# Giro d' Italia Feminine Mara Abbott In Pink



## fab4 (Jan 8, 2003)

Women's cycling hardly gets any coverage so shout out to American Mara Abbott who won the last two climbing stages of the Giro d' Italia Feminine making her almost the first American to win the Giro with 1 more stage left. Go Mara!


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## muscleendurance (Jan 11, 2009)

is she _hawt_?


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

way to go Mara!


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## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

fab4 said:


> Women's cycling hardly gets any coverage so shout out to American Mara Abbott who won the last two climbing stages of the Giro d' Italia Feminine making her almost the first American to win the Giro with 1 more stage left. Go Mara!


I know I shouldn't but I always feel sorry for these gals. I hope they're enjoying what they are doing.


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## marckap (Apr 12, 2008)

most comments r for specialized.


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Dwayne Barry said:


> I know I shouldn't but I always feel sorry for these gals. I hope they're enjoying what they are doing.



One (of a few) reason I stopped bike racing was precisely because of this. That and I had no money, a falling apart car, was essentially homeless and winning a pair of sunglasses wasn't putting gas in the tank.

I had to look at the practicality of chasing the dream. I realized, no one gives a sh*t about women's racing and I would be poor for as long as I continued "chasing the dream" success or no.

These women have a true love for the sport (and/or a lot of support in $$ and time from family and friends) to do what they do, with little hope of a secure and long term future even if they do hit the bigtime.

There are no female LA's. Just look at this thread for instance, very few replies for someone _about to win the freaking Giro_. And, she's American to boot, where most of the RBR audience hails from. Nobody cares (unless she is, as Muscleendurance so aptly put it... "hawt").

That said, as stupid as it is, I received a [email protected] of a lot more respect and admiration as a "bike racer" from the people I came across on the road than I've ever received as an educated professional. People would roll out the red carpet and tell their friends, "This is L, she races bicycles!"

Weird.


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Muscleendurance et al, here she is. I'd say she's an attractive young woman.

And today's Giro race report if you're interested.

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/4...the-Stelvio-to-secure-Giro-Donne-victory.aspx


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## culdeus (May 5, 2005)

Never understood why they can't let the fairer sex roll a race on the same stage with a head start for the middle 10 stages or so. I mean I know _why_, but whatever. The Coors Classic's made that work somehow. I still remember more of the women's names than the men names from back then.


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## rydbyk (Feb 17, 2010)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> One (of a few) reason I stopped bike racing was precisely because of this. That and I had no money, a falling apart car, was essentially homeless and winning a pair of sunglasses wasn't putting gas in the tank.
> 
> I had to look at the practicality of chasing the dream. I realized, no one gives a sh*t about women's racing and I would be poor for as long as I continued "chasing the dream" success or no.
> 
> ...



Educated professionals are a dime a dozen. Female bike racers are not. There you go..


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

culdeus said:


> Never understood why they can't let the fairer sex roll a race on the same stage with a head start for the middle 10 stages or so. I mean I know _why_, but whatever. The Coors Classic's made that work somehow. I still remember more of the women's names than the men names from back then.


To this day I'm still a Jeannie Longo (holy carp that woman is _still_ kicking baskside!) and Connie Carpenter fan. Oh yes...Rebecca Twigg too!

And...ashamedly editing to add: I've _always_ followed men's racing more closely. Watching a huge field of dudes throwing down a crit makes a much bigger impression than the girls doing the same. It's just the way it is.


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## Kaleo (Jun 15, 2008)

Here's a shot of the womens version of the Liberty Classic in 2008. They ran the race ahead of the Pro mens as they do every year. Sadly, I can not tell you who won that race. I think women bike racers deserve the highest respect, and barely get any. Besides Kristin Armstrong, I cannot name another contemporary female cyclist. Even years ago Connie Carpenter, Rebecca Twig, Connie Paraskevin, Shiela Young and Jeanie Longo garnered more respect.


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## nate (Jun 20, 2004)

Kaleo said:


> Here's a shot of the womens version of the Liberty Classic in 2008. They ran the race ahead of the Pro mens as they do every year. Sadly, I can not tell you who won that race. I think women bike racers deserve the highest respect, and barely get any. Besides Kristin Armstrong, I cannot name another contemporary female cyclist. Even years ago Connie Carpenter, Rebecca Twig, Connie Paraskevin, Shiela Young and Jeanie Longo garnered more respect.


You get credit for Longo as a second contemporary female cyclist since she is still racing and winning. (2010 French female time trial champion, third in the French road race championship).


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

One of my favorite is Marianne Vos, huge talent, great sprinter, good TT and one of the best cyclocrosser on the planet. Between road, track and dirt, she has won 6 World Championships titles, she's also an Olympic champion on the track and she was in pink before Mara Abbott... She's not a beauty though, before someone asks...


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## sokudo (Dec 22, 2007)

Dan Gerous said:


> One of my favorite is Marianne Vos, huge talent, great sprinter, good TT and one of the best cyclocrosser on the planet. Between road, track and dirt, she has won 6 World Championships titles, she's also an Olympic champion on the track and she was in pink before Mara Abbott... She's not a beauty though, before someone asks...


She would make a great classics rider, but a climber she is not. So she was in pink like Chavanel is in yellow now.

Anyway, before someone asks, Modesta Vzesniauskaite and Erica Allar to the rescue  Or, for that matter, Lynn Gaggioli was riding not that long ago.


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## sokudo (Dec 22, 2007)

Mara Abbott is great, clearly the best female climber on the planet right now. 

However, what was going on last two years, when she was with Columbia-Highroad? She hardly had a chance to participate in the main races in Europe or in world cup. But as soon as her association with Highroad ended, she is back to her winning ways.

Regarding women cycling in general. Mara Abbot switched from swimming and within a year or two won US road cycling championship and became one of elite riders. Evelyn Stevens decided to take up bike riding and within a year she goes all the way to the elite pro, HTC-Columbia and US world championship team. Stories like these do not happen in the men cycling where it takes a year for a top level cyclist like Basso, etc to get back to the top after coming from the ban even though they keep on training hard. And that kind of shows that women cycling is not that much serious, after all. Those who compete compete hard, no question. But the number of participants, the base from which better riders come up seems to be awfully small.


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## ultimobici (Jul 16, 2005)

nate said:


> You get credit for Longo as a second contemporary female cyclist since she is still racing and winning. (2010 French female time trial champion, third in the French road race championship).


Although since KA's retirement Longo is even more amazing. I remember reading about her in Winning in the 80's and she was an old hand then!


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## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

Is there anywhere we can watch the last stage? I didn't even know this existed....


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## fab4 (Jan 8, 2003)

Mara didn't get a lot of chances with Columbia-Hard Road the last two years. She had to work for either Ina Teutenberg or Judith Arndt.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

Kaleo said:


> Here's a shot of the womens version of the Liberty Classic in 2008. They ran the race ahead of the Pro mens as they do every year. Sadly, I can not tell you who won that race. I think women bike racers deserve the highest respect, and barely get any. Besides Kristin Armstrong, I cannot name another contemporary female cyclist. Even years ago Connie Carpenter, Rebecca Twig, Connie Paraskevin, Shiela Young and Jeanie Longo garnered more respect.


they actually start the liberty classic 10 mins after the mens race. last year daniel holloway rolled off the front of the mens race right at the start, and got a huge gap, and the women caught the men for the first time ever. the men were neutralized and the women passed them on kelly dr heading towards manaynk...the looks on the faces of the guys was pretty funny as we went by them in the caravan.


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

She did take the final pink.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/21st-giro-ciclistico-internazionale-femminile-2-1/stage-10/results

It doesn't look like they gave her a cool gold trophy though.


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