Most of the triathalon-type rides (male and female)around here seem to avoid hills. You'll see them on the popular roads that don't have long, extended or steep climbs, but once you get into the hills (mountains in our next of the woods), the triathlete types (at least those with tri-bars) are nowhere to be seen. So, perhaps, it's more a matter of lack of training on hills that causes them to get dropped.