Why there aren't more female cyclists (Part I)

This morning, Carlos Sastre, the 2008 winner of the Tour de France, had a cyber-chat with the readers of the Spanish sports newspaper, MARCA. One of the reasons why Carlos became a cyclist was the effort his father, Víctor Sastre, who started a sports foundation in the town of El Barraco. According to Sastre Senior, drugs were a big problem in the town in the 80s, and sports (especially cycling, of which the elder Sastre was once a practicioner) seemed to be one of the main ways out. And to this day, the Fundación Víctor Sastre trains kids to be competitive cyclists...and the website says that some thirty boys and girls currently take part in the program.

Given that the thought of traning and developing up-and-coming cyclists should not be that alien to either of the Sastre men, then, I put forward the following question (somewhat abbreviated because I wasn't able to save what I wrote):

Hello Carlos:

Congratulations on an outstanding season. I recently took a look at the webpage of the Foundation in El Barraco and I noticed that you've got a number of girls who are taking part in the program. I was wondering if you have any opinions about why there are so few women who ride professionally in Spain and who continue as they get older.

It's probably not surprising that he didn't take that one on: firstly, because he probably has very little to do with the Foundation (aside from giving the occasional pep talk) and secondly, because cyclists, like a lot of athletes, are not really given to deep reflection on things that do not fall within their scope of interests. Sastre isn't alone in this respect: Alberto Contador's Televisión Española blog from the 2008 Olympics (which is no longer available on the RTVE website) only has two mentions of his female companions - Maribel Moreno, who got sent back to Spain after testing positive for EPO; and Leire Olaberria, who took home a bronze medal in track. In both cases, Contador's second sentence was "I don't know [said cyclist], but....."

Admittedly, there's no geographical reason why these cyclists should know each other (Leire's Basque and Maribel is from Valencia) but it made me wonder why the national cycling teams couldn't have, at least, had dinner or gone for drinks or some such thing before heading off for Beijing. It's not like there are tons of women cyclists racing in Spain: this list gives the ranking of the 44, count 'em, 44 Spanish women and their national rankings. I should point out that not every cyclist on this list races in Spain: Eneritz Iturriaga is currently riding as a pro in Italy. (To see the most current list of Spanish women's road rankings, click on this link: http://rfec.trackglobe.com/familias/INDIVIDUAL%2022-09-082.pdf

I've been thinking about this a lot in the last couple of years, but I had two moments of clarity yesterday, especially after my credit card rebelled in Calmera as I tried to buy a new odometer for Ellie:

a) COMPETITIVE ROAD CYCLING IS EXPENSIVE. Not just expensive - bloody expensive. A decent bike will run you at least €1500 (and that's for an Orbea, which is produced in Navarre.) A 2008 road licence is €52. Then there's the kit, the expense of getting to and from races, entry fees for races... The RFEC is trying to combat this by offering grants to cadets and sub-23s and their families, but if it's like trying to get ANY grant in Spain, it'll involve a ton of paperwork and ultimately not be worth the pittance you'll get. As they say in Spain, water that's gone under the bridge can't move the mill.

b) COMPETITIVE ROAD CYCLING REQUIRES A LOT OF FAMILY SUPPORT, or a lack of emotional and work obligations so that you're able to focus on the stupid stuff, like being able to cook healthy, nutritional meals for yourself, to be able to shop regularly, to have someone to talk to. I used to think that male cyclists were insane for getting married so young; now I see that having someone on board to work as a butler, laundress, nutritionist and secretary is a very intelligent way of keeping your head out of your hands and your tears of exhaustion and frustration in your eyes.

All of which doesn't mean that it's not worth trying to race - but it does require the ability to keep your head on straight, to know what your priorities are and knowing what you want. And that's not necessarily something that most young women are able to do easily.

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Stupid Piece of Trivia for the Day: One of the possible translations of the name Carlos Sastre is Chuck Taylor. As far as I've been able to find out, the cyclist from Ávila is not a b-ball player, and he has yet to be seen in a pair of high-tops.

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If your Spanish is up for it (and judging by the calibre of questions, you don't need a particularly high level of fluency), the Q&A is still available online at http://www.marca.com/charlas/carlos-sastre/03102008.html