Stage & Teams Guide
It can’t be overstated just how much work, focus and persistence has gone into the creation of this, a new era for women's racing at the Tour de France. That this race, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, to give its full title, exists, isn’t some sop to appease people who’ve been urging for this race to be created. ASO, the organisers, aren’t in this business for charitable endeavours – they’re in it to make money. And they clearly feel that there’s a business case for the Tour de France Femmes.
They’ve built slowly, first with La Course, then with Classics such as Paris-Roubaix and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and now they’ve taken their biggest step yet with the formation of an eight-stage Tour de France. The route looks fascinating, a proper, rounded stage race that tests multiple facets of the stage racer’s repertoire. Okay, there’s no time trial, but there’s just about everything else: a circuit race on the Champs-Élysées to open proceedings, fast sprint stages, stinging finishes, gravel roads, cobbles and a gruelling back-to-back stint in
