{"id":166004,"date":"2018-07-19T06:08:25","date_gmt":"2018-07-19T06:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=166004"},"modified":"2018-07-19T06:08:25","modified_gmt":"2018-07-19T06:08:25","slug":"who-are-the-tour-de-france-podium-girls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/07\/19\/who-are-the-tour-de-france-podium-girls\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Are the Tour de France Podium Girls?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In March, it was largely reported that the Tour de France would be saying goodbye to their infamous H\u00f4tesses du Tour, or \u201cpodium girls\u201d, for this year\u2019s race. Despite the tradition of having<\/strong> <strong>a smiling young woman present the winners with flowers at the end of each day\u2019s stage, there was pressure to follow the lead of other major sporting events that were opting to eliminate a practice that many feel presents women in a limited role.<\/strong><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, when Columbian rider Fernando Gaviria took the first stage on July 7th, he accepted his yellow jersey flanked by two beautiful women. Although the response from the cycling community has been mixed regarding the decision to keep the tradition in place, one of the reasons might have been that the podium girls actually do a lot more behind the scenes than the inadequate job titles suggests. So while these ladies are still present at the race, here are a few notes about who the podium girls are and the role they play at La Grande Boucle.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-controller-wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">El d\u00eda que cumples uno de tus sue\u00f1os pero no sabes qu\u00e9 poner&#8230; pues les dejo algunas fotos. <br \/>\ud83d\udc3a\ud83e\udd2a\ud83e\udd81<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcf7 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GettySport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@GettySport<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/R0BK48xHrh\">pic.twitter.com\/R0BK48xHrh<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Fernando Gaviria (@FndoGaviria) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FndoGaviria\/status\/1015696416470196224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 7, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async data-src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<h3><strong>Most aren\u2019t professional models<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Some might think that the hostesses are used to life in front of the camera, but for many, the Tour is an annual one-off. As Carmen Garc\u00eda Gim\u00e9nez, a Spanish event coordinator and translator who has been working as a podium girl for 4 years, explained to We Love Cycling, one of the biggest misconceptions about the hostesses is that being camera ready is their primary professional skill. Before working for the Tour, she hadn\u2019t done any modelling or hostess work, but decided to apply after her cousin informed her about the opportunity. Following a thorough hiring process, including several interviews that assessed qualities such as language skills and professional experience, she got the job.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>It\u2019s a lot more than hair and makeup<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Smiling for the camera alongside the day\u2019s winner is just a very small part of a day in the life of a Tour hostess. \u201cWe are not only giving flowers and trophy, we\u2019re part of a huge team,\u201d Gim\u00e9nez said. The ladies are responsible for cleaning and preparing the departure village, serving food and drinks to the guests, and ensuring a cordial atmosphere throughout the event.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode-ys-post-pinup\"><article class=\"loop-simple post-165293 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-road-cycling tag-kasia-niewiadoma tag-laura-winter tag-women-cycling\" data-postid=\"165293\" role=\"article\" data-post-id=\"165293\" data-word-count=\"487\" data-headline-length=\"52\" data-category=\"Road cycling\" data-author=\"Megan Flottorp\" data-published=\"2018-06-13T07:50:31+00:00\" data-published-day=\"Wednesday\">\n    <div class=\"entry-thumbnail article-thumbnail\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2018\/06\/profimedia-0336315602-1-150x150.webp\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/06\/13\/why-it-matters-how-we-talk-about-womens-cycling\/\" class=\"image-holder\" target=\"_self\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2018\/06\/profimedia-0336315602-1.webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2018\/06\/profimedia-0336315602-1.webp 900w, https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2018\/06\/profimedia-0336315602-1-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2018\/06\/profimedia-0336315602-1-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2018\/06\/profimedia-0336315602-1-272x182.webp 272w\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1200px) 300px, (min-width: 768px) 25vw, 100vw\" alt=\"why-it-matters-how-we-talk-about-womens-cycling\"\/><\/a><\/div>    <div class=\"entry-meta\">\n        <a class=\"label label-secondary post-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/category\/road-cycling\/\" title=\"Road cycling\">Road cycling<\/a>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"entry-details\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/06\/13\/why-it-matters-how-we-talk-about-womens-cycling\/\" class='entry-title-wrapper'>\n            <h3 class=\"entry-title\"><span>Why It Matters How We Talk About (Women\u2019s) Cycling<\/span><\/h3>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n    <\/article>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>The hours are long<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The hostesses rise with the riders, often getting up around 4 or 5 am. Gim\u00e9nez explained that due to the fact they take a different route to the finish line than the riders, every day is a logistically complicated operation to ensure correct timing and coordinate with the caravan. After an already full day of work, they need to arrive fresh at the finish line to greet the guests and competitors. \u201cOnce all is over we go back to the next hotel, which means we get there around 8:30 or 9 pm (if we are lucky and there are no traffic jams).\u201d Long days, lack of sleep, and generally high temperatures make it a pretty intense job.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>They have a network of their own<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Despite the long hours, for many women, working the Tour has become an event they look forward to every summer. They are well compensated for their hard work and have formed a friendly network that makes for a great working environment. \u201cWe all get on very well and have fun,\u201d Gim\u00e9nez told us, \u201cwe work hard but we are a good team and enjoy spending the time together.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_166009\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-166009\" style=\"width: 1250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2018\/07\/profimedia-0339640854.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-166009\" src=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2018\/07\/profimedia-0339640854.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1250\" height=\"833\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-166009\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Romain Bardet parades during the team presentation ceremony in Dusseldorf, on June 29, 2017.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><strong>Still looking for a change<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Case in point &#8211; those ladies you see smiling do a lot behind the scenes to make sure the Tour de France runs smoothly. That being said, while the gender gap remains as large as it is in professional cycling, we think it\u2019s time that the coverage of women at events features more of them actually on bikes. Are there beautiful young men handing out flowers on the women\u2019s circuit? It\u2019s tough to say with the lack of TV coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In March, it was largely reported that the Tour de France would be saying goodbye to their infamous H\u00f4tesses du [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":166005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[2122,793,433,2064],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-166004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-carmen-garcia-gimenez","tag-podium-girls","tag-tour-de-france","tag-tour-de-france-2018"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Who Are the Tour de France Podium Girls? - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In March, it was largely reported that the Tour de France would be saying goodbye to their infamous H\u00f4tesses du Tour, or \u201cpodium girls\u201d, for this year\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/07\/19\/who-are-the-tour-de-france-podium-girls\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who Are the Tour de France Podium Girls?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In March, it was largely reported that the Tour de France would be saying goodbye to their infamous H\u00f4tesses du Tour, or \u201cpodium girls\u201d, for this year\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/07\/19\/who-are-the-tour-de-france-podium-girls\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-19T06:08:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2018\/07\/profimedia-0378115893-1.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Megan Flottorp\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/07\/19\/who-are-the-tour-de-france-podium-girls\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/07\/19\/who-are-the-tour-de-france-podium-girls\/\",\"name\":\"Who Are the Tour de France Podium Girls? 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