Getting to the finish line as quickly as possible is part of the essence of cycling. But four riders had to wait almost nine years to reach their goal: The activist and former professional rider Kathryn Bertine, Ironman pro Chrissie Wellington and the two top female racers Emma Pooley and Marianne Vos had started the petition Le Tour Entier (the whole Tour) in 2013.
They wanted to put pressure on Tour organiser ASO to finally create a Tour de France for women again.
Collecting signatures for the Women's Tour de France
They succeeded: 9,7307 people signed the petition for a women's Tour de France - and set a ball rolling that initially only gathered momentum slowly, but it did. After eight years of the ASO trying to satisfy the petition with the one-day race La Course by Le Tour, the time has come this year: from 24 to 31 July, the women's professional cyclists will compete in a Grand Boucle in France for the first time since 2009 - and under the same organiser as the men's Tour, which was last the case in 1989 (see also TOUR interview with race director Marion Rousse).
The anticipation is high in the women's peloton - and the hopes associated with it. "I'm really looking forward to the Tour," says eight-time German world champion Lisa Brennauer. "I'm really excited to see how it will be received, I'm looking forward to the media interest." And her compatriot and professional colleague Lisa Klein says: "I'm assuming that it will be very exciting the way it's organised now - and that's the best advertisement for women's cycling."
Interest in women's cycling is growing
The hope for media attention and thus growing interest from sponsors is certainly justified, as the women's premiere of the Paris-Roubaix classic, also organised by the ASO, showed in autumn 2021: No other women's race before has attracted so many media representatives.
The fact that former world champion and hugely media-savvy Lizzie Deignan - who is now expecting her second child in the autumn - then returned to the peloton after giving birth to her daughter, of all people, and won with an impressive solo, further increased public interest: "I rode today with the energy of generations of women who were denied this opportunity," said Deignan at the winners' press conference. A sentence that fans now hang on their walls as a poster.
Women's Tour de France as a driving force
"Roubaix was a game changer," says Ronny Lauke, team manager of the German World Tour team Canyon-SRAM. "We had been looking forward to it for a long time and then there was global attention. I think that showed a lot of people: Wow, there's something to be said for women's cycling. You don't just put money in, you also get something out of it." Lauke believes "that the sport is helped immensely by the Tour de France as a driving force."
Now the Tour de France is set to take women's cycling to the next level and should once again demonstrate what has become clear time and again in men's cycling: The real power is obviously not held by the UCI, but by Tour organiser ASO.
As much as the UCI has given women's cycling a boost with the introduction of the Women's World Tour and minimum wage rules for professional riders or live TV obligations for race organisers, the real booster seems to be in the hands of the ASO. After all, it is the big names in their races that attract media attention.
Women's Tour de France should not be called "Tour"
The French took a long time to get round to it. Just 25 years ago, the Société du Tour de France banned the organisers of the last women's Tour of France, the Grande Boucle Féminine, from using their name "Tour".
And while women already received the same prize money as men at the World Tour race in London in 2016, for example, or the organisers of the Tour of Flanders and Gent-Wevelgem placed their women's races more prominently in the daily schedule - and will also pay men and women the same prize money in future - the cameras at the ASO race Flèche Wallonne remained switched off for years for the women at the Mur de Huy when they crossed the finish line there - while the live broadcast of the men's race 100 kilometres from the finish has long been running.
Women's World Tour 2022
- 71 race days - almost twice as many as in 2021
- 14 racing teams instead of 9, as in 2021
Whether the ASO has now recognised the value of women's cycling or has simply given in to growing public pressure cannot be proven. What cannot be overlooked, however, is that the famous "Tour de France" brand has given women's cycling a further tailwind. This year, the Women's World Tour comprises 71 race days, almost twice as many as in 2021, and 14 racing teams instead of 9.
What do professional female cyclists earn?
This means that 186 female cyclists now earn the minimum wage of 27,500 euros for permanent employees and 44,500 euros for freelance riders, which has also been increased for 2022. The minimum wage is set to rise by a further 38 per cent by 2025.
It is only logical that the team budgets are also growing rapidly: in 2022, the 14 World Teams, ten of which are affiliated with men's racing teams and partly use their infrastructure, will each raise an average of almost 2.5 million euros per year. Just three years ago, only industry leader Trek-Segafredo was in this range.
Significantly greater recognition of women's cycling today
In order to finance this, sponsors are needed - and things are also starting to move on this front. Zwift, the operator of a virtual training and racing platform, has signed up for four years as the title sponsor of the Women's Tour, which is now officially called the "Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift".
And last winter, Belgian window manufacturer Deceuninck made headlines when it switched its title sponsorship from one of the best men's teams in the world, Quick-Step, to the pro team Alpecin-Fenix. The reason? "We are a modern company and cannot accept that women are pushed to the back of the sport," explained Deceuninck boss Francis Van Eeckhout.
Cavendish praises women's cycling
The owners of Team Alpecin-Fenix also run the Plantur-Pura women's team alongside Mathieu van der Poel's men's racing team - whereas Quick-Step team boss Patrick Lefevere is disrespectful of women's cycling.
Even if old structures and ways of thinking are still deeply rooted, the recognition of women's cycling by male professionals is much greater today than it was ten years ago. Sprint superstar Mark Cavendish, for example, has often outed himself as a fan: "When I see what my female colleagues are doing for the growth of women's cycling, they are laying the foundations for my daughter to one day choose whether she wants to be a professional cyclist," he said. "She can then not only try somehow, but choose to do it."
And Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar is rumoured to have lobbied for his UAE Emirates team to take over the women's team Alé BTC Ljubljana. Its riders will now line up at the start of this year's Tour de France Femmes in Paris as Team UAE Emirates.
Women's Tour de France: Joy over 8 stages
On the same day that the men's race finishes on the Champs-Élysées, the women will also sprint to the finish line on the magnificent boulevard at the end of their first stage. They will then continue through the north-east of France on a further seven stages. The fact that their tour is only eight stages and not 21 like the men, is not seen as a problem in the women's peloton. On the contrary.
"None of the riders I work with want a three-week tour," says Canyon-SRAM team boss Ronny Lauke. "You can see in the peloton that the necessary power density is still lacking." It would also be almost impossible for the teams to manage.
"Super start" for the women's Tour de France
"For three weeks, which is actually four weeks with travel to and from the race and rest days, you need the necessary personnel to be able to rotate." And Ceratizit-WNT rider Lisa Brennauer says: "I wouldn't put this in relation to the 21 days that the men are riding. We are happy about the eight stages and see this as a great start for this event."
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg, former professional cyclist and now Sports Director at Trek-Segafredo, also dislikes the eternal comparison with men's cycling: "You should look at the positives first: That there is a Tour de France (for women, editor's note)," she says. "It will certainly become even longer. But the longest women's race currently lasts ten days. It would be far too big a leap to suddenly make it 21 days.".
The most important women's cycling races in 2022
26.2. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (BEL)
5.3. Strade Bianche (ITA)*
12.3. Ronde van Drenthe (NED)*
20.3. Trofeo Alfredo Binda (ITA)*
24.3. Brugge-De Panne (BEL)*
27.3. Gent-Wevelgem (BEL)*
30.3. Dwars door Vlaanderen (BEL)
3.4. Tour of Flanders (BEL)*
10.4. Amstel Gold Race (NED)*
16.4. Paris-Roubaix (FRA)*
20.4. Flèche Wallonne (BEL)*
24.4. Liège-Bastogne-Liège (BEL)*
29.4.-1.5. Festival Elsy Jacobs (LUX)
13-15 May Itzulia Women (ESP)*
19-22 May Vuelta a Burgos (ESP)*
24-29 May Thüringen Ladies Tour (GER)
27-29 May RideLondon Classique (GBR)*
6-11 June Women's Tour (GBR)*
18-21 June Tour de Suisse (SUI)
1-10 July Giro d'Italia Donne (ITA)*
24-31 July Tour de France Femmes (FRA)*
6 Aug. Team time trial Vargarda (SWE)*
7.8. road race Vargarda (SWE)*
9-14 Aug. Battle of the North (NOR/DEN)*
17 Aug. European Championship individual time trial Munich (GER)
21 Aug. European Championship road race Munich (GER)
27.8. GP Lorient Agglomération (FRA)*
30 Aug. - 4 Sept. Simac Ladies Tour (NED)*
7-11 Sept. Challenge by La Vuelta (ESP)*
18 Sept. World Championship individual time trial (AUS)
24.9. World Championship Road Race (AUS)
1 Oct. Giro dell'Emilia (ITA)
7-9 Oct. Tour de Romandie (SUI)*
13-15 Oct. Tour of Chongming Island (CHN)*
18.10. Tour of Guangxi (CHN)*
* World Tour race
Women's cycling: the next generation
You should remember these five names in the women's professional peloton
Demi Vollering
Born 1996, Team SD Worx
Demi Vollering succeeds Anna van der Breggen at SD Worx. The Dutchwoman can climb and time trial, but also has the necessary punch for sprints in small groups. She is already number four in the world, having won Liège-Bastogne-Liège, La Course and the Women's Tour in 2021.
Elisa Balsamo
Born 1998, Team Trek-Segafredo
Somewhat surprisingly, Elisa Balsamo stormed to the 2021 World Championship title in Leuven. However, her great talent as a sprinter is undisputed. In the rainbow jersey, the woman from Piedmont is now the leader of a whole pack of young Italian talents.
talents.
Liane Lippert
Born 1998, Team DSM
The rider from Friedrichshafen won the last World Tour race before the coronavirus break in 2020, but had a lot of bad luck in 2021: a positive coronavirus test and illness spoilt Liane Lippert's highlights of the season. On the way to European Championship silver in Trento, however, she shook off all the aces on the mountain.
Elise Chabbey
Born 1993, Team Canyon-SRAM
Starting out as a canoeist at the 2012 Olympics, the Geneva native only began cycling during her medical studies. Elise Chabbey turned professional in 2018 and made her breakthrough in 2021. The all-rounder, who temporarily returned to work as a doctor at the start of the pandemic, is characterised above all by her aggressiveness on the bike.
Emma Norsgaard Bjerg
Born 1999, Team Movistar
The Dane, whose brother Mathias also rides for Movistar and whose husband Mikkel Bjerg rides for UAE Emirates, is the youngest in the top 20 of the world rankings and a huge talent. Her greatest strength is the sprint, but Norsgaard also has her sights set on the classics.
