big john

Jeannie Longo won another title in the TT. Amazing.

https://velonews.competitor.com/2010/...e-trial_122899

ahsposo 

Her average speed over the course is a good short burst for me. Behind a bread truck. Going downhill. With a tailwind.

Cleave

Hi,

I have heard about and watch Jeannie Longo for her entire career. I also had the privilege of "racing" against her several years ago. She was preparing for the worlds in Hamilton, Canada and she ended up doing this 90 mile race in SoCal that went up San Jacinto (near Palm Springs). She finished (in the top 10?) while I DNF'ed with about 10 miles of climbing to go.

During one of the lulls on flat terrain I spoke to her for about a minute. I can't remember what we said but she was very pleasant and spoke English pretty well.

Great to see her continuing success.

NOS88

She is indeed something special. I wonder what her competitors think when they see she's entered in the same event? Maybe: "Oh, not again. Will she ever retire?"

nwmtnbkr

From what I've read, her mother was a gym teacher and both parents got her and her sisters involved in various sports in their youth, not necessarily competitive sports, but sports to keep them healthy. She's always been athletic and turned to cycling when she didn't make the French national ski team. She trains hard and stays in shape. Her continued success in a demanding sport is a prime example why parents should encourage their children to be physically active and should better control their diets. Unfortunately, far too many children in this country spend too much time in sedentary activities, like computer games and watching TV. They also eat far too much processed foods that are high in trans fats. If only we could encourage healthy life habits.

chinarider

There's a thread in the road forum about this. I haven't read it, but from the title I gather the thesis is that women's cycling is a joke if a 51 yo can win. I wonder how many of those guys would say that if they raced against her. OTOH, the knock isn't really against her, but women's cycling. I can kind of see the point.

chinarider

Just went & read the road forum thread (4 pages). The consensus seems to be that she's just a great & determined rider. However, there is also a contingent that feel it is a reflection on French women's cycling (it was the French national title she won for those, like me, who didn't read the article linked to). I had never heard of her before, but don't really follow pro racing. Just the obvious well known names.

Hermes

I think an equally good measurement of athletic capability is the Olympic Games. In Beijing in 2008, Longo came in 4th in the individual time trial missing the podium by 1 second. Kristin Armstrong of the USA won. Coming in 5th was a local woman from our Webcor Builders pro team Christine Thornburn.

I cannot speak about Longo but Christine is an amazing cyclist. In our local time trial she has the record for the fastest time for women (she holds most records at most of the local time trial races) and there are only a few men that can beat her. She beats all the women - Olympian dah.

August 13, 2008: 2008 Olympic Games - Beijing: Women's time trial (23.5 km):
1 Kristin Armstrong (United States) 00:34:51:72
2 Emma Pooley (Great Britain) 0.24.29
3 Karin Thurig (Switzerland) 0.59.27
4 Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (France) 1.00.90
5 Christine Thorburn (United States) 1.02.44

Anyone who thinks Longo is not a great cyclist and competitor or thinks women's cycling is a joke is uninformed. Longo may be one of the greatest athletes of all times. Time will tell.

nwmtnbkr

This is a very misogynistic post. I'm sure she could beat many male cyclists. It always amazes me how some think like this. I will say that the segregated male version of the sport has a muddied reputation at best that may get even worse as federal criminal probes on doping commence in earnest.

arkansasgal

And why is it, Chinarider, that you can "kind of see the point" that the knock is really against women's cycling?

jdon

Extraordinary athletes can be so at any age. Longo trained specifically for this event (TT) whereas others may not have. It also depends on the field as not all cyclists compete in all events. She was the best of the day.

chinarider

I believe I said that she would beat many male cyclists. I am not a historian of cycling, male or female, and don't pretend to be. But the idea that her win is a negative sign for French women's cycling (not womens cycling, since she won a French championship) is not a knock against women. It is a somewhat logical thought that if women cyclists lived up to the potential that women have shown in other sports, a 51 yo would not be able to win. So when I said her win could be legitimately seen as knock on women's cycling, the "knock" is not that women aren't capable, but that the younger cyclists should be doing better. As I said, I'm not a historian of cycling and I never heard of Longo before. It may well be that she is just an incredible, once in a lifetime cyclist capable of overcoming the usual age related decline. If that's the case, it doesn't detract from her younger competitors. Still, it's hard to imagine this happening in the male side of the competition.

As far as the "muddied reputation" of male cycling, I agree that the same is well deserved. But that has nothing to do with the idea that a win by a 51 yo may say something about the level of the competition.

chinarider

To further the thought, perhaps the question should be, would a 51 yo Longo beat a 28 yo Longo? If not, where are all the 28 year olds who should be leading the pack? I don't think my original post or any that followed were misogynistic (unless any male having a thought about a "women's issue" is thought, by definition, to be misogynistic. An idea I reject.) If anything, my posts reflect an age bias. But as a soon to be 58 yo, I think they reflect reality. If a 51 yo male won an open pro race, my first thought would be that it must have been a weak field.

arkansasgal

I was just trying to see where you were coming from. If I understand it correctly, you are simply saying that Longo at age 51 won the French National TT Championship because of the low level of French women's competition, and would not have won if the younger French women cyclists were doing better. In other words, the field is not deep.

chinarider

Yep. I'm also open to the possibility that she is just such an incredible athlete that she was able to overcome the usual age related disadvantage. Probably both factors are in play here.

BlazingPedals

Fifteen miles at 24.9 mph is pretty good. I'm not sure why she's dominating the younger women, though. It doesn't seem that fast.

big john

To the first point, yes she is.
To the second, ever hear of Ned Overend?

big john

My friend who was a top pro raced against Jeannie a few times. She said the reason the other women didn't like her was the fact she was so hard to beat, not that she wasn't a nice person. They would get upset whenever she would show up at a race, or come out of "retirement".
Jeannie slapped my friend after a stage at the Women's Challenge one time. She doesn't know why, she thinks it was a case of mistaken identity.

chinarider

Sounds vaguely fmiliar, but that's all. I'll guess he's an older male who kicks ass (google here I come).

buelito

Allez Allez Longo!!!

train safe-

backinthesaddle

Actually she's fading. She may have won the time trial, but she only came in third in the road race (failed to win the double this year).

The Weak Link

When the men's national Masters TT was held at Taylorsville last year, the winner of the 46-50 group pulled over 29 mph over the same distance and on a very windy day.

Significant? Maybe yes. Maybe no.

I watched some of the national Masters races when they were here. The winner of the m