Did you expect Mohoric to give a lengthy interview after his MSR win explaining why descending like a demon is dangerous? I’m not saying this isn’t an issue but I strongly disagree that the onus is on PFP to have to address it like that.
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Absolutely this, well said. It’s worth noting who is and who isn’t sharing opinions on this post and on Abby’s original article. We can all have an opinion on the role of weight in wider cycling, but there is undoubtedly a distinct experience for women because of wider social norms and pressures.
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Fair. I guess I’d argue that the risks in descending like Mohoric are obvious to most people, whereas the risks of being at an unhealthy weight are less well known. The dangers of hitting hard things fast are clear, and have been for a long time 
. The dangers of things like low bone density due to hormone disruption are less so, and that’s all new information for a lot of people. It’s fairly new to this sport.
Young men do face social pressure to prove their bravery, but I don’t think it’s the same level as the pressure on young women to be thin.
This has been a fundamental problem since the days we started ‘Ella’ as a separate area of CyclingTips. The decision was made for a few good reasons, and primarily it was because we wanted a space where the articles were primarily written for a female audience from a female perspective, where women could engage with those articles in the comments. But what ended up happening was exactly what we tried to prevent: a bunch of men (most well meaning) would jump in, mansplain and subsequently shut down any conversation by telling everyone what’s what (even in topics they had no idea about). Any progress with attracting a female audience was hindered by this, and most females didn’t bother anymore.
What most people don’t realise is that covering women’s cycling mostly attracts a male audience. That male audience tells us how women’s cycling should be covered and what we should and shouldn’t talk about. I don’t know why Abby shut down the comments in her article, but I can definitely guess why. I know of many women in cycling who have suffered from eating disorders (yes, I’m sure there are many male equivalents, but women are many times more susceptible) and I wouldn’t want to bother with dealing with those comments either.
I don’t know how to fix this.
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I don’t think you can….it is a much larger societal problem. Unfortunately, it is also one that is moving in the wrong direction in a lot of areas around the world right now.
The only thing we can do is attempt to address women’s issues respectfully, while deferring to women’s voices first and foremost.
It is disappointing that there has not been one female poster on this topic….but also somewhat understandable. This is a sport that skews very heavily male and the forum is still very early in its launch phase.
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I think part of my original question was in the jarring (from my PoV) difference in how men’s and women’s winners were looked at in the specialist press by journalists across the gender spectrum. If, as PFP says, she did this responsibly with medical support, why can she not be taken at her word and then people move on rather than have pieces written before, during and after the Tour?
Not pointing at EC in particular (I’ve been a backer since the start) and id not even seen Abby’s piece before comments were locked.
I think there is some interesting learning from the Discord on this - Abby, Loren, Gracie and now Georgie are leading conversations as part of a community that has sprung from the podcast. As @VeloBouf pointed out, this forum being so new, it doesn’t feel that there’s an intrinsic link yet. I think conversations led by women will lead to more authentic and thoughtful responses. But I think it will take time (and work) for this to be become a space that people can trust.
Back in the glorious days of GCN+, they aired a documentary named “The Weight of the Peloton” addressing the issues of maintaing a low weight to be effective as a climber/domestique. It was insightful and helpful to understand how the teams handle this and the effect on riders. I don’t know if it’s still available on the GCN website, some of the docs were available.
I honestly don’t know how to be a fan of women’s cycling. I’m genuinely a fan of it but I’m more self conscious about how I react and comment. I feel like memes about Michael Rasmussen’s body were considered universally funny back in the day - I don’t recall many people expressing concern over the memes and jokes. I wouldn’t dare make similar comments about women cyclists. I’m not criticizing women or ‘equality’ for that, but it just feels riskier to make frank and fearless comments about women’s cycling than men’s. So I/people naturally comment more on men’s cycling. Is that respectful and what success looks like? It doesn’t feel like it.
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I won’t comment on the women’s side of things because it’s not my lane, but I really thought and hoped we were past the emaciated cyclist days of Rasmussen etc
If JV/Pogi existed in the 90s they would probably be another few kg lighter
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Dr. Anna Carceller on hormones, periods, and peak performance in women’s sport Hormones, periods, and peak performance in women’s sport | EF Pro Cycling
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I was one of the well meaning men that commented on Abby’s article before the comments were closed. I thought I was being measured and was speaking in defense of the premise of the article but I realise on reflection that I was just being another bloke arguing on the internet with other blokes. I think closing the comments was absolutely the right thing to do.
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I’m not judging you at all, but I always thought the Rasmussen stuff was cringey even its heydey, and the Rasmussen story nothing but sad. There’s a lot of human wreckage from that era, and Rasmussen exemplifies it pretty well.