After the victory of the Polish Kasia Niewiadoma on Sunday, at the end of an edition full of spectacle and suspense, the Tour de France Femmes draws the conclusions of this 2024 edition spread over seven days. Success with spectators and television viewers, professionalization of the riders thanks to greater financial resources, promises of the 2025 edition… Women’s cycling confirmed its fine progress during this Grande Boucle.
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The 18/08/2024
Women’s Tour de France: Polish Kasia Niewiadoma wins at the end of an edition full of spectacle and suspense
Spectators and viewers at the rendezvous
“Starting from Rotterdam, popular success is guaranteed” predicted Marion Rousse at the start of the race on Monday August 12 in the Netherlands. The race director was right. First stage gathered 150,000 spectators on the roadsides towards The Hague.
A success that has never been denied throughout the week.This crowd is just incredible. It gives you chills.” said the experienced Dutchwoman Marianne Vos (37 years old), who finished the event with the green jersey of best sprinter.
While TV audiences have fallen on France Télévisions (fluctuating between 1.5 and 2 million viewers during the week), they have, on the other hand, soared in Belgium (+20% audience compared to 2023) and in the Netherlands (+40%), proving a strong interest in the Women’s Tour outside France.
Sporting satisfactions
But it is above all on the sporting level that the satisfactions are the most notable. The general level is progressing and the density too, with young riders who have revealed themselves to the general public, like the Breton Cédrine Kerbaol (23 years old), winner of the Morteau stage on Friday.
And the scenario of the last stage only reinforced the sporting interest with the final victory of the Polish Katarzyna Niewiadoma by only four seconds ahead of the defending champion, the Dutch Demi Vollering, whose fall during the 5th stage weighed heavily in the outcome.
This sporting progress can be explained by the fact that the International Cycling Union has established a minimum wage in 2020 (32,000 euros per year) for female riders on World Tour teams. They can now live off their passion and devote themselves fully to cycling. On the other hand, the difference remains abysmal compared to men in terms of the amount of the prize money. For example, Katarzyna Niewiadoma has affected ten times less than Tadej Pogacar, winner of the men’s Grand Boucle in July.
Better supervision
“Our generation, we are very lucky“, rejoices Cédrine Kerbaol. “It makes me a little sad for the old ones“, she continues. The supervision conditions have evolved. Now, most teams have a comfortable bus, like the men.”Ten years ago, Marion Rousse (then a runner) had to change in the trunk of the car“, recalled Christian Prudhomme, cycling director at ASO, the organizer of the Tour de France. Things have changed. Several teams are conducting wind tunnel tests, using cryotherapy for recovery and surrounding themselves with dieticians.
The most beautiful example of this progression is undoubtedly theFrench team FDJ-Suez created in 2006 under the leadership of Stephen Delcourt. Today, it is a benchmark in the women’s peloton.From 20 employees in 2020, we are now 46 with the ambition of being 50 next year.“, explains the team’s general manager. Over the last five years, FDJ-Suez’s budget has quadrupled, which will allow it to welcome the French team into its ranks next season Juliette Labous and probably world number one Demi Vollering to support the promising Evita Muzic.
“The economy of women’s cycling remains fragile“, however, puts things into perspective by Marion Rousse. An illustration of this is the French team Auber 93, which is looking for a sponsor capable of providing it with 500,000 euros so that it does not disappear.”The visibility of the Tour de France is crucial for the development of women’s cycling and I am proud to be part of this progress. The girls deserve it.“, concludes the director of the Grande Boucle féminine.
Headliners already announced
Olympic cross-country mountain bike champion and closing ceremony flag bearer for France, Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt, has announced her wish to participate in the next edition of the Tour de France Femmes. Excellent news for Marion Rousse.Obviously, it makes you want to“, she rejoices at the microphone of franceinfo. “I was very happy to learn of the return of Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt, who does not hesitate to say that she is there to win the general classification.“
Dutchwoman Anna van der Breggen has also announced her participation. The former retiree has an eloquent record: 62 victories including two road world champion titles, a gold medal in Rio in 2016 and four Tours of Italy.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt with her gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games. © AFP – Emmanuel DUNAND
Extension of the route?
Since the resumption of the Women’s Tour de France three years ago, it has been an incessant question. Will the women’s Grande Boucle – which currently lasts one week, compared to three weeks for the men – be extended? And Marion Rousse’s answer is always the same.We have grown so much in three years that it remains feverish. We must not go too fast“, she explained on Sunday. The objective is therefore to perpetuate the successes of the recovery, even if the 2025 edition will be spread over nine days.
