Yesterday’s (20 May) Tour of California time-trial threw up what for me was a quite interesting result. Not so much that Dave Zabriskie won the stage, in what was a record time for the course, what caught my attention were the results from the women’s time-trial that was run on the same course just before the men’s race.

What I have done in the table below is to superimpose the results of the women’s time-trial on the results from the men’s. Although none of the women came close to beating the top men, all but two of them finished with times that were better than some of the elite of the male professional peleton. The winner of the women’s race Kristin Armstrong (no relation and not his ex-wife) would have finished 94th which is more than respectable.

In the United Kingdom we have had women in the past such as Beryl Burton and Yvonne MacGregor who could compete with and beat the men. Beryl Burton famously broke the British 12 hour time-trial record by catching and passing Mike McNamara who was on his way to setting a new British Men’s record. Yvonne MacGregor found that the men who were scheduled to start anything up to five minutes before her, frequently pulled out of the time trial, not wanting to be caught and passed by a woman.

However, Beryl Burton and Yvonne MacGregor were in the main competing against amateurs, good amateurs, but amateurs never the less. The men Kirstin Armstrong and the other women were up against (indirectly) were some of the top professionals in the world. Nick Nuyens whose time was beaten by four of the women won this years Ronde Van Vlaanderen..

I suppose I should add a couple of caveats: The women were racing a one-off event and not one stage in an eight stage race. They are some of the best female time-trialists in the world, and a lot of the men, like Nick Nuyens, are not exactly famed for their time-trialing abilities.

It is still, I think an impressive performance by all the women concerned.

The Ronde Van Vlaanderen  (Tour of Flanders if you don’t speak Flemish or Dutch) takes place tomorrow. It is one of my favourite races of the year. One of the reasons that I like it so much is that it very rarely throws up a lucky winner. The combination of cobbles and short very steep hills almost always seems to ensure that the strongest rider wins.

To give you a taste of what is to come here is Fabian Cancellara winning last years race. The commentary is in Flemish, which I think adds to the atmosphere.

It is easy to see how the (false) rumour that he had an electric motor hidden in his down tube started when you watch him attack on the Kapelmuur.  The rider in the Belgian Champions Jersey that he leaves for dead is Tom Boonen.

I got quite excited last year because for a little while I thought there was a possibility of the first British winner since Tom Simpson. David Millar made a strong attempt to get across to Boonen and Cancellara on the run to the Muur van Geraardsbergen and for a while it looked as if he might make it, but he didn’t quite have the legs. There are a couple of shots where the camera flicks back to the chasers. He is the rider being dropped.

As for this years race, if you have put your money on any one to win it has to be Cancellara. He was impressive last weekend winning the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen – Harelbeke, and it is difficult to see past him. Thor Hushovd is more focused on next weekend’s Paris-Roubaix which he has already stated that he would love to win while wearing the Rainbow Jersey. Phillipe Gilbert, while not without a chance, is probably building his form to peak for Liège-Bastogne-Liège where he has a better chance to win.

However, impressive as Cancellara was winning last weekend, Tom Boone was as impressive winning Gent-Wevelgem last Sunday. I’m not saying he will win, but he has form, and being Flemish, he will always be up for it.

So tomorrow it will all be played out on the 256 km road to Meerbeke. Unfortunately I can’t be where I would like to be, near the top of the Kapelmuur, so I will have to see if I can find a live feed on the internet instead.

I will be drinking Belgian Beer for the duration of the weekend to help with generating the proper ambience.