Who’s your favorite pro woman cyclist?
Megan Guarnier: Winning the Giro Rosa
Why a photo?
I edited the question to be “Who’s your favorite Pro Women cyclist” and took out the “and photo part”.
I can see this from both sides. Women’s cycling doesn’t get a lot of press so it helps to see someone’s face in order to solidly name recognition.
But…women get sexualized in sport a massive amount. Because of that let’s just keep it at names and maybe link to their website/strava/Instagram/blog/Youtube/etc where we can learn more about them if we aren’t familiar.
And mine is Sofia Gomez Villafane because we’re going to wreck shop at Cape Epic!!
maybe add in “a link to their social media” so they get clicks, follows and/or likes
Good call @Nate_Pearson
Probably my fave cyclist full stop is Celilie Uttrup Ludwig. Her racing is really exciting and she gives the best interviews ever
I agree–she’s super fun to watch and her interviews are so bubbly!
The question was meant to give women more exposure in the sport and more recognition. The cycling organization still has a LONG WAY to go to give women equality in terms of courses, support, money, etc.
Putting faces with names is part of recognizing these great women.
Former TrainerRoad sponsees The Cycling Podcast have an excellent monthly show about womens cycling: The Cycling Podcast Feminin. For me it’s made watchign womens’ cycling more enjoyable as it helps put some stories behind the names and faces.
One of the hosts Orla Chennaoui is also the host of Eurosport’s current mens’ cycling punditry.
Katie Hall (AMGEN ToC Champion)
Kate Courtney (MTB World Champion)
Christine Thorburn (2004 and 2008 Olympics) - retired
Since I live in SF Bay Area, I have had the good fortune of getting to ride with and know several world and Olympic champions. These 3 women are obviously very impressive on the bike. But what really impressed me is how supportive they are of other riders - younger, older, other women, and yes, even an “old man” like me. Particularly impressive was when Kate Courtney, after winning the 2018 Elite XC World Championship, held an open session with our local cycling community (high school, college and our club) doing a deep dive, interview style format with Q&A that followed that openly discussed her training, coaching, world championship win and the challenges she dealt with along the way and how she overcame/deals with them (e.g. racing pro while a student at Stanford).
Kate Courtney and Jolanda Neff! Both are very easy to cheer for.
Jenny Rissveds is one of my favorites that hasn’t been mentioned yet. I enjoyed following her prior to her racing hiatus, but her comeback story this year has been really great to watch and very inspiring.
I don’t really have a favorite cyclist, but I have favorite moments in cycling:
- I love watching Marianne Vos celebrate a victory. It’s like it’s never not the best thing she’s ever experienced.
- Brodie Chapman had a super gutsy performance at the Colorado Classic before she got eaten alive by Chloe Dygert on the descent. I will be rooting for her when I see her again.
- Annemiek Van Vleuten attacked on stage 5 of the Giro Rosa this year and it was spectacular.
Do they not normally cover women’s cycling?
I agree. Was that open session with Kate Courtney recorded?
Also, Katie Hall is a phenomenal climber. She’s super humble but can crush anyone on climbs.
Annemiek Van Vleuten is absolutely exciting to watch–that Giro was stunning!
I don’t actively like or dislike Katie Compton as a racer, but I love that she has named her team KFC which stands for Katie F***ing Compton
Favorite that I haven’t seen mentioned yet is Sanne Cant - she took a lot of (in my opinion unjustified) heat for her 2nd or 3rd place at worlds a few years ago when she was actively unhappy looking on the podium - love the competitiveness that shows
Clara Hughes (retired): mega monster talent and just an all around amazingly good person.
Kasia Niewiadoma: exciting and excitable; exactly the type of personality needed to draw people to women’s cycling.
Special mention of TR’s very own Queen of the Single Speed @chancie.cycles !
Not pro per se, but pro enough for us!