- The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift celebrates the International Women's Sports Day. Since 2022, the event has helped the female champions of the peloton to take on a new sporting, media and economic dimension, with a demanding route, international exposure and the rise of new economic partners.
- "There was a need for a benchmark race that spoke to everyone, explains Marion Rousse, director of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
|
"Now, when people ask me if I've done the Tour, I can say ‘yes’." Kasia Niewiadoma, Evita Muzic, Elisa Longo Borghini... The champions of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift all celebrate the new era opened up in 2022, with the rise of a global event allowing the virtuosos of cycling to take on all the limelight they deserve. "There was a need for a benchmark race that spoke to everyone, and that meant the Tour de France, the most beautiful race in the world", explains the event director Marion Rousse on the occasion of the International Women's Sports Day, on Friday 24 January. Every year, it encourages the development of women's sport, the presence of women in governing bodies, the economics of women's sport and its media coverage. The growth of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is part of this movement. "The start of the Tour Femmes gave me the feeling that our sport had truly reached a professional level", says Annemiek van Vleuten, the winner of the 2022 edition. "At first, I thought it was something for the guys, but seeing Marianne Vos wearing it made me realise that we were really fighting for the yellow jersey." |
he event is televised in 190 territories and the last edition, with its epic finale on the slopes of Alpe d'Huez, generated 120 million video views on the race's social networks. The first Grand Départ to be held outside France attracted 250,000 spectators between Rotterdam and The Hague in the Netherlands. The Fan Zones and the race route also attract tens of thousands of spectators every day at the start, finish and along the roadsides. According to a Kantar study carried out in 2024, 65% of spectators are families, and they spend an average of 4 hours and 29 minutes there to fully immerse themselves in the event.
The public interest reflects a real evolution, the effects of which have already been observed, explains Marion Rousse: "This visibility has an impact on the partners and their investments." "Salaries are higher", agrees South African Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, who extended her career to take part in the Tour and is still a prominent figure in the peloton.
|
A significant increase in the number of female cyclists is also seen through a rise of almost 20% since 2021 in terms of licenses granted by the French Cycling Federation, a partner of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift through the "Elles arrivent" operation, which enables 48 young cyclists to ride part of the route every year. In 2025, amateurs have a new rendezvous with L'Étape du Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, taking them up to the Col de la Madeleine on 2 August, in the same conditions as the professionals, who this year will pass the 1,000-kilometre mark with 9 stages. "Longer and more demanding stage races bring even more attention and promotion, and let's hope that they will encourage even more women to hop on a bike", anticipates Kasia Niewiadoma, winner in 2024. |
|
|
