It has been a busy couple of years for the Tour de France Director, Christian Prudhomme, resurrecting the women’s Tour de France – now called the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift – an event originally set for 2021 but that was deferred due to the pandemic.
Receiving the investment from title sponsor, Zwift, has been key in making the idea a reality. While Prudhomme is very much aware of other established women’s stage races in the calendar, for him the underpinning element of the Tour de France Femmes is the need to have a high profile event with media coverage.
This aspect goes back to a meeting he had with a delegation of women racers 10 years ago, in which Marianne Vos highlighted the need for a women’s Tour de France to receive media coverage.
As with the men’s Grand Tour, Prudhomme has done a marathon round of publicity visits with Tour de France Femmes Director, Marion Rousse, to the host towns.
Prudhomme reflects on the event as Cyclingnews caught up with him ahead of the eight-day women’s race, set to begin at the Eiffel Tower on July 24 and conclude at the summit of La Super Planche des Belles Filles on July 31.
Cyclingnews: What made you decide to stage the Tour de France Femmes now?
Christian Prudhomme: I like to think that we have now entered a virtuous circle in which organisations and sponsors such as LCL (formerly Credit Lyonnais), Skoda, LeClerc that have worked with us for many years believe in us. Newer sponsors, and of course the lead sponsor, Zwift, have come on board. With this backing it is hoped that we can balance the books from the first year of the competition.
If the Tour de France Feminin during the 1980s stopped after six editions, it was because they were losing too much money on it. Other people created other stage races such as La Grande Boucle Feminine and La Route de France Feminine. But they also stopped for the same reasons – the same cause, the same effect.
So the financial aspect is principal. We want to create an event that will have longevity – a race that exists in five years, 50 years, 100 years even 200 years’ time. We now feel optimistic about a future for a Tour de France Femmes.
CN: How important was it to have Marion Rousse as the Director of the race?
CP: It was really important when Marion accepted the invitation. She has been a racer herself and was the French National Champion in 2012. She is the partner of Julian Alaphilippe, two-time World Champion – that counts as well. Also she was…
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