Here is why I posted this question...
I was in a left turn lane waiting for the light and this other rider is there, says hello. The left turn leads to a hill, maybe a 5% or 6% grade. I'm 62 years old, need to lose some weight and just got back to cycling after December 2019. This other rider was maybe 30 with very athletic build on a high-end carbon bike. The light changes and he was off and was up the hill at close to the 25 MPH speed limit. I do that hill at 10 MPH. I'm obviously not fast. Then I get home some time later and Stava tells be I would be the 7th fastest woman up that hill this year.
My guess was that (1) there are not many women cyclists and (2) few women bother to use Stava. But there were are least a couple hundred of each gender.
Then I notice that in the last few weeks only two female cyclists have pasted me on the road and I see exactly zero women my age riding actual road bikes. But younger men routinely pass on my left.
I don't know if it makes sense to compare top racers as these people are very a-typical of the population in general. But on the other hand, they show what people could do if they were to train