WHY WE IGNORE WOMEN'S SPORTS [Outside]

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Women's cycling is neglected throughout the year. But every Olympic season, our interest in most women's sports peaks—only to quickly wane. With Americans set to compete for gold in London and new races on the horizon, is it finally women's cycling's time?
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"I've gotten many comments about the faces I made in the celebration afterwards," Evelyn Stevens says of winning the Fleche Wallonne in April. "I think even on the podium I was still making weird faces."
"I've gotten many comments about the faces I made in the celebration afterwards," Evelyn Stevens says of winning the Fleche Wallonne in April. "I think even on the podium I was still making weird faces."    Photographer: CJFoto.com

There is an American in pink, but nobody cares. Not that that's anything new.
The Giro d’Italia Femminile is the biggest race you’ve never heard of. Covering 961.4 kilometers of Italian countryside over nine days, 127 athletes compete for one of the sport’s biggest prizes—the pink jersey. And in 2010, an American won it all. But as is usual for women’s cycling, the coverage was muted.
Again in 2012, American cyclists should be in the news: Evelyn Stevensbecame only the second American—after Lance Armstrong—to win the spring classic Fleche Wallone. She also recently won a stage at the Giro d’Italia Femminile. And Kristin Armstrong is a favorite to defend her gold medal in the time trial at the London Olympics. There’s even a new race on the map: The Exergy Tour, a women’s only stage race with $100,000 on the line. But for some reason, nobody seems to notice.

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