Featuring eight days of racing, starting from July 24th, 2022, Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.) has launched a new women’s pro cycling race – the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift – that will ‘carry the signature of the world’s biggest race, the Tour de France.’
With the UCI Women’s World Tour label, the first stage of the event will finish in Paris on the Champs-Elysées, on the day of the final stage of the Tour de France 2022.
‘Straight after the Tour de France, during the summer holidays, the timing will provide the public the best opportunity to easily be able to come and support the riders from the side of the road.’
Global online fitness platform Zwift will be the presenting partner of the event. A new four year partnership will… ‘spearhead Zwift’s broader strategy to grow women’s cycling and lay solid foundations, as the race seeks to establish itself as the pinnacle of the UCI Women’s World Tour cycling calendar.’
A.S.O notes that ‘Many of the Tour de France’s partners couldn’t wait to show their enthusiasm and commit to the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
LCL will be supporting the leader’s Yellow Jersey, E.Leclerc will support the polka dot jersey of the mountain classification. Liv Cycling will make its debut as a major partner by supporting the best young rider classification.
A partner of La Course by Le Tour de France avec FDJ, and a future supporter of Paris-Roubaix Femmes, FDJ will join the event’s major partners. Meanwhile, Tissot will be the timekeeper of the race.
In terms of media exposure, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will benefit from daily live television coverage with a ‘broad exposure all over the world’.
The aspiration of Zwift and the A.S.O is to elevate the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift to the same heights as the men’s race… ‘providing teams and riders a greater opportunity to showcase their talent on a global stage.’
Anna van der Breggen, Professional Cyclist for UCI Women’s WorldTeam SD Worx, said “This is a huge moment for professional women’s cycling. The Tour de France is the most famous race in cycling and it’s long been a dream for many of us to compete in a women’s Tour de France.
“I’m hopeful that the race will help us grow our sport even more by providing us with a media platform to take the excitement of women’s cycling to new audiences.”
The A.S.O and Zwift already have a history together, last year joining forces in July to host the first Virtual Tour de France. This was a race that allowed the best male and female cyclists in the world to compete. It was broadcast to over 130 countries with each gender race receiving equal broadcast time.
Eric Min, CEO & Co-Founder of Zwift, said “This is an incredibly important announcement for us as we look to build on our investment in women’s cycling and really help grow and develop the sport.
“Building on the success of the Virtual Tour de France on Zwift last year, this has been many months in the making and both Zwift and the A.S.O are delighted to make the dream a reality.
“I’ve long been a fan of the attacking style of women’s racing. I really believe the women’s peloton puts on some of the most exciting bike racing to watch and it deserves a much bigger platform to exhibit these talents and skills.
“I’m proud that we can play a big part in making the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift a reality in 2022. Together we can bring women’s cycling to a larger audience and inspire new generations of female cyclists for years to come.”
Yann le Moënner, General Director of Amaury Sport Organisation, said “We are particularly glad to launch this new women’s race with a partner like Zwift, who have considerably developed cycling around the world thanks to their connected platform.
“We constructed a Virtual Tour de France together last year which turned out to be an immense success. Our respective teams learned to work together and now target the same objective: to develop women’s cycling by introducing an unmissable event, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.”
Christian Prudhomme, Director of the Tour de France, added “Building an event like the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift means offering women’s cycling an event that is ready to highlight the sporting qualities of some exceptional riders.
“The birth of this race represents the prospect of seeing a women’s race rise to the top of world sport. The riders and champions will no doubt be eager to take on some tough routes and go after the most prestigious of prizes, the Yellow Jersey.”
www.letourfemmes.fr
www.zwift.com
