I know a lot has been said about pro woman drafting male teammates to victory in marquee gravel races. With the prize purses what they are, it is bound to happen. It is a complex topic I don’t really want to debate.
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If its not against the rules, its not against the rules. Thats my opinion.
I did the Gorge Gravel Grinder last year and towed the womens winner to the finish line (u23 rider). I took 15th in Open Men’s. I didnt agree beforehand of doing that, but hey, if you can hold a wheel theres no stopping it. I didnt care as she wasnt my competition, I actually was super impressed.
If you look at how Lifetime starts the majority of the races, that is exactly what differentiates womens placing in most cases. Whoever can hold on to mens field the longest will likely win the race. Imho its just practicing for real world application. If they rule it out…then follow the rules.
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If it’s a mass start race then who’s to stop someone else from also tagging along? I kinda shrug my shoulders at that type of stuff because what can you do about it? Be faster, right? It’s still not a guaranteed win although it not as nearly bad ass as going alone. Who was it anyway?
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It may not technically be against the rules, but it is incredibly lame.
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Just did a mass start. Woman I sprinted against for the last podium place had a teamate (male) shepard her the whole way. I had a male teamate with me who did not do the same. Is she wrong for using her mate, or was I dumb for failing to?
(Trick question… I screwed up my positioning in the sprint… and am still 50 watts below my peak sprint power… and that’s what got me.)
If I had made it with the lead group over the climb, should I have been the one to lead out my one female teammate, or is it ok if one of the men did it? Does it matter if the male teammate is stronger than her? Stronger than me?
Do the same rules apply to mass start races in which the men are split by age group? Can a male adult shepard a male junior?
It’s a tough one. As long as their are mixed fields, it’s really hard to draw an appropriate line. Unless you are a top male “open” rider, a big part of gravel racing strategy/success is based on latching on the fastest group/wheel you can hang with. While I agree that seeding a coach or friend into race who’s only purpose is to pace the rider is super lame, it’s a really hard thing to put rules in to prevent it. Where do you draw the line? Are teammates of the same age/gender OK? How about friends on other teams that are in different categories (age or gender)? There are fast guys in races that I have a good relationship with who are happy to give me a tow because I’m not in their age group. I just struggle to see a way to police it. If I had a son/daughter that was running into this situation with a competitor, my advice to them would be to mark the competitor (and the coach pulling) and don’t get dropped. Having a single coach pulling a single rider shouldn’t be a hard thing to compete with (certainly way easier than dealing with an organized team working on behalf of a lead rider).
The only real solution I could see is treating it like sanctioned road racing where you have specific categories that can’t be mixed. There are some good things about that, but much more downside in my opinion (especially for amateur racing).
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Different starting times could prevent this, fastest category first, 2nd fastest 5 minutes later etc
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Wow. Take a step back and think about who you’re talking about with exaggerated comments like these.
As long as they aren’t physically pushing the riders, then there isn’t really a problem to just win your age group this way. It’s always happened in these mass start mixed category races, at the end of the day you still have to be able to hold the wheel.
Effects a lot more people than it helps though, the way it currently is means that the race will naturally break up to similar abilities, your suggestion would mean significantly more people would be riding solo or much smaller groups as it makes selections based on age/gender rather than ability.
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As a coach of high school running I can tell you that youth female participation numbers are decreasing across pretty much all sports. It isn’t just cycling. Also of note, this is nothing new. The same argument came up in 2002 when Paula Radcliffe ran to a world best at the Chicago Marathon paced by men. (They ultimately keep two records now, one for mixed races and one for women only).
That said, let’s keep things in perspective. These are adolescents you are talking about. Who are learning how to ride, pace and draft. Who are riding local races (not like this is a U23 XCO World Cup), Who cares if a daughter rides with her Dad or Coach. It is not like they play dirty if another rider hops on their wheel? Most people I know encourage others to hop on as well. I might argue that young girls are more likely to compete when someone rides with them rather than push them away.
I understand the appearance of it all… and appreciate how it can leave a bad taste in your mouth if you don’t have a domestique… but the only equitable solution is a women’s only race. Which would be awesome, but ultimately up to the race director.
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If I did gravel racing it’d be the junior girl towing me along to the finish.
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That sounds like a stretch. I wouldn’t even call these mass start gravel fondos a “junior girls race” in the first place. Since the elite men and women take all the top spots anyway, nobody can really “win” anything.
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not commenting on whether right or wrong, but in essence the solution is to be like licensed road racing, separate field starts, course marshals, etc. Are people prepared to pay more in entry fees to ensure this type of “proper” competition?
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Dumb question of the day award contestant here.
If there are only a few persons in this category, is it possible to try and find the few others in the category before the start and try to follow them? Especially if you suspect the bloke they’re with is their second engine? That way they can try to draft off the drafters.
Typing that out loud, it sounds very implausible with the chaos that mass start events are. It has to have crossed some juniors minds, though, as a starter plan. It’s not like they can secretly attach a 10ft flagpole and flag to their competitors bike, though.
These are complaints that should be directed to race directors, not teenagers or their parents.
I raced with a pro and their 14 year old, the kid won his age group and placed very highly overall and I don’t think anyone complained because he was able to keep up with the riders at the front.
Drafting is a part of racing and you are asking people to give up an advantage that the race directors do not see as important enough to resolve.
If you are upset because your daughter didn’t place as highly as you wanted her to then maybe take a step back and realize that someone got to do an awesome multi-hour ride with their kid. Maybe you should try it?
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exactly, like I couldn’t begrudge a parent legitimately riding with their kid in a gravel event. and if kids are riding without their parents, maybe they should question why the heck their parent(s) don’t also ride bikes
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I understand the frustration, but I don’t really see the problem.
The ones winning in this fashion knows that they didn’t win fair. Maybe they don’t realise it right now, but in time they will. It means nothing, and it doesn’t help a jr. athelete progress. If anything it will have the opposite efffect. I take it you are on the other side of the fence as a mother to one of the girls who thinks this is unfair. I can not imagine results as a jr. athelete in a gravel race will have any impact of a potential career, so you should just laugh it off.
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I think that is a bit of an extreme perspective. It’s within the rules and not that different than having a teammate pull a rider to the finish. I’m not a fan of it, but it isn’t unfair and anyone strong enough is free to jump on the wheel/group.
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From what I understand this is why Lifetime started staggering the pro men’s and women’s start of Unbound. Can’r remember if they are doing it at all of the races in the series.
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I don’t think it is extreme. I agree that in a mixed mass start anything goes, and everyone can grab a wheel. But, if you look at said jr. women competition in isolation it is a meaningless win, and more embarrassing than anything to be proud of. 
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Don’t get me wrong. This was as a consolation to the angry mom, whom I sympathize with. A mixed mass start is a mixed mass start, you can do what you like. The ones doing the “technique” isn’t doing anything wrong per se.