It’s been over three decades since women have competed in the pinnacle of professional cycling – the Tour de France – with Marianne Martin, Maria Canins and Jeannie Longo having won their yellow jerseys between 1984 and 1989.
This July marks a pivotal moment as a world-class peloton of 24 teams take their places on the start line at the return of a women’s version of the Grand Tour, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
The event from July 24-31 will open at the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris and the women’s field will compete in a circuit race along the Champs-Élysées.
It’s a fitting location to begin the competition and perhaps an opportunity to bid adieu to the stepping-stone event La Course, a popular yet at times controversially brief event which came about in 2014 following a petition to ASO calling for a women’s Tour de France.
Eight years later, ASO welcomes the women’s peloton into the Tour de France for the first time since the former Société du Tour de France held a women’s version 33 years ago.
And so along the Champs-Élysées, on July 24, the men’s Tour de France will come to a conclusion on stage 21, and the yellow jersey will be symbolically handed to the women’s peloton to begin eight varied stages and their long awaited pursuit of the overall title of the Tour de France Femmes.
Cyclingnews will have live coverage of all eight stages of the Tour de France Femmes along with race reports, galleries, results, and exclusive features and news.
Watch our guide to the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift below.
The Tour de France Femmes has the potential to change the landscape of women’s professional cycling. ASO has put a strong foot forward in the first edition of the event with 2.5 hours of live broadcasting and a marketing and media package that rivals the best races in the world.
Preview our handy guide for more details on how to watch the Tour de France Femmes.
Organisers are offering a $250,000 prize purse, which is matched only by the Giro d’Italia Donne, and while this is a fraction of the men’s prize money, many in the sport believe, to begin with, that the live TV coverage is the most crucial factor in the growth of the event.
The former women’s Tour de France of 1984 was held across roughly 1,000km and raced in 18 stages that followed the last section of the men’s route, and they would finish two hours before the men at the same finish line. The women also climbed iconic mountains such as l’Alpe d’Huez.
It’s a different format this time…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…