Apparently, women aren't allowed to enter the Tour de France.

[MirandaGoshawk]

My immediate thought was why the hell not, in this day and age. My second thought was that if it was a women's race I'd be pretty pissed off if it was opened to all and blokes kept winning. Thoughts?

Apologies, hackmum. I thought the men an women set off separately.

Am I right to say that the fastest woman still couldn't win?

The UK Women's Tour is a 6 stage race in June this year.

I'm straight to the bookies to put a fiver on the Doc.

(Each way?)

Of course the fastest woman would win. They would win the women's race, as with the marathon example given. It's not a controversial statement to say that men are bigger/stronger/faster on average and so the fastest man will complete the course faster than the fastest woman.

Apologies, hackmum. I thought the men an women set off separately

They do set off separately, but they're not two completely separate races. The women set off about 45 minutes before the men, so they are running the same course at the same time.

But they are separate races in that the men's and women's results are listed seperately.
Plenty of women run faster times than men, but they're not competing against each other.

I think we are all in agreement.

Men and women race over the same course on the same day in a marathon but not against each other.

And perhaps the Tour de France could be open to women in the same spirit?

I spoke to someone who builds bikes (for both road races and indoor races) and who road raced (a while ago) and still is current with what goes on now

He said "Actually difficult to say.
The argument was that it was dangerous to have the two peletons merging, with different tactics between the two.
It was actually only one cyclist that caught the male peletons, and did seem punitive.
The full ruling has not been released.... But I have seen older groups (40,50,60 yo) being held back when they catch the "proffs" group. But it is rare."

So generally no, men's races are not regularily held back if they catch up

And perhaps the Tour de France could be open to women in the same spirit?

Someone told me a while ago that this isn't the same, because of the rolling road closures and all the vehicles that follow and stuff.
I'm sure it could be done if the will was there.

The difference with cycling, compared to road running, is that you have 30-40 team cars following, plus motorbikes. Then you have over 150 cyclists in 17 teams, some of whom deliberately burn themselves out at the front for a bit (self sacrifice so the team's main contender can benefit from their slipstream) and then go really slowly, coming in way behind because that's their role. And you've got some hanging back to get treatment from the medic car (while cycling but obviously not going for it like those at the front). etc etc.

Having the women's race at the same time would not work and is the wrong fight to go after. Having a comparable women's race with equal pay and prizes makes much more sense.

[marathons are] treated as if there are two separate races, the men's and women's. It's perfectly possible to do the same with the Tour de France, but they choose not to

Having a women's TDF and a men's TDF in the same race, would be extremely complicated because as deydodo pointed out they have the whole entourage cars and helicopters to organise too. This would all be double the size if we had a women's tfd.

If they had women and men setting off at times that lead to women actually competing alongside men this would be so detrimental to women, very dangerous.
There are already so many crashes and accidents and even deaths in the tdf.

Cavendish was criticized for strategically "barging" during his sprints. You wouldn't want to be a woman getting in the way of that, or have a much bigger heavier man fall on top of you in a crash, or push you into something.

Some competitors have continued the tour covered in blood, with broken bones, they even have a special winning category for riders who continue despite serious injuries.

The TDF have made the right decision.

For those of you who have zero knowledge of professional cycling and how the Grand Tours are set up/competed etc. perhaps you should read this article in the Guardian today www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/mar/18/team-sky-set-for-takeover-by-britains-richest-man-jim-ratcliffe

Perhaps then you'll see now the analogy with the London Marathon and it's individual competitors just doesn't work, and that women have a way to go to get this level of sponsorship to ride in these races.

One sport I'm not sure why there's sex segregation though is golf. I don't play golf but isn't it a technique thing rather than a power or speed thing?
Muscle plays an important role in golf.
A decent Club amateur male golfer can drive a ball off the tee the same distance as a good Professional woman.
Amateur golf has a Handicap system, so women can compete against men

Hornets
Fgs patronising much?

"I'm straight to the bookies to put a fiver on the Doc."

They wouldn't stand a chance because it involves a fair amount of going uphill, and the only time you see that on the track is when you go up the banking.

The following link gives information about the different distances for women's and men's races, it just would not be possible to have both competing on the same course.

www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/uci-road-world-championships-2018-route-305920

women have a way to go to get this level of sponsorship to ride in these races.

Jesus H Christ.

Patronising? exclamations of "Jesus H Christ".

I was just passing on an article that tells you all you need to know about how men's professional road cycling is set up for the Grand Tours. Did you actually read the article?

I read this thread last night and there were several on here who by their own admission (including the OP) said they know nothing about the sport, but they still thought that women should be included in the TDF because it would be "in the spirit" or something.

Other more knowledgeable posters pointed out the complexities of the event which meant that women couldn't take part with the men or have their own race on the same day as it's just not feasible. I was reading this article this morning and thought it would help some gain more knowledge about how these teams are set up and who sponsors them and the level of money involved.

But of course by doing that I'm "patronising" and have said something absolutely shocking about women having to actually get sponsorship behind them to compete in elite events.

I give up.

But of course by doing that I'm "patronising" and have said something absolutely shocking about women having to actually get sponsorship behind them to compete in elite events.

How can women get sponsorship to a race they are banned from entering exactly?

... or have their own race on the same day as it's just not feasible..

The next day then?

Not that difficult surely?

Thank you, Hornets. I appreciate what you've said :)

I listened to something on Radio 4 yesterday about women's football. It was saying that, far from still being the 'little sister' of the men's game, due to its increasing popularity, brands including Adidas and Nike are now involved in sponsorship (basically because these two companies are in competition and if one of them is, the other one has to be seen to be on the bandwagon). So, it seems that there is hope for women's cycling!

When I worked in construction, I was told women can't do X because they can't lift the heavy bags of soil.

So I ordered smaller bags.

So I could lift them.

And most of the younger lads thanked me as they found the macho bullshit bollocks about lifting heavy bags to be what it was, macho bullshit bollocks.

"How can women get sponsorship to a race they are banned from entering exactly?"

There are plenty of other sports where women have a specific category where they can compete - tennis, athletics etc.
This article points out the problems of letting women ride the same course, the same day as the men.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44831758

There is still a 10 stage Giro Rosa, the women's equivalent of the Giro d'Italia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Giro_Rosa