We shouldn't have to wait four years to see the awesome women cyclists race at the Olympics. Feel robbed? Speak up and demand to see coverage of races like the Giro Rosa. If you aren't watching, you are missing out because Marianne Vos is AMAZING.

"The Cycling World Is Ignoring the Giro Rosa—and I’m Fed Up With It

IT’S ONE OF THE SPORT’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS RACES. WHY DON’T MORE PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT IT?"

Earlier today, I watched Marianne Vos, one of the most dominant athletes in cycling history, pull a three-woman breakaway with Lucinda Brand and Elisa Longo Borghini, only to trounce her competition at the finish line of Stage 8 of the Giro Rosa.

It was inspiring from every angle, the latest in a series of outstanding finishes from athletes in this race. My chest swelled, and I cheered my face off watching Vos sit up and flex her arms as she crossed the finish line. She’s magnificent.

But that elation and pride quickly turned to frustration and anger. The most prestigious and important race on the women’s pro calendar kicked off just over a week ago and, unless you’re among the keenest of cycling fans, you probably didn’t notice.

In fact, you might not have known that the Giro Rosa existed at all.

Bike media, for the most part, does not cover it. Bike brands don’t promote the event or their sponsored athletes within it. There is only one way to watch the Giro Rosa in the US—an abbreviated livestream showing the last 20K of each stage, broadcast in Italian. The UCI, an organization that claims to be committed to the promotion of women’s cycling, offers six-minute highlight reels of each stage after the fact. That’s it.

To add insult to injury, because of the timing of the race and its proximity to the Tour de France, fans of the Giro Rosa are subjected to a constant stream of reminders of what it looks like when cycling actually gives a shit.

Cycling press and brand social media accounts are packed with images from the Tour. It’s disappointing, to say the least, when the Tour’s “podium girls”—whom organizers had said would be removed from the event, only to reverse course—are more visible than the whole field of athletes in the Giro Rosa.

Full article: https://www.bicycling.com/news/a22143431/giro-rosa/