport Vlaanderen can do it, if Geox and Skil Shimano can do it next year, then I'd suggest that any ProTour team unable to do it is running a poor business model.

In this hard old commercial world of professional sport, team organisations will choose to move into women's racing for good sound business reasons, when the sponsors demand it. Which suggests that pressure on funding sponsors is the way to go, because if a good enough case is made then they will demand it of the team management organisations.

The sponsors won't demand it if they don't see well-publicised events. That's why in conjunction with making ProTour teams set aside a small proportion of their budgets for women's teams, so ProTour race organisers (one-day races at the very least) should be required to run women's events, which will garner a media presence more easily than stand-alone women's one-day races do, and why the UCI should be prepared to offer a financial jump-start to TV networks considering women's cycling. As resal has pointed out, the hands-off approach isn't working and it is up to the UCI to work in a co-ordinated capacity to force change where just asking and hoping for it has failed.

 

[resal]

In this hard old commercial world .

If that was all there was to it, good solid hard work and commitment would solve it. Sad fact - it isn't. It is a rigged, monopoly market, which is an entirely different thing. And just like every monopoly throughout the ages, those running it know it and will not willingly change.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

If that was all there was to it, good solid hard work and commitment would solve it. Sad fact - it isn't. It is a rigged, monopoly market, which is an entirely different thing. And just like every monopoly throughout the ages, those running it know it and will not willingly change.

Exactly. The same 'in the real world, people will lose their jobs' argument has been used to defend every prejudice that ever existed. It is an indefensible situation which needs strategy, leadership and investment from the top to solve it.