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Tom Boonen criticizes often confusing tactics in women's cycling: "80% of the time I don't understand what's happening"
CyclingTuesday, 05 November 2024 at 10:49
Road cycling is a sport where tactics can become very complex and sometimes it is not possible to execute them. It's a very diverse sport where anything can happen, which leads often to chaotic situations. Tom Boonen and Patrick Lefevere believe that in women's cycling there are more often invidual tactics within teams and that sometimes it's not understandable.
"With permission: those team interests play less of a role with the women than with the men. In the end, everyone rides after everyone else," Patrick Lefevere argued to Het Laatste Nieuws. This is something that more often happens in races such as the World Championships or Olympic Games where there are no radios and the riders have little idea of what's going on. Although some argue that no radios make racing more exciting, the overwhelming opinion is that it leads to racing where often you see decisions that don't seem to make any sense when comparing to a regular race.
You could interpret the Dutch team's tactics at the recent women's World Championships this way, with Demi Vollering repeatedly attacking the leading group, dropping her teammate Marianne Vos who had a chance to take the world title as a strong sprinter. None ended up finishing in the medals although it looked like for a long time the Dutch had the upper hand and the race under control.
But even with radios, at times difficult-to-understand situations happen. At the Tour de France Femmes, Demi Vollering did not win the title by 4 seconds, and in one of the hilly stages she lost significant time after crashing in the final kilometers as the yellow jersey. Her teammate Blanka Kata Vas won that stage, but Lorena Wiebes also finished on the first positions, none of her helping Vollering which on flat roads would've made a very large difference.
"Those women's races are sometimes bizarre to watch. I watch, because they are often really tough races. But in terms of racing tactics, 80% of the time I don't understand what's happening," Tom Boonen admits. Whilst Vollering defended the criticism that fell on Wiebes at the time, it's not clear who made the decision to keep the riders in the peloton whilst the yellow jersey was on her own chasing on flat roads.
"It's all so different from the men's races. The difference in level between the top and the category below is still too big, in my opinion."
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