van Vleuten dominates – Muricas News

At a 24 p.c incline, even a bike falls to the bottom, however not Annemiek van Vleuten, the 39-year-old metronome from Utrecht. Van Vleuten was by far the strongest rider on the final two phases of the “Tour de France Femmes” and likewise on the tremendous steep part as much as the Tremendous Planche des Belles Filles.

Within the Vosges, she confirmed how huge the crater is that separates her and the competitors. Van Vleuten, if she will be nicknamed after former biking dominator Eddy Merckx, is one thing of the cannibal of ladies’s biking: a number of world champion, Olympic gold medalist, three-time Giro winner – and now she’s including victory to her trophy case added to the Tour de France.

Comparisons to earlier eras are straightforward to attract in biking as in some other sport. Ten legends have already been written and unfold in the course of the tour. However all these legends sing of the heroic deeds and tragic fates of males. Girls’s biking, then again, needed to battle for recognition for a very long time – as was proven, for instance, in a tv sequence from 1987.

After a stage, a number of riders got here collectively on French tv. The world’s finest bike owner on the time, Jeannie Longo, took a seat in an in any other case all-male group. Among the many members was Laurent Fignon, two-time Tour winner and often called “le professeur” when he was lively. And subsequent to him sat a prime macho of the sphere on the time: Marc Madiot, newly topped French street champion.

26 p.c market share, 20 million viewers – French tv is happy

He attacked the reigning world champion a number of occasions straight and effectively beneath the belt: Aesthetics play a serious position in sport. “There are sports activities which might be female, and there are sports activities which might be masculine,” Madiot philosophized: “Watching ladies dance could be very fairly, watching them play soccer or biking is horrible.” Longo saved attempting to get entangled however was held again by the testosterone-ridden Madiot: “Biking is a really robust sport and I like ladies an excessive amount of to wish to see them endure.”

35 years after this undignified scene and after many descents, ladies’s biking has now reached a brand new peak in recognition. After eight phases over a distance of just about 1000 kilometers, the organizers and tv draw a constantly constructive conclusion for the primary “Tour de France Femmes”. There was a earlier occasion between 1984 and 2009, however it was canceled attributable to declining curiosity. From 2014 to 2021 there was solely a one-day race. This 12 months, nonetheless, the tour group Aso determined to revive the previous thought of ​​a nationwide tour – and the success was immense.

Over the eight days of racing, there weren’t fairly as many followers together with the street as there have been for the lads, however there have been nonetheless a substantial quantity. French tv can be happy with a market share of 26 p.c and round 20 million viewers. And that girls would reduce a worse determine on a bicycle than males was a fairy story even within the time of Madiot and Fignon.

The winner van Vleuten climbed the climbs within the Vosges with the power of a steamroller that even a couple of male colleagues had been amazed. The runner-up Demi Vollering, mountain specialist from the Netherlands, gained quite a lot of sympathy as a result of she struggled over the mountain with a pained face. And riders like Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma and Danish champion Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig moved up the climbs with outstanding ease.

Van Vleuten receives a bonus of fifty,000 euros – greater than in some other race, however solely a tenth of males’s winner Vingegaard

This tour additionally served as a magnifying glass away from the rostrum to attract consideration to the developments in ladies’s biking. The progress in recent times has been immense. Fewer and fewer athletes must work alongside their sport, however can lead a life as an expert. The prize cash was elevated: Van Vleuten obtained a prize cash of fifty,000 euros – greater than at some other race on the calendar. Nevertheless, solely a tenth of the male Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard.

Tour director Marion Rousse, a former bike owner herself and now a commentator for French tv, is definite that the ladies’s Tour can be a long-term undertaking – and that many younger ladies can be impressed by the achievements of those riders. On the similar time, the Tour additionally made it clear that the efficiency hole amongst ladies is important as a result of the coaching situations differ vastly from group to group.

Some groups, particularly these from sponsors who already equip a males’s group, have nice monetary benefits over others. As well as, the professionalization of ladies’s biking began earlier within the Netherlands than in different nations. The riders reside on that in the present day. Six stage wins and the primary two locations within the general standings went to Dutch ladies.

What Marc Madiot, the previous senior macho and present group boss of Groupama-FDJ, thinks of the primary “Tour de France Femmes” has not but been revealed. Jeannie Longo, then again, was requested about him today. She mentioned Madiot was a younger man, certainly one of many on the time who didn’t need ladies to do what made them excel. Right this moment, nonetheless, they'd even kiss one another howdy. To the Parisian mentioned the now 63-year-old Longo: “The biking milieu has tried to extinguish our hearth, though the spectacle that the ladies supply is the same as that of the lads.”