{"id":206027,"date":"2026-08-10T12:20:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T12:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=206027"},"modified":"2026-08-10T12:20:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T12:20:44","slug":"some-takeaways-from-a-memorable-tour-de-france-femmes-avec-zwift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/08\/10\/some-takeaways-from-a-memorable-tour-de-france-femmes-avec-zwift\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Takeaways From a Memorable Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift"},"content":{"rendered":"

This edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (TdFFaZ) was the best yet, and by a wide margin. One reason was the brilliance of the course itself. The organisers had perhaps understood that the Mont Ventoux climb would not only play havoc with the GC standings, but also leave the race dramatically poised. But they could not have foreseen (or could they?) the own goals Demi Vollering and Marlen Reusser would commit that allowed Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney to take a slender GC lead and set up the final two stages for the long and breathtaking resolution.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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So, a loud bravo to the course designer and a louder hoorah for the riders, who were brave, fully committed, passionate<\/span>,<\/span> and talented enough to produce a classic Grand Tour that will be tough to beat for excitement.<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s why it was a disgrace and an insult to these riders that only three of the nine stages were broadcast in their entirety on TV. There can be only one reason that the women’s Tour is not shown in its entirety and the men’s Tour is: ASO, which made the decision, still regards women as second-class citizens of the sport. If this race proved anything, it was that the TdFFaZ must be given the same treatment as the men’s Tour. Many people have already made that point, so I will just direct you to Adam Becket’s <\/span>excellent argument<\/span><\/a> in <\/span>Cycling Weekly<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But there’s more to complain about. On Wednesday’s dramatic stage 5, which was televised from start to finish, TV viewers nevertheless missed the beginning of the breakaway, which had 19 riders in it and was about 40 seconds in front of the peloton while the TV showed the bunch and <\/span>labelled<\/span> it <\/span>T\u00eate de la course<\/span><\/i>, the front of the race. This was fake news. When a camera motorcycle finally reached the break, with 85 <\/span>km<\/span> left to ride, we still had no idea how big the gap was to the bunch. It took another 7 <\/span>km<\/span> of riding for the second timing motorcycle to reach the peloton and inform us that the gap was 50 seconds.<\/span><\/p>\n

I only knew of the break and its early gap because I was following two websites with live reports, and one of them had the information. Later, when the breakaway had broken up into several groups, we only received information about the front of the race and the group in which defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot was riding. We had no idea \u2013 and neither did the TV commentators \u2013 what the gap was between the front of the race and the nearest chase group, which might have been useful to know. This almost never happens on the men’s race because the men have at least four timing motorcycles. Fortunately, a third timing motorcycle was brought to the race for the last two stages. But too little, too late.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Zobrazit p\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek na Instagramu<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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P\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek sd\u00edlen\u00fd UCI Women\u2019s WorldTour (@uci_wwt)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n