There will be a women’s Tour de France again in 2022
But fans will have to "put to one side the idea of parity between men and women"
After years of pressure from cycling fans around the world, news arrived that there will finally be a women’s edition of the Tour de France. But not until 2022. Christian Prudhomme, director of The Tour, revealed the news Tuesday.
While fans will have to wait until next year, it could have happened sooner were it not for the pandemic.
“It will take place next year, that’s certain,” Prudhomme told The Guardian. “It would have happened this year if it had not been for the COVID-19 pandemic, obviously, and above all if the Tokyo Olympics had not been after the Tour, so the best riders may not be available. But the decisions has been taken. There will be a Tour de France femmes in 2022.”
Late July calendar spot
The women’s Tour, as indicated by Prudhomme’s statement that it would conflict with Tokyo, will not take place at the same time as the men’s. Instead, much like the Giro Rosa, the women’s version of the Giro d’Italia, it will follow shortly after the men’s event.
The last time a women’s Tour de France ran, stages took place before the men’s. That event ran for six years, from 1984 until 1989.
Prudhomme referenced that event in stating the need for any new women’s Tour to be financially viable, before any issues of gender equality could be considered.
“In my view, you have to put to one side the idea of parity between men and women. Why? Because there was a reason why that race only lasted for six years, and that was a lack of economic balance. What we want to do is create a race that will stay the course, that will be set up and stand the test of time. What that means is that the race cannot lose money.”
Prudhomme shared that the races run by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), who also organize the men’s Tour de France, have not yet met that marker.
“Today, all the women’s races that we organise lose us money. Even so, we’ve been running Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, La Course by Le Tour. There was the Tour of Yorkshire and the Tour de Qatar Feminin, there will be Paris-Roubaix in October. If it makes money, that’s great, but it mustn’t lose money or it will end up like the Tour in the 80s and it will die.”
“If that balance had been achieved then, we would be on our 35th women’s Tour now. The challenge is to set up a race that can live for 100 years. That’s why we want it to follow the men’s Tour, so that the majority of the channels which broadcast the men’s Tour will cover it as well.”
ASO’s critics might point out that, despite the fact that several women’s races have shown better viewership than the men’s races (including Amstel Gold women’s race), live coverage is much more limited, and often only covers the later stages of a race. Women’s races are rarely broadcast to the same extent as its men’s events—television or otherwise.
Distinct events
While there were few details included in the announcement, Prudhomme says more information will arrive in October, around the same time as the men’s launch. The women’s Tour will be its own distinct event and early signs suggest it will have its own unique route.
The route will, according to Prudhomme, reflect differences between the men’s and women’s peloton. “Women’s cycling has a very high level, but it’s more disparate,” the Tour boss said. “Men’s cycling has a high level, and is more at the same level. For a men’s organiser, that’s tough – you need steeper climbs all the time, harder climbs and so on.
“To run a women’s race is more simple, you don’t need 50 hyper-steep climbs, you can be more natural about it. Women’s cycling is far less controlled than men’s. I can tell you there will be links with the past, with the present, and perhaps the future on the route of the [women’s] Tour.”
Whatever it looks like, fans can look forward to the return of a women’s Tour de France in 2022.
