When Amaury Sport Organisation offered Marion Rousse the job of Director of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift she accepted the role without hesitation, and now she is overseeing the rebirth of the race as it continues its journey from Paris to the peak of La Super Planche des Belles Filles.
Rousse, a former French National Road Race champion and Lotto-Soudal racer, has always been keen to see a development in women’s professional cycle racing. During her racing days most had to work alongside their sporting careers so she is thrilled to see the evolution and increasing professionalism in recent years. By holding and televising the Tour de France Femmes with Zwift, she can be part of the step to normalising women’s cycle racing and inspiring the next generation of racers.
Rousse spoke with Cyclingnews, reflecting on her role with the Tour de France Femmes, which is running from July 24 to 31, and the part it has to play in the evolution of the sport.
Cyclingnews: How did you get into bike racing?
Marion Rousse: Well I’ve been in cycling all my life as I was born into a cycling family. My cousins raced professionally, and my dad was a first category rider. As a baby I would watch him at races on the roadside from my buggy. When I was six I had enough of cheering from the sidelines so I announced to him that I wanted to get into cycling.
My dad wasn’t in favour of it at first as he felt I was too young and it would be too hard for me. So, one day, while my dad was at work my mum signed me up for a race on the sly. Then when my dad returned from work and I showed him my racing licence, he laughed and said, “Okay you can race but I’m telling you now, we won’t be going to races every weekend.” I did my first race the following weekend, and I did more races after that. Eventually, my dad became my coach and he accompanied me to all my races after that.
CN: So you were passionate about cycling?
MR: Yes. When I was growing up I was always watching bike races on TV with the family. There wasn’t a single televised race that I missed – whether it was Paris-Roubaix, the Tour de France or Tour of Flanders. Roubaix was special for me because I was in a cycling academy and I did all my championship races at the velodrome in Roubaix.
I grew up in a village near Valenciennes, not far from the early sectors of pave on the Paris-Roubaix route, so I would go out and ride some of them with my dad.
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