“I really think that all these falls do not make very good publicity”, can we read in comment under the post of the Twitter account of the women’s Tour de France having published a video of the great collective fall which marked the 5th stage .
Since the start of the Women’s Tour de France, marked by a series of more or less serious falls, many sexist and misogynistic comments have indeed been pouring in on social networks. Christine Majerus, SD Worx champion runner in Luxembourg, denounced these messages, posting photos of several falls during previous men’s editions of the Grande Boucle. The one who points to 108th place in the general classification at 29′56′ ‘from the Dutch Marianne Vos, the leader, captioned: “For the haters… Do I continue? »
This is the first time in 33 years that women have run the Grande Boucle. A return that inevitably creates nervousness, which leads to falls in the peloton: “They have no right to miss each other so they don’t leave room and that creates falls”, explains Séverine Eraud, member of the formation of Stade Rochelais. An observation also shared by the runner Marie Le Net: “We were all waiting for this Tour with so much impatience, everyone wants to do well. Maybe it comes from the fact that the level is a bit heterogeneous, ”she tries to justify.
But make no mistake, “this also happens with men, we saw it at the start of the 2021 Tour” advances Stephen Delcourt, the manager of the CEO FDJ Futuroscope team. Marion Rousse, director of the women’s edition of the Tour de France agrees with her analysis: “It unfortunately reminds us of the men’s Tour de France last year, where there was also a lot of wind. In men it is exactly the same. It’s the most important race of the season, inevitably there is pressure and that causes crashes. »