A women’s Tour de France is overdue, advocates say

The idea of a women’s version of the Tour de France is gathering more support, the Guardian reports, with some big names in cycling throwing their weight behind it. Two-time Olympic medalist Victoria Pendleton is one of them.

A women’s Tour, Pendleton argued, would have the ultimate benefit of getting more women and girls on bikes. “Whilst there are many more women out on their bikes today,” she said, “I believe there is still much more that we can do to encourage even more women and girls to take up the sport. The Tour de France is the biggest race in the world — and the most watched — so if there was an equal women’s event it would go a long way to inspiring more females to take up cycling.”

Halfords, a major UK-based cycling retailer, is also calling for a women’s equivalent to the Tour, suggesting that such a race is long overdue.

The company recently wrote to the UCI, advocating for the international body to do more to encourage women and girls to ride, and considers the lack of such a high-profile women’s event an anomaly, the Guardian continued. “It’s a surprise,” said commercial director Emma Fox,” that in 2015, such a major cycling event doesn’t have a true women’s equivalent.” Riders like Pendleton, Fox said, prove that women are up to the challenge, making the Olympian’s advocacy that much more significant.

“Heroes like Victoria Pendleton have shown that women can take on the toughest Olympic feats,” Fox told the Guardian. “It’s now time that the most prestigious bike race in the world shows the next generation of young girls and women that they too can face the same course as men.”