Revolutions - Teams Racing

As I am steadily progressing in this pregnancy thing, I have had a lot more time to think about stuff in cycling. I can't train, can't race, and once the squatter gets evicted it will become a very long battle to return to form - if that ever happens.

So with all this free time for cycling, I have been able to sharpen my ideas and passion for the development of the sport. Finding time to make phone calls, attend to meetings, and sit at the computer is a lot easier to achieve than finding time for six hour training rides and the recovery afterwards.

So instead of getting a shirty about the state of cycling in Victoria I nominated for the CSV Board. The elections are early November, and already showing to be a real political fight. I am not interested in any of that. I put together a CV expressing what I would bring to the Board including what I wanted to see changed and how it could be done. I have also been told - on the grapevine - that due to my pregnancy I will be effectively useless if elected and will have no time to contribute to the future of the sport. People who believe that really have no appreciation for the level of investment (time, energy, money, passion, finances, and again, time) that went into racing professionally, nor do they have any idea of what I can achieve, and what I have achieved, despite my limited time in life already. But then again, people might be saying stuff like that because they are threatened by me. Perhaps they like things to continue as they are. Who knows. Lets not think about it too much.

My main areas of improvement in the state of cycling focus on racing development, particularly women. There is plenty of opportunity to address outstanding issues in road, criterium, track, teams racing, sponsorship and communications.

Tonight I am just going to comment on teams racing.

Two recent articles on cyclingnews.com showcase both ends of womens professional cycling in the USA at the moment.

In the first article, Bob Stapleton, manager of the HTC Columbia program, talks up the potential womens cycling has and the importance of investing in this market. Most impressively, he acknowledges the real value of this investment.

The other showcases that despite best interests of a title sponsor, the economy turndown is far too dissuasive to consider that investing in womens sport really receives a viable return. Well, if you an operator in the California construction industry anyway.

What does this all mean? In some ways it is just a repeat of 2009, 2008 and the years preceding those. At each season end, a new sponsor emerges full of energy and hope, and a couple of the old ones die with riders forced to find short term solutions to their riding futures. Many teams are established on the goodwill of a sponsor who is happy to invest in the initiative without an obvious financial return. Sadly, this cycle of sponsorship life and death for the mens side of the sport is also reflective in the womens. Particularly when treated as separate entities.

It is very comforting to see that here in Australia, aspiring ProTour licencee Fly V Australia's domestic outfit has announced a womens team for 2010-11 and 2011. This is a much needed investment in the local scene, but also paves the way in Australia to show that real success for those who invest in the brand is to be a team that caters for both men and women markets.

Unfortunately, teams racing for women in Australia goes largely unsupported as a concept. And when I mean largely, I mean pretty much entirely. While it is terrific that you can rock up to a race solo and without teammates, it is only of real value if everyone else is doing it too. And they are not. Small funded teams, unfunded teams, even un-coordinated in uniform alliances are all existent in racing today. For one or two exceptions, most are poorly executed, not managed well (if at all) and do not develop depth in the sport as it possibly could.

Teams racing is not a new concept. It has been happening for years. What did the local sporting bodies do about it? They endorsed the concept of team racing for men and moved towards establishing this in a formal manner, rather than trying to fight the inevitable and forcing commissaires to intervene whenever collusion was detected. Which was always difficult to prove and very unpopular if implemented.

No such edict, or support, for teams racing has been established for the women. In entering races, there is no effort from the sporting body to collate individual riders, give 'em all plain tops and tell them they are an alliance for the one event. Bay Series, the only event on the calendar that acknowledges that women can race as teams, also allows for individual entries on top of the teams allocation. None of these riders are grouped together or encouraged to consider racing as an alliance. For anyone racing in a relatively new environment, the concept of teams racing takes a while to adjust to. The adjustment is quicker if placed in the actual scenario of racing as a team. Without this support, teams racing as it could be for women will continue to go undeveloped. New teams with a few more cents of funding will spruik up - the Honda Dream Team for 2009-10, and the Pegasus racing team for 2010-11, but without any competition depth of other teams, they will end up without competition and unfortunately, won't provide much excitement by way of racing. I can see this again: control the race with all your teammates and wait for the sprint for your points jersey wearer.

What to do about it?

My gosh, there is so much you could do, on so many different levels. But it all starts at the top. Get a commitment from the top that womens racing is something that should be supported at all levels. This should underpin all other decisions made thereafter. From there, you:

- Establish that teams racing for road and criterium events will be supported by cycling bodies. For women.

- Set up entries to be coordinated by team managers. Broaden the development of team managers to include female teams. This doesn't happen even for the men? Crap, make that happen. Individuals can be grouped into teams for each event. Put us in plain white jerseys. It is an investment in the future of racing. It is worth it. But make sure the alliances are supported in some way. Again, broaden the development of team managers. Or better still, have these alliance teams run by the womens development officer. No such role exists? Well, do something about it. Development officer isn't a term just for beginners - it should cross the entire breadth and depth of the sector you are trying to develop.

- Create more rider development opportunities. Womens development camps. VIS-partnered training camps that are open to anyone who has the time and finances to attend. Team racing development camps (this does not have to be gender specific). There are models out there. Use them, copy them, adapt them to here.

- Provide the local racing opportunities for real team racing. This one is hard. Womens racing at criteriums over the summer largely consist of sitting in a big mens field, and then sprinting for the prestigious prize of first woman home. It promotes leg speed, energy conservation, and negative racing tactics (ie, save yourself for the end and don't bother racing until then). How do you get everyone to race in this environment? Separating the women leaves too small a field. Not providing a womens prize is considered too sexist and ultimately discouraging for womens participation. We need to look at how we approach womens racing, see examples in other places, and try to facilitate this sort of change to happen. Maybe the answer isn't in altering the local racing format. Maybe it is about having women realise that when they do race in a single-gender format, that they have a responsibility to put on a race. Perform. Race. Put on a show. Do us proud. Or, better still, put women in with a mens team. Local crits are full of race alliances anyway. Formalise it at the local scene. Have the women race with a role and responsibility within a team. Formalise the arrangement. There is no need for a womens sprint prize at the end of the race. All women would be racing within a team structure, and if their team sprinter gets up, then she wins too. Thats what team racing is all about. Provide the opportunity for more people to learn about it.

Things sound so simple, but they are tremendously hard to implement without support that starts from the very top. So why isn't stuff happening? Why isn't it there more discussion or better still, action?

We need to set up the very top that when it comes to cycling, the cycling bodies are putting women up there. Then let us talk and act some more.

Thats all for tonight.

cheers

Monique Hanley