Yesterday I detailed the trainers and power meters of the Men’s WorldTour teams (plus a few odds and ends), as seen at the Tour de France. While I generally do that yearly, I also try and profile the women if I’m at an equivalent event – for example at the Tour Down Under, but technically in terms of the women’s races – that wasn’t technically a WorldTour event, so the classification and associated teams/equipment/etc tends to be a bit lower.
But the Giro Rosa last week is a legit WorldTour event (though not an ASO event like the Tour de France), and generally considered one of (if not the) premier Women’s cycling stage events out there. Of course, today was also La Course – which is a one-day event that ASO puts on in an attempt to pacify critics that say it’s ignoring women’s cycling. Unfortunately, La Course falls far short of that goal, and ASO’s own stated goals a few short years ago for a multi-day stage race. Nobody is realistically asking for a 21-day TdF-like stage race (yet) for the women, but five days or so is very doable with the same attention as the men. But more on that in a moment.
First, we need to start with the sponsors, which in turn highlight the gear – or rather, the inequalities in it. Just like men’s WorldTour cycling, everything revolves around sponsors. And to some degree, it kinda should. After all, this is a professional sporting event, and ultimately a business. The purpose of almost any business is to make money. And as such, there’s an implied goal for that entire chain (from rider to team to sponsor to race organizer) to ensure that the sport is sustainable. Be it a men’s or women’s sport, if it’s not financially sustainable then it’s not healthy as a professional sports league.
On the flip-side, just like startups in Silicon Valley – there’s often a period of non-profitability that must be endured to bridge the gap between initial operating years of a business to eventual profitability. As long as a product (read: event) shows consumer interest and a path to profitability – then it should be pursued as a business venture. And despite ASO’s attempts to squander La Course, it actually has shown extremely strong interest from viewership and the general public.
But again, we’re getting distracted. Let’s talk trainers before I explain why everything quickly falls apart.
Actually, wait – one more distraction. If you want a feel for the flavor of the Giro Rosa beyond just all this technical stuff – watch GPLAMA’s short 4-minute video recap of the stage:
It helps set the stage for things a bit.
The Trainers:
I’ll be honest – as we drove up the road into the Italian Alps to check out the Giro Rosa time trial stage last week, I was already mentally ready to start filing off e-mails to PR leads at Tacx and Elite if I saw sub-par equipage of trainers of the Tacx & Elite sponsored women’s teams. Meaning, in the case of Tacx for example having equipped their men’s team’s with top of the line NEO’s, but perhaps only giving the women lesser trainers. Or Elite doing the same.
But…I was pleasantly surprised to the contrary for the most part.
Both Tacx and Elite teams largely had their top end trainers available and onsite with their women’s teams. Albeit with some logical conditions. Some teams it turned out actually preferred some of the lower end, but far lighter and easier to manage, trainers. And this makes sense. With a Tacx NEO approaching 50lbs (~23KG), they’re a beast to manage with 6-8 of them. And unlike the WorldTour men’s teams with usually one if not two giant high end team busses, only a handful of women’s teams have equal sized buses (and only one). Most are rollin’ in a combination of small loaned RV’s or just the equivalent of airport shuttle vans.
So what were the teams using? Let’s dive into it all:
[*Indicates team sponsored by that trainer company. For teams marked N/A, they were hiding somewhere in town not with the rest of the teams.]
Now, a couple of things to note – just because a team was using Tacx or Elite trainers doesn’t mean they were sponsored by them. It’s just that Tacx and Elite generally offer the best budget options in Europe, so teams often have those around. So above I’ve highlighted which teams are actually sponsored by Tacx and Elite so you can see the differences there. The CycleOps-sponsored team is also noted as well, as was BKool. There was/is no Wahoo-sponsored women’s WorldTour team, though Wahoo does sponsor numerous other individual female pro athletes.
Also of note is that like the Tour de France, there are teams above that technically aren’t ‘WorldTour’ teams, but rather local continental teams invited by the race organizer. There are generally 3-5 of them these days, and it’s true whether it’s the Tour de France, Tour Down Under, or Giro Rosa (or even Giro). Often these teams are from the host country. The point being, it’s like comparing a ‘minor league’ team to a ‘major league’ team. They race the same race, but they simply don’t have the sponsorship level as a WorldTour team.
For example, one continental team had these trainers outside their vehicle:
Which, no matter how low down the totem pole a Tour de France team is – you’ll never see this. In talking to Elite, they believe these units are about 20 years old. For realz. Note, this team wasn’t sponsored by Elite.
From an Elite standpoint, virtually all of their teams were using the Qubo or SuperMag’s. In talking with Elite, that’s due to preference of those teams for the lighter/easier to pack trainers.
It should be noted that this event occurred five days prior to the announcement of the Elite Suito trainer. Elite noted that it’s super likely they’ll standardize most of the teams on the Elite Suito (both men’s and women’s) going into next year since it’s compact/lightweight, and doesn’t require power. Mitchelton-Scott was using the larger Elite Direto’s however.
Though, there was one Elite sponsored team – Top Girls Fassa Bortolo that was clearly riding some pretty old gear:
On the flip-side, we’ve got the super-well equipped Team BOELS DOLMANS CYCLING TEAM, sponsored by Tacx – with a fleet of 12-speed capable Tacx NEO’s and some rollers chillin’ in the back.
Next, there’s CycleOps. They sponsor TREK – SEGAFREDO WE, and were rockin’ full on CycleOps Hammer trainers, which do require power. Though, the Trek team bus had no issues dealing with that.
Unfortunately, I can’t say anything more about that – other than to note it was indeed there. Perhaps we’ll hear more details on it in an official capacity down the road. But props to CycleOps for going above and beyond and actually having their women’s team highlight something unannounced that their men’s team didn’t.
Additionally, it’s notable there was a Bkool sponsored team here, team BIZKAIA – DURANGO:
They were using BKool Smart Pro 2 trainers. One interesting tidbit I noticed is that the yellow surface looked pretty rough on these in person (the slight blow-outs of the highlights helps hide it in photos). Something trainer companies probably want to consider in terms of materials/etc when pro teams are using their products.
Finally, here’s a bit of a gallery of many of the women’s teams on various trainers:
One thing you will notice a bunch (and a trend I’ve seen at other women’s races but rarely at men’s WorldTour races) is the apparent preference by a number of riders to warm-up on rollers. Almost all teams had one set nearby. Now whether that was due to issues with thru-axle compatibility on older trainers, I’m not sure – but I thought it was interesting.
The Power Meters:
I’m just going to come out and note it upfront: This part is a mess.
Not because of my attempt at cataloging it, but because only a couple teams actually had the entire team on a single power meter brand. Heck, there were some teams that were sponsored by one brand (4iiii), but only one single bike with a unit on it. And yes, we even searched both their available road and time trial bikes. Just one bike appeared equipped.
And lest you think all women had power meters? Nope. Many did not. Unlike the men where virtually every rider in the pro peloton has a power meter on their bike, there were countless women without them. Figuring out sponsored teams? Impossible. It seemed like many just had stickers on the vehicles from half a decade prior.
So instead, here’s just a very rough inventory of what I saw. I’m using the term ‘Random Blend’ to indicate exactly that – a garden variety where each rider was BYOPM (Bring Your Own Power Meter), which is actually a very real reality of women’s pro racing. They might have individual sponsors, but very few were completely equipped:
ALE CIPOLLINI: 4iiii Sponsored, but only single TT bike on 4iiii
AROMITALIA – BASSO BIKES – VAIANO: N/A
BEPINK: Random Blend (notably a single Garmin vector 3 user)
BIGLA: ROTOR 2INPower
BIZKAIA – DURANGO: Random blend
BOELS DOLMANS CYCLING TEAM: Quarq/SRAM Sponsored (RED eTAP AXS)
BTC CITY LJUBLJANA: Some Power2Max
CANYON//SRAM RACING: Quarq/SRAM (RED eTAP AXS)
CCC-LIV: Quarq/SRAM (RED eTAP AXS)
COGEAS METTLER PRO CYCLING TEAM: No power meters seen
CONCERIA ZABRI – FANINI: N/A
EUROTARGET BIANCHI VITTORIA: N/A
FDJ NOUVELLE AQUITAINE FUTUROSCOPE: Shimano Power Meters
LOTTO SOUDAL LADIES: Random Blend
MITCHELTON SCOTT: N/A
MOVISTAR TEAM WOMEN: Some Power2Max, most not
PARKHOTEL VALKENBURG: N/A
SERVETTO – PIUMATE – BELTRAMI TSA: Random Blend
TEAM SUNWEB: Some Shimano Power meters
TEAM VIRTU CYCLING: SRM Power Meters
TOP GIRLS FASSA BORTOLO: Random Blend
TREK – SEGAFREDO WE: Quarq/SRAM
VALCAR CYLANCE CYCLING TEAM: FSA PowerBox (mostly)
WNT ROTOR PRO CYCLING TEAM: ROTOR 2INPower
[For teams marked N/A, they were hiding somewhere in town not with the rest of the teams.]
Here’s a gallery of some of the power meters, though again, only a handful of teams were equipped across the board with all riders on the same units (or even brands).
For lack of anywhere else to put it – I roughly tried to keep track of mounts and head units. Overwhelmingly Garmin head units, with a few SRM’s and a what appeared to be one team on Wahoo BOLT’s (WNT-ROTOR Pro Cycling Team).
The variety of Garmin head units though was mostly all over the map, with athletes rockin’ head units spanning back nearly a decade. In one case, one rider from BIZKAIA-DURANGO was actually racing with this Edge 520:
Yup, she was using it as-is to pace her time trial that day. Impressive. Perhaps Garmin Italy will get her all hooked up with a repair. Speaking of which, Garmin does sponsor 11 WorldTour pro cycling teams, though only three of those are women’s teams – Trek-Segafredo, Movistar, Rally UHC. Each of these teams basically get a care package of Edge 130/520 Plus/1030 units, plus Varia Radar. Also, teams get Forerunner 935 and Fenix 5 Plus watches, as well as scales. Note that the sponsorships were announced earlier in the year prior to the Edge 530/830/FR945 coming out, so it’s probable teams have received newer units since then (and in fact I remember one team tweeting out a pic of all their new units at some point back this past spring). Further note that while Garmin owns Tacx, those teams are accounted for separately above – which then has a far higher/stronger showing.
Also, completing the randomness side, from a mounts standpoint it was super clear: Either teams were on stock out-front mounts from Garmin, or they were on custom aluminum mounts from K-Edge. This roughly matches what we see on the men’s side.
Still, as you can see – going back to the power meter side of the equation, it’s basically a random lottery of what you’ll find.
Wrap-Up:
So from an equality standpoint, I fully expect that any company that sponsors both a men’s and women’s team should equip those teams equally. Or at least to the degree those teams prefer. And that round seems to be the case for Tacx and Elite, though it’s clear that many women’s teams either don’t prefer the larger trainers from each company, or perhaps aren’t being offered them. I suspect it’s a bit of a blend of both. Both companies said they give basically whatever the teams want. And we see that with some of the larger teams. For example on Mitchelton Scott, both the men and women’s teams are using Elite Direto’s. And on some of the more well funded Tacx teams (which in turn have more space for heavier trainers), they’re both using Tacx NEO’s.
However, from a power meter standpoint, it’s super clear that brands aren’t bothering to sponsor a meaningful number of women’s teams. Certainly for the Quarq/SRAM teams I was super excited to see all the Quarq/SRAM sponsored teams running the latest 12-speed SRAM AXS RED systems. This is in contrast to years past when the women’s sponsors teams didn’t have the top-line stuff at the same time as the men, something I called out at the time (after all, I as a reviewer had it some 6 months prior to that event – as did the men’s teams). But as of this past week, those inequalities have been erased from at least one major sponsor.
Still, there appears to be little appetite from other power meter companies to sponsor women’s teams. Something I always find strange since in the vast majority of cases here, the teams aren’t even asking for additional funds from secondary sponsors – it’s usually just equipment provided free of charge.
Ultimately though – change has to occur from the top-down. In talking with former pro cyclist Kathryn Bertine during my time at the Giro Rosa, she noted that while events like La Course were a step, they were far from ideal. Take the Giro Rosa for example – even its calendar placement dooms it to second-fiddle status. It’s during the middle of the Tour de France, with 99.999% of the cycling media world covering The Tour. Some publications like Cycling Tips did extensively cover the Giro Rosa, and GCN to a degree as well, but most aren’t. There’s no live (or recorded) TV coverage of it. Far better placement would be in late June prior to the Tour de France, allowing it much more media attention. Or perhaps the week after The Tour, since at that point many fans will be looking for their daily fix of pro cycling.
The secondary method to start to drive change on some of this front is to the sponsors themselves. During my discussions with Kathryn, she said when they talked to some of the big-name race sponsors (global brands), they weren’t even aware in some cases that there were women’s teams that wanted to race. In some cases the mere point of having that discussion at high levels has helped turn the tide. And then of course, there’s social media pressure too.
Finally, it’s worth noting that unlike the men’s pro tour scene which is behind barricades with huge security teams, the women’s teams are totally accessible to fans. There’s no barricades here in the warm-up zones, nor any rider that would refuse a young child’s autograph request – boy or girl. Seems like a good sport to keep the focus on to me.
With that – thanks for reading!
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Please be careful with your discussion of male/female equality.
There are enough forums for that.
Stick to what we all love and respect about your postings.
If you’re offended by talk of equality, then it sounds like you are part of the problem.
I, like Ray have a young daughter and I can’t stomach the thought of ever having to tell her that she can’t have the same as a boy, just because she is a girl.
It is the responsibility of every decent man out there to make this an important conversation with everyone.
Do you think NOT talking about this, at the technical level Ray is known and respected for, is going to help the sport? I’d hope the majority of readers here, like me, completely disagree and are disappointed this is the first reply to this quality DCR post.
Actually these are great couple of posts. It is always really interesting to hear about what the industry is doing and in this case not doing.
Aside from the issue of equality, which is your choice whether you care about or not, why wouldn’t you be interested in what industry is sponsoring?
It also says a lot about what pros use if they actually have to worry about a budget. Based on the TdF we should all be using Dura-ace power meters, right!
I know a (male fwiw) paracyclist.
Despite racing internationally and having won a medal at the 2016 Paralympics he dreams of giving up his dayjob, being sponsored, having travel costs taken care of and just being a professional athlete. Will never happen.
And guys, believe me, the price tags on these special bikes are insane.
Think it’s not about men vs. women, but about us, the spectators, what we watch and what we don’t watch. That easy, that unfair.
Another great post Ray. Thanks for the effort to get the details and share it.
I would have thought that there was a sleeping giant of women wanting to get into cycling and buy equipment. And hence companies would be all over this and providing equipment to show off. I mean how much does it actually cost a manufacturer to throw a team or two’s worth of trainers and power meters that way.
My wife uses my trainer more than i do. And sadly that’s because of how bad it can be riding on the roads. Whilst a very bad reflection on society that it is so dangerous, it IS a way to sell more trainers to people that feel this way and I would suggest that is currently women.
Oh and as far as I can tell you are sticking to what we love and respect. Keep it up.
Great post, Ray. Thank you! Fascinating to read about the differences between the men’s and women’s teams. The more these inequality issues can be highlighted then hopefully more will be done to fix it. I certainly prefer watching women’s cycling (and not just because I’m a woman) – there is generally much more attacking in the races, resulting in exciting viewing.
Good piece Ray, highlighting that ultimately it’s us taking an interest that force women’s racing onto a bigger stage. Also well done on the neutral reporting that not all teams want the top kit, as it doesn’t always suit.
In this world where its millions to sponsor team ineos, I’m surprised that one of the brands couldn’t sponsor a whole team with a fleet of products. Team wahoo or Garmin would surely spark a young female following?
It seems to me that a female setup on the form of what team sky did for the men’s racing would dominate the women’s tour. Surely there’s a massive gain in just having power meters on a TT bike?
The piece of the giro Rosa even shows that not all women have a TT bike! That’s crazy at the highest level of a sport.
But then again, the professionalism of team sky hasn’t exactly made the sport exciting, with the last two La Course races putting the last 5-8 tours to shame for excitement, so long live female racing, because its exactly that
Thanks Ray for covering what is out there (or not) in the women’s peloton – the same holds for bikes and other gear from my experiences. If every one of us who desire progress in the way women’s racing is supported and executed shine a light on the inequities and discrimination (call it as it is..), things will move in the right direction, I hope.
The move towards more team sponsors supporting both genders (e.g. Mitchelton-Scott, Trek-Segafredo, CCC, Sunweb, Movistar and others) can only help to improve the environment.. Maybe the team management can start to negotiate equipment availability for all riders under their umbrella, even if some of the gear gets shifted along from one squad to the other season by season.
It’s completely up to the owner of the blog (in this case Ray) to post about whatever he wants (in this case also about Women/Man equality). No one has to agree with him or like what he writes and no one has to read it either if he/she doesn‘t like the topic.
Said that, I‘m all about equality, especialy in how certain cultures/religions/ecc. regard women as a lower human being! What I don‘t like is the over-feminism starting in my country. Minimum amount of women in a company‘s board of managers, ecc. Also the equal pay debate… Yes, equal pay for equal work. But unlike women, men have compulsory Military Service here and if they don‘t do their service they pay an annual fee. Women don‘t have that. So, it‘s not all as white and black as some over agressive feminist like to make us think (in my country).
Still, lot to be done, many fences to be mended, mostly in regard to women, but not only.
You have followed the female side for quite some years now. I remember one of the first La Course you reported from in Paris, where the women were put in tiny camping vans, mobile homes etc even if they were from the same Pro Tour teams as the men. Its good to see that there is some kind of progress. As we get more women on bikes, we can only hope that interest for female races will increase and the old school mindset from the “old” governing bodies will change.
That’s what i love about MTB world cups. Red Bull do a tremendous job in equal broadcasting. And to be honest – the womens races are mostly one and a half hour of absolute bombing intensity going full throttle. You can’t even go the bathroom without something important happening while you were away. At any given race there are about a half dozen women who can win, with more right on the heels on a good day. That makes it seriously competitive and fun to watch. i would be seriously sad if Red Bull chose to stop buying the media rights for the MTB scene. That would set MTB back to the ice ages. No other “mediacompany” has the experience of producing that kind of quality productions for that type of competition. It could however be fun to see what they could do if they were to dabble with some roadracing as well – they do some crits and specialty races around the world, but only on non uci sanctioned events.
So the real problem is probably not UCI, but mediacompanies and race organisations (if you build it – they will come). I don’t have any answers as to how we can change things, but hopefully with time they will.
What I find odd is that it’s no secret how large the female cycling market is. Surely any and every company out there should be chasing this low hanging fruit and really getting behind the female teams.
Instead what we mostly seem to have is a half arsed “shrink it and pink it” approach. In the UK at least, almost half of the riders I see out on a Sunday are women – that’s a lot of money being left on the table that pro cycling could address. In fact, you could argue that sponsorship money is being wasted in the saturated mens sport.
Might be nice to highlight womens media content on the weekend posts where it’s available? If you can drive viewers it may kick start some more coverage.
It that Giro clip some rider were riding road bikes and other TT bikes. Was that because the course had a climb or because some teams didn’t have the bikes?
It was an uphill ITT (excl. a flat piece in the beginning). Not sure about the exact average gradient but it wasn’t too steep which explains why some used a TT bike.
Ray, how can all of us who follow your blog help you to shine a light on this, across social media? Not in an offensive in-your-face political way, but more of a highlight of the help these woman’s teams need.
This is absolutely pathetic. So instead of promoting female athletes, promoting and expanding the sport, the bicycling gear makers seem to actively insult them? Hey, Wahoo?! Get on it and give your top of the line gear to the women’s teams since the sales leaders have dominated the men’s teams.
Ray,
Trek in partnership with Voxwomen have ‘TV’ coverage of the Giro Rossa. It’s available as a post-event video online on Trek’s website. Unfortunately there’s only the one video of each stage and I’d love for them to add a 5-15 minute highlight video as well, but I also understand that’s additional editing time = more money, plus more space on their website and bandwidth… Hopefully we get that soon!
It’s nice to see the Giro Rossa having a can-do approach to properly developing women’s sport. They seem to have an actual multi-year plan and may well become the ‘Tour De France’ equivalent of the women’s racing calendar well into the future!
Race on you incredible women!!!
In addition to the Trek Racing recap feed in English, FloBikes also provided Giro Rosa event recaps in Italian. I had a good fix of bike racing with TdF live in the morning and Giro Rosa replays in the evening!
In a bit late to the party, but GCN Racing channel on YouTube was also covering the Giro Rosa with 45min highlights of each stage. I’d image that’s free everywhere in the world which is pretty decent effort at exposure.
Even in so supposedly „equal“ sports there is inequality. Like for example the official dress code for women in Beach Volley… Not the usual sport of this blog, I know. Just to show how deep some things go.
As a father of two girls who love racing, thank you for putting this together. Journalism like this, to shed light on the inequality gaps will make the world a better place for our next generations. Though a bit disappointed in the sponsors inability to better support the women’s side, this a good write-up.
Im all for equalities, as a matter of fact, I think we should not have male/female categories on sports, including Olympics, Championships etc. Let everybody compete with one another, buys and girls, judo, short distance, swimming, gymnastics, gosh, even boxing ! Come on, we need to be all treated equal, it should be the fair thing to do. No privileges.
No kidding- everyone should compete together. You just finish where you finish. I was in a bunch of races with Greg LeMond as a junior.., speak about inequality!!. There should have been a special super-human category for him. Not fair!!
You both clearly have well researched and though-out conclusions. You have made me understand, and you’re correct. Everything is perfect the way it is.
Why are we even talking about their outdated and broken Garmins? Why do they even need them? You probably don’t think they are needed because there is a clock on the oven.
Hot take there. Let’s start with providing the same equipment quality and payouts and see where that takes us. I believe that’s the premise of the article. That’s equality.
Im pretty sure if a girl beats Conor McGregor at a fight, she will take the same pay, perhaps better. Same with a girl that swim faster than Michael Phelps and get 29 gold medals. There is a reason there are categories for boys and girls. Their bodies is just not the same, come on, we cannot deny that!. Maybe the equipment, pay, rules etc are gender-related, but they need to be that way, if you are unsure, imagine a reality without, but not a “convenient reality” (same pay, same rules, same equipment but less risk and performance) Imagine for example, eliminating all the inequalities and seeing what happens when a girl face a 6’5″ 375 pounds nose tackle at a final game. Make a guess who will end in the hospital with a concussion. I dont have daughters, but if I did, I would be happy for many of those “inequalities”, even if they meant less pay. Dont take me wrong, Im all for feminine equality for Astronauts, Doctors, Scientists, President of the country, CEOs, etc (a lot of brain power needed for all of those, and girls many times more qualified than guys). But on Sports are we talking of “give me more money” or “equality” , because equality means “equal on everything” so no, I dont think most of the people, even the “preachers” of the so-called “equality” dream of having a 300+ pounds baby girl playing the super bowl with a lot of guys. So maybe we should be more honest and stop calling this “equality” and start calling it for some other name that would denote more the upsetting reality that boys in Sports make more money and get more attention than girls. Which in a sense would be unfair, because girls make a lot more money on other occupations (modeling, fashion design, ballet, etc) and I dont see boys marching on the streets complaining about it. Actually, If that would happen Im sure girls would mostly laugh about it.
I have two daughters. Both are brilliant, educated, compassionate, hard working people. This is the only field of play where equal pay matters. Equal pay for equal VALUE, that’s what we should be fighting for. Not equal because they ‘deserve’ it.
I have two daughters. Both are brilliant, educated, compassionate, hard working people. This is the only field of play where equal pay matters. Equal pay for equal VALUE, that’s what we should be fighting for. Not equal because they ‘deserve’ it.
Or how about basketball? I think it is ridiculous to suggest that both sexes or even races are all equally good at everything. That is demonstrably not true. However, fairness is equal pay for equal performance. So, two of any profession ought to make the same regardless of sex,race,whatever. But remember that the “value” is not universal. In many places in the world doctors do not get the pay premium that they do in the US. And teachers get relatively higher pay in those very same places. So, “value” is situational. In sports “value” is mostly determined by advertising revenue. If you want women cyclists or whatever to make equal money as men than make them as valuable to the sponsors who are paying the bills. But stuff based on the women athletes using it just like you do for the men. To some extent it is up to us consumers.
The bottom line in cycling is that women are a tiny percentage of the market. The sad fact is that cycling is dangerous for women, especially when riding alone, or at best uncomfortable in many locales. This doesn’t get emphasized In the slick advertising of bicycle companies for obvious reasons. Companies chase the women’s market because it has apparent growth potential. Can’t tell you how many women I know got race bikes, used it a few seasons then quit because they get harassed on the road. Even it’s relatively rare, just the threat of it is enough to push them out of the sport. What we need is a nicer world, but alas…
I have that old Elite trainer (the yellow one pictured for the “minor league teams” at home, albeit the “Performance Bike” edition (red, with a red poly roller, roughly 11 years old maybe). LOL, still works great, with the battery cover electrical taped into place (tab broke) but otherwise going strong. I’d love to have an electronic controlled new unit, but it’s hard to justify spending so much, when the old is still working fine. (Also have a Cyclops Mag+ that the wife uses).
Can we get a crowd funding deal going to get these gals some new gear? Ridiculous. Expand the sport, support the women pros. Garmin, Wahoo, you-hoo??? Support the ladies.
I am all for the fight for equality but I see the the sponsored equipment differences as a result of the entire economic structural difference and not important in itself. Fix the entire system, growing race exposure and cyclists salaries and the sponsors will follow with better equipment.
One suggestion – turn that problem into a marketing asset and do what the men are afraid to do, restrict team equipment to create better economics for the teams. Ban power meters and maybe limit support vehicles, the number of team bikes, and other equipment to what the lower budget teams can afford. This would even the playing field between teams and help all teams stay in business and pay riders. As a marketing angle challenge the men to, well man up and do the same.
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Please be careful with your discussion of male/female equality.
There are enough forums for that.
Stick to what we all love and respect about your postings.
Honestly, if you don’t want to hear about equality in sports, then this probably isn’t the site for you.
If you’re offended by talk of equality, then it sounds like you are part of the problem.
I, like Ray have a young daughter and I can’t stomach the thought of ever having to tell her that she can’t have the same as a boy, just because she is a girl.
It is the responsibility of every decent man out there to make this an important conversation with everyone.
Do you think NOT talking about this, at the technical level Ray is known and respected for, is going to help the sport? I’d hope the majority of readers here, like me, completely disagree and are disappointed this is the first reply to this quality DCR post.
“she can’t have the same as a boy, just because she is a girl”
so tell me my male friend who works as a professional model can’t have / does not get the same (money, support) as Gisele Bündchen?
it’s not about girls vs boys …
Eliminating the inequality inherent to the world should be something we all focus on.
Joey,
Bog off.
Actually these are great couple of posts. It is always really interesting to hear about what the industry is doing and in this case not doing.
Aside from the issue of equality, which is your choice whether you care about or not, why wouldn’t you be interested in what industry is sponsoring?
It also says a lot about what pros use if they actually have to worry about a budget. Based on the TdF we should all be using Dura-ace power meters, right!
I know a (male fwiw) paracyclist.
Despite racing internationally and having won a medal at the 2016 Paralympics he dreams of giving up his dayjob, being sponsored, having travel costs taken care of and just being a professional athlete. Will never happen.
And guys, believe me, the price tags on these special bikes are insane.
Think it’s not about men vs. women, but about us, the spectators, what we watch and what we don’t watch. That easy, that unfair.
WTF!?
are you for real?
Thanks for the post Ray. It’s actually nice to see the difference.
Great post Ray, looking forward to you covering the Women’s Tour De France.
just had to check the calendar, yup, 2019, not 1919 – just shows the fight has to continue – well done Ray – great post
Another great post Ray. Thanks for the effort to get the details and share it.
I would have thought that there was a sleeping giant of women wanting to get into cycling and buy equipment. And hence companies would be all over this and providing equipment to show off. I mean how much does it actually cost a manufacturer to throw a team or two’s worth of trainers and power meters that way.
My wife uses my trainer more than i do. And sadly that’s because of how bad it can be riding on the roads. Whilst a very bad reflection on society that it is so dangerous, it IS a way to sell more trainers to people that feel this way and I would suggest that is currently women.
Oh and as far as I can tell you are sticking to what we love and respect. Keep it up.
Great post, Ray. Thank you! Fascinating to read about the differences between the men’s and women’s teams. The more these inequality issues can be highlighted then hopefully more will be done to fix it. I certainly prefer watching women’s cycling (and not just because I’m a woman) – there is generally much more attacking in the races, resulting in exciting viewing.
The broken Garmin screen was quite a metaphor! I feel sorry for the rider and embarrassed for Garmin.
Great article, thanks.
Or even a testament to how well they withstand spills? It’s most likely the riders own shop bought unit, Garmin can’t know about every unit
It could be a lucky or favorite piece of equipment…or a surviving piece from a bad crash that serves as a reminder to not be stupid/greedy/unfocused.
Athletes can certainly be superstitious!
Embarrassed……. that a device takes a beating and keeps on ticking, and is still considered the best option by a professional rider??
Here’s hoping Garmin notices the post and gets that young lady shiny 530. Win win.
Good piece Ray, highlighting that ultimately it’s us taking an interest that force women’s racing onto a bigger stage. Also well done on the neutral reporting that not all teams want the top kit, as it doesn’t always suit.
In this world where its millions to sponsor team ineos, I’m surprised that one of the brands couldn’t sponsor a whole team with a fleet of products. Team wahoo or Garmin would surely spark a young female following?
It seems to me that a female setup on the form of what team sky did for the men’s racing would dominate the women’s tour. Surely there’s a massive gain in just having power meters on a TT bike?
The piece of the giro Rosa even shows that not all women have a TT bike! That’s crazy at the highest level of a sport.
But then again, the professionalism of team sky hasn’t exactly made the sport exciting, with the last two La Course races putting the last 5-8 tours to shame for excitement, so long live female racing, because its exactly that
Thanks Ray for covering what is out there (or not) in the women’s peloton – the same holds for bikes and other gear from my experiences. If every one of us who desire progress in the way women’s racing is supported and executed shine a light on the inequities and discrimination (call it as it is..), things will move in the right direction, I hope.
The move towards more team sponsors supporting both genders (e.g. Mitchelton-Scott, Trek-Segafredo, CCC, Sunweb, Movistar and others) can only help to improve the environment.. Maybe the team management can start to negotiate equipment availability for all riders under their umbrella, even if some of the gear gets shifted along from one squad to the other season by season.
Thanks for giving visibility to women’s sports. A great refresher! That’s how progress happens and values change.
It’s completely up to the owner of the blog (in this case Ray) to post about whatever he wants (in this case also about Women/Man equality). No one has to agree with him or like what he writes and no one has to read it either if he/she doesn‘t like the topic.
Said that, I‘m all about equality, especialy in how certain cultures/religions/ecc. regard women as a lower human being! What I don‘t like is the over-feminism starting in my country. Minimum amount of women in a company‘s board of managers, ecc. Also the equal pay debate… Yes, equal pay for equal work. But unlike women, men have compulsory Military Service here and if they don‘t do their service they pay an annual fee. Women don‘t have that. So, it‘s not all as white and black as some over agressive feminist like to make us think (in my country).
Still, lot to be done, many fences to be mended, mostly in regard to women, but not only.
Thanks Ray.
You have followed the female side for quite some years now. I remember one of the first La Course you reported from in Paris, where the women were put in tiny camping vans, mobile homes etc even if they were from the same Pro Tour teams as the men. Its good to see that there is some kind of progress. As we get more women on bikes, we can only hope that interest for female races will increase and the old school mindset from the “old” governing bodies will change.
That’s what i love about MTB world cups. Red Bull do a tremendous job in equal broadcasting. And to be honest – the womens races are mostly one and a half hour of absolute bombing intensity going full throttle. You can’t even go the bathroom without something important happening while you were away. At any given race there are about a half dozen women who can win, with more right on the heels on a good day. That makes it seriously competitive and fun to watch. i would be seriously sad if Red Bull chose to stop buying the media rights for the MTB scene. That would set MTB back to the ice ages. No other “mediacompany” has the experience of producing that kind of quality productions for that type of competition. It could however be fun to see what they could do if they were to dabble with some roadracing as well – they do some crits and specialty races around the world, but only on non uci sanctioned events.
So the real problem is probably not UCI, but mediacompanies and race organisations (if you build it – they will come). I don’t have any answers as to how we can change things, but hopefully with time they will.
What I find odd is that it’s no secret how large the female cycling market is. Surely any and every company out there should be chasing this low hanging fruit and really getting behind the female teams.
Instead what we mostly seem to have is a half arsed “shrink it and pink it” approach. In the UK at least, almost half of the riders I see out on a Sunday are women – that’s a lot of money being left on the table that pro cycling could address. In fact, you could argue that sponsorship money is being wasted in the saturated mens sport.
Might be nice to highlight womens media content on the weekend posts where it’s available? If you can drive viewers it may kick start some more coverage.
It that Giro clip some rider were riding road bikes and other TT bikes. Was that because the course had a climb or because some teams didn’t have the bikes?
It was an uphill ITT (excl. a flat piece in the beginning). Not sure about the exact average gradient but it wasn’t too steep which explains why some used a TT bike.
Ray, how can all of us who follow your blog help you to shine a light on this, across social media? Not in an offensive in-your-face political way, but more of a highlight of the help these woman’s teams need.
This is absolutely pathetic. So instead of promoting female athletes, promoting and expanding the sport, the bicycling gear makers seem to actively insult them? Hey, Wahoo?! Get on it and give your top of the line gear to the women’s teams since the sales leaders have dominated the men’s teams.
Ray,
Trek in partnership with Voxwomen have ‘TV’ coverage of the Giro Rossa. It’s available as a post-event video online on Trek’s website. Unfortunately there’s only the one video of each stage and I’d love for them to add a 5-15 minute highlight video as well, but I also understand that’s additional editing time = more money, plus more space on their website and bandwidth… Hopefully we get that soon!
It’s nice to see the Giro Rossa having a can-do approach to properly developing women’s sport. They seem to have an actual multi-year plan and may well become the ‘Tour De France’ equivalent of the women’s racing calendar well into the future!
Race on you incredible women!!!
In addition to the Trek Racing recap feed in English, FloBikes also provided Giro Rosa event recaps in Italian. I had a good fix of bike racing with TdF live in the morning and Giro Rosa replays in the evening!
In a bit late to the party, but GCN Racing channel on YouTube was also covering the Giro Rosa with 45min highlights of each stage. I’d image that’s free everywhere in the world which is pretty decent effort at exposure.
Even in so supposedly „equal“ sports there is inequality. Like for example the official dress code for women in Beach Volley… Not the usual sport of this blog, I know. Just to show how deep some things go.
Interesting. Also, was CCC the only team using ice vests for warmup?
As a father of two girls who love racing, thank you for putting this together. Journalism like this, to shed light on the inequality gaps will make the world a better place for our next generations. Though a bit disappointed in the sponsors inability to better support the women’s side, this a good write-up.
Im all for equalities, as a matter of fact, I think we should not have male/female categories on sports, including Olympics, Championships etc. Let everybody compete with one another, buys and girls, judo, short distance, swimming, gymnastics, gosh, even boxing ! Come on, we need to be all treated equal, it should be the fair thing to do. No privileges.
No kidding- everyone should compete together. You just finish where you finish. I was in a bunch of races with Greg LeMond as a junior.., speak about inequality!!. There should have been a special super-human category for him. Not fair!!
You both clearly have well researched and though-out conclusions. You have made me understand, and you’re correct. Everything is perfect the way it is.
Why are we even talking about their outdated and broken Garmins? Why do they even need them? You probably don’t think they are needed because there is a clock on the oven.
Hot take there. Let’s start with providing the same equipment quality and payouts and see where that takes us. I believe that’s the premise of the article. That’s equality.
Im pretty sure if a girl beats Conor McGregor at a fight, she will take the same pay, perhaps better. Same with a girl that swim faster than Michael Phelps and get 29 gold medals. There is a reason there are categories for boys and girls. Their bodies is just not the same, come on, we cannot deny that!. Maybe the equipment, pay, rules etc are gender-related, but they need to be that way, if you are unsure, imagine a reality without, but not a “convenient reality” (same pay, same rules, same equipment but less risk and performance) Imagine for example, eliminating all the inequalities and seeing what happens when a girl face a 6’5″ 375 pounds nose tackle at a final game. Make a guess who will end in the hospital with a concussion. I dont have daughters, but if I did, I would be happy for many of those “inequalities”, even if they meant less pay. Dont take me wrong, Im all for feminine equality for Astronauts, Doctors, Scientists, President of the country, CEOs, etc (a lot of brain power needed for all of those, and girls many times more qualified than guys). But on Sports are we talking of “give me more money” or “equality” , because equality means “equal on everything” so no, I dont think most of the people, even the “preachers” of the so-called “equality” dream of having a 300+ pounds baby girl playing the super bowl with a lot of guys. So maybe we should be more honest and stop calling this “equality” and start calling it for some other name that would denote more the upsetting reality that boys in Sports make more money and get more attention than girls. Which in a sense would be unfair, because girls make a lot more money on other occupations (modeling, fashion design, ballet, etc) and I dont see boys marching on the streets complaining about it. Actually, If that would happen Im sure girls would mostly laugh about it.
I have two daughters. Both are brilliant, educated, compassionate, hard working people. This is the only field of play where equal pay matters. Equal pay for equal VALUE, that’s what we should be fighting for. Not equal because they ‘deserve’ it.
I have two daughters. Both are brilliant, educated, compassionate, hard working people. This is the only field of play where equal pay matters. Equal pay for equal VALUE, that’s what we should be fighting for. Not equal because they ‘deserve’ it.
Totally agree.
Why be timid.
Let’s jump in with both feet, in the deep end.
How about an analysis of the Tour from a racial representation viewpoint.
Or how about basketball? I think it is ridiculous to suggest that both sexes or even races are all equally good at everything. That is demonstrably not true. However, fairness is equal pay for equal performance. So, two of any profession ought to make the same regardless of sex,race,whatever. But remember that the “value” is not universal. In many places in the world doctors do not get the pay premium that they do in the US. And teachers get relatively higher pay in those very same places. So, “value” is situational. In sports “value” is mostly determined by advertising revenue. If you want women cyclists or whatever to make equal money as men than make them as valuable to the sponsors who are paying the bills. But stuff based on the women athletes using it just like you do for the men. To some extent it is up to us consumers.
The bottom line in cycling is that women are a tiny percentage of the market. The sad fact is that cycling is dangerous for women, especially when riding alone, or at best uncomfortable in many locales. This doesn’t get emphasized In the slick advertising of bicycle companies for obvious reasons. Companies chase the women’s market because it has apparent growth potential. Can’t tell you how many women I know got race bikes, used it a few seasons then quit because they get harassed on the road. Even it’s relatively rare, just the threat of it is enough to push them out of the sport. What we need is a nicer world, but alas…
Relevant video link to facebook.com
I have that old Elite trainer (the yellow one pictured for the “minor league teams” at home, albeit the “Performance Bike” edition (red, with a red poly roller, roughly 11 years old maybe). LOL, still works great, with the battery cover electrical taped into place (tab broke) but otherwise going strong. I’d love to have an electronic controlled new unit, but it’s hard to justify spending so much, when the old is still working fine. (Also have a Cyclops Mag+ that the wife uses).
Can we get a crowd funding deal going to get these gals some new gear? Ridiculous. Expand the sport, support the women pros. Garmin, Wahoo, you-hoo??? Support the ladies.
Thanks Ray – great blog as usual and fantastic to read about an area generally under reported.
I am all for the fight for equality but I see the the sponsored equipment differences as a result of the entire economic structural difference and not important in itself. Fix the entire system, growing race exposure and cyclists salaries and the sponsors will follow with better equipment.
One suggestion – turn that problem into a marketing asset and do what the men are afraid to do, restrict team equipment to create better economics for the teams. Ban power meters and maybe limit support vehicles, the number of team bikes, and other equipment to what the lower budget teams can afford. This would even the playing field between teams and help all teams stay in business and pay riders. As a marketing angle challenge the men to, well man up and do the same.