“No one has said that they would be - only that their W/kg would be at least as high as some of those at the wrong “pointy end” of the field”
I think you’re seriously selling short the guys at the “point end” of the field.
While I have no doubt that the top women climbers can probably climb better than Jimmy Casper or Gert Steegmans (and I’m not even sure of that, seeing first hand how well guys like J J Haedo and Gord Faser can actually climb), they’re on the pointy end because they have other abilities (going really fast).
Likewise, I’m sure the best women sprinters can outsprint Floyd, but that’s not really the point.
I really doubt that any woman bike racer would be able to fulfill the role of any of the riders who make it to the tour. Just looking at the bottom of the GC right now makes that pretty clear, IMHO.
Actually, I think you’re underestimating the abilities of the very best women, and/or overestimating the abilities of those at the wrong “pointy end” of the peleton. Think about it: we know that, across all sorts of sports, the difference in athletic performance between men and women is, on average, only about 10%…do you really believe that everybody in the Tour de France is w/in 10% of the GC contenders in terms of their ability? I certainly don’t…and that’s based on knowing how much power these guys (both the “stars” and the “water carriers”) can actually produce.