Once again. Lets get some ‘facts’ right.
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Rachel broke a world’s best performance in the 35-39 age bracket. That is not a world record
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And she doesn’t currently hold the record.
https://www.uci.org/docs/default-so...ling/women-masters-best-performances-2019.pdf
to put this into context. Her best F200 is an 11.721 set in TTown last summer
https://thevelodrome.com/wp-content...ing-Top-16-advance-to-the-Sprints-Results.pdf
the current world record is 10.384 set by Kristina Vogel (GER). If Rachel was racing in 1980 then yes she would break the world record with her 11.7… but times that slow are long gone.
https://www.uci.org/docs/default-so...men-elite-world-records.pdf?sfvrsn=6a21a50e_6
to further the context. My PB is an 11.505 that I set at Canadian nats last year
http://tracktiming.live/results/E1841/W-S-Q-R.htm
I was pretty stoked with that, but it only qualified me second and I was still half a second slower than the top qualifier and 1 second off the Canadian record. So, it was fast but not really.
Now lets take my 11.5 and Rachels 11.7 and look at the last World Championship (where you win those fancy rainbow stripes)
https://www.tissottiming.com/File/0003110102020101FFFFFFFFFFFFFF02
Top qualifier was Steph Morton(AUS) at 10.546. Not a particularly fast time. It was .2 of a second off the world record. 10th was 10.8 (anything below 11 seconds is a smokin’ time) toy had to go to 17th place to get an 11.0. That was Maddy Godby (USA) (the girl who absolutely dominated the Vision GP a few weeks ago)
Top 28 qualified to the racing rounds. That was Natallia Antonova (RUS) at 11.259
My 11.505 would slot me into 32nd place Rachel would be dead last at 11.721. neither of us would get to race beyond the flying qualifier.
I’m fast for a local racer. But on the world stage, at best, I’m race filler. But I love racing and race filler at GP’s and UCI Class 1 races is more than fun.
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Rachel is not a world champion. Is she a professional?
Donno, I think being a Pro isn’t just being given swag from ‘sponsors’ I have mates with deals from companies just because they are advocates and look good on a bike promoting the stuff.
Lets go back to the international governing body. The UCI. It has a list of pro teams and riders
https://www.uci.org/track/teams
oh look, Rachel isn’t on the list (but I am. BTW, I’m not a pro. I work a full-time job. I just do this bike thing on the side, and drink beer)
feel free to check the USA cycling for their Domestic Pro’s
https://www.usacycling.org/resources/uci-and-domestic-elite-teams/domestic-elite-teams
or the Cycling Canada list (oh look I’m on that too, I still don’t call myself a pro)
https://www.cyclingcanada.ca/resources/uci-cc-trade-teams/
so is Rachel really a professional? I’m not going to say she cant identify as one. But the official recognized teams aren’t confirming her status.
Oh yeah, I’m racing Japan later this month. Only Pro’s and national team members got invited. I wonder if Rachel will be racing while she’s out there