In exploring how to chase a KOM on Strava, this series of articles has fallen into the trap of under-representing the achievements of the Queens of the Mountains (QOMs). Although this is partly because Strava tends to attract male data geeks, there are plenty of women who use the platform to monitor their fitness and performance in a social way. This blog looks at the performance of women cyclists, once again featuring the popular Tour de Richmond Park segment.
More women are riding their bikes as the interest in women’s cycling continues to grow. Top riders like Lizzie Deignan, Marianne Vos and the Drops Cycling Team are receiving broader recognition for their amazing performances. This year’s Women’s Tour will benefit from broad media coverage, as it finishes in the heart of London. The Cycling Podcast Féminin is now into its ninth episode.
Analysis of the top 1000 (mostly male) riders on the Tour de Richmond Park leaderboard established that the majority of personal bests (PBs) were set during the summer months, either early in the morning or in the evening, with Saturday and Wednesday being popular days or the week, especially when the wind was blowing from the East. The charts below compare these statistics from the male and female leaderboards.
Female PBs are a little more evenly spread over the year, peaking in July. Women have tended to achieve their best times later in the morning, perhaps reflecting a stronger preference for cycling around the park on the weekend, particularly on Sunday, when men seem to be off chasing KOMs elsewhere.
An Easterly wind has also been helpful, though the effect has been less marked than for the men. In fact only three out of the top 25 women benefited from a favourable wind direction. This suggests that, as the weather warms up, there’s an opportunity to post a very good time when there is a strong tailwind up Sawyers Hill, perhaps seeing the first woman under sixteen minutes for the segment. So watch the forecast and get out there girls!
The last post noted that riders can be classified according to their strengths as sprinters, climbers or time trialers. Whatever kind of rider you are, it is important to balance dietary energy intake with exertion. Given the non weight-bearing nature of the sport, this is particularly important for very lean female cyclists, who may experience disruption of hormonal function, resulting in reduced bone mineral density. See Nicky Keay’s blog for more information on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, which is also relevant to men and young athletes.
No discussion of Strava QOMs could fail to mention the incredible performance of Maryka Sennema. Her dedication to training and cycling at the highest level has earned her over 2,200 QOMs, making her the undisputed Goddess of the Mountains.
The next blog will continue to apply the scientific microscope to cycling data, in search of helpful insights on pro cyclists.
Science4Performance 
Ahh yes Maryka leaves many, many strong male riders in her wake!!
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Interesting paper on Elite Women’s Road Cycling
http://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/abs/10.1123/ijspp.2016-0588?journalCode=ijspp
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