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| Demi Vollering |
The women’s version of the Tour de France was called, for a time, la Grande Boucle. Literally, it means “the big loop”and referred to the fact that, like the men’s Tour de France, the race took riders around the country.
The name now seems weirdly appropriate. Yesterday, La Course was held. It’s billed as the feminin version of the Tour, At one time, the Boucle could legitimately make such a claim, as it was a multi-stage race. Now, however, it’s a one-day prelude to the men’s Tour—as it was during the early years of the Boucle.
You could say the race a boucle la boucle (has come full circle), though not in the way cyclists or women’s sports advocates might have hoped.
After expanding to 15 stages in the 1990s, organizational and logistical problems led to its shrinkage and, for a few years, it’s cancellation. The race and riders were always scrambling for sponsorships, and race organizers scheduled stages in whichever cities contributed money. That led to long and awkward transfers between stages.
For the record, Dutch cyclist Demi Vollering won yesterday’s La Course, held in the northwestern French town of Mur-de-Bretagne, about 130 kilometers from Brest, where the Tour started yesterday.
In 2022, ASO (the organizer of La Course, Le Tour de France, as well as other races) has committed to an 8-stage Tour de France Femmes, following the men's Tour de France. Although this is a step forward by ASO, in order to capitalize on its impact on the visibility of women's cycle racing, extensive televised coverage is vital.
ReplyDeleteIn recent years, groups of women have ridden the entire TdF route, all 21 stages, a day ahead of the men's race, proving that their athletic abilities and conditioning are up to this most grueling of professional sporting events. Yet indications persist that ASO believes the women must race easier, shorter and fewer stages. Hopefully next year's TdF Femmes will not be discontinued someday, as has happened before.