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Current yellow jersey, Marianne Vos was very influential in the fight to relaunch a women’s Tour de France, after 33 years of absence. But everything will not be done in one day to obtain a homogeneous peloton.
From our special correspondent on the Tour de France Women,
Far from the spotlight, another round of France Women. That of teams who dream neither of the yellow jersey nor of a stage victory. But just try to connect the arrivals as best as possible. If the FDJ-Suez Futuroscope displays a budget 3 million euros, the Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime team works with almost ten times less (380,000 euros). And the difference is obvious when you approach the race.
Do with the means at hand
« The Tour de France took this project seriously, thanks to them, testifies Sebastián Unzué, the manager of the Spanish formation Movistar, which has in its ranks a star of women’s cycling, Annemiek van Vleuten, recent winner of the Tour of Italy. Yes, there is a big difference between big teams and lower level formations. But it’s good for them to participate. It is by being here that they will improve. We must be optimistic and positive, the differences in level that we see today will eventually disappear in the coming years. ».
In Épernay, Tuesday July 26, two runners from the Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime, the South African Frances Janse van Rensburg and the Frenchwoman Noémie Abgrall, arrived after the deadline. Of the six competitors entered, only two remained at the start of the fifth stage on July 28 in Bar-le-Duc.
During the first stage which arrived on the Champs-Élysées, the Swiss Petra Stiasny (Roland Cogeas Edelweiss Squad), did not arrive on time either after being caught in a fall. Her women’s Tour de France ended after only 80 kilometers of racing.
10% of members of the French Cycling Federation are women
« All the teams are looking for girls and there aren’t that many, concedes to RFI a connoisseur of women’s cycling. You can’t find yourself propelled on a race of such a level without great experience with talented girls like Marianne Vos, without there being damage ».
It must be said that it took until 2019 for the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to set up, as with the men, a World Tour division of 14 teams with strict prerequisites: minimum wages, maternity leave, etc. Its next project will be to structure the second level, the Continental, by 2025. Today, the girls are in very good conditions compared to what we have known. Me in the mid 80s, my sponsor was my husband “, testifies Jeannie Longo in the columns of the Parisian. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
In France, only 10% of members of the French Cycling Federation (FFC) are women. If the women’s team Saint-Michel-Auber 93 in the suburbs of Paris was created in 2012, it only gained professional status at the start of the 2022 season in the second division (Continental). It’s not easy to challenge the big teams of the World Tour, in which all the riders live only on the bike. Not all the girls in the Ile-de-France team have the opportunity to devote 100% of their time to their sport. Like Barbara Fonseca, a sports teacher when she’s not on a bike.
« Our sport needs time »
However, according to Jean-Michel Monin, former cyclist and sports manager in the competition department of Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), the level of women’s cycling has increased significantly. ” Between Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2001 and that of 2021, the running average is no longer the same. It’s true, women’s professional cycling is booming, and indeed, there are disparities between the teams. But everyone has the right to run together. You have to let small teams grow. Everyone in their place in this women’s Tour de France insists Jean-Michel Monin.
After the fourth stage between Troyes and Bar-sur-Aube, the French Juliette Labous (Team DSM) spoke of a level as homogeneous as on the Tour of Italy. “ It’s true, in the finale, there are about fifteen girls who stand out. But the rest is not so far “, she relativizes.
« Our sport needs time », explains Stephen Delcourt, manager of the FDJ cycling team. He had pleaded for fewer teams on this women’s Tour, but with eight riders in each.
« Some just follow and want to go all the way »
For the French champion Audrey Cordon-Ragot, “ You have to work on the structure at an amateur level » et « allow the national divisions to run more so that the girls do their grades, and it is this pool that will then pass the next level ».
And a three-week Women’s Tour de France? “ We must remain objective about what we are today, that is to say small teams which can prepare for a Giro or a Tour de France in ten days, but three weeks would be physically unmanageable. The current level is not homogeneous enough for that. Men are more numerous in their teams “, concedes Audrey Cordon-Ragot in an interview given to Eurosport.fr.
« Some are content to follow and want to go all the way. Yes, there are about fifty girls who undergo the race. They don’t even consider taking a breakaway. The level of women’s cycling has improved, but the level gap between the best and the weakest has also increased “, concludes Gaël Le Bellec, sports director of the Cofidis training.
►Also read: Report – Tour de France Women: “This public everywhere on the side of the road, it’s incredible”
