“the fourth week of the Tour” according to Marion Rousse

2023-07-24 11:25:57

The cross : The Women’s Tour de France started on Sunday July 23 for the second consecutive year, after its return in 2022. What were the lessons of the first edition?

Marion Rousse: Last year was a real success. Sportingly speaking, I had no worries about the fact that we were going to offer interesting races but, to be honest, we didn’t know if the public would be present on the edges of the roads and if the television audiences would be satisfactory. It was the first time that a women’s cycling race would be broadcast in more than 190 countries. But we gave ourselves the means and it paid off.

Today, moreover, I see a clear difference in the questions I am asked. A year ago, I was asked if this race was going to be of interest and if it could be permanent. From now on, I am asked who are the favorites. We got into people’s minds as being the “fourth week” of the Tour de France, it’s already a guarantee of success.

Is it relevant to compare the men’s Tour de France and the women’s Tour de France?

M. R. : Let’s say that the name “Tour de France” was very important to us because only the strength of this name can make people talk about a bike race with family and friends. Even people who are not passionate about cycling and who will not watch a race the rest of the year are interested in the Tour de France and find themselves following the fate of the riders. The two events are linked by the force of things, and so much the better because we really needed this media coverage for women’s cycling.

But there are obviously differences. We must evolve at the same pace as women’s cycling as a whole. It would be a big mistake to want to make the two races identical at all costs. There have been women’s Tour de France before (between 1984 and 1989, plus the International women’s Grande Boucle, contested from 1992 to 2009, and the women’s Route de France, from 2006 to 2016, Editor’s note), but they all shut down because they didn’t offer the right format. We want to be present again in a hundred years. And in this case, doing that over just one week, with the events we offer, corresponds to the current state of women’s cycling. It is important not to skip steps.

The women’s cycling calendar is getting denser. Do logistics and budgets follow?

M. R. : The Tour de France brought media coverage but also made it possible to strengthen the structures of women’s cycling. There are more and more teams at World Tour level (the racing category managed by the International Cycling Union, which replaces the Women’s Road Cycling World Cup, organized from 1998 to 2015, editor’s note), with the introduction of minimum wages two or three years ago. In continental teams (another category of races, Editor’s note)this is not yet the case, so we often arrive with differences in level and it will still take a little time to become more homogeneous.

Here again, the important thing is to move forward at the right pace. To give you an example, if tomorrow we set up a three-week women’s Tour de France as for the men, the different teams will not be able to follow, because their personnel are not numerous and structured enough. Nevertheless, in one year, we have already seen how much the level has evolved, so the indicators are rather green. It’s a safe bet that the level, this year, will be even more impressive, with French chances and the defending champion, the Dutchwoman Annemiek van Vleuten, arch-favorite.