Thirteen cyclists on a mission for recognition and a return of the women’s Tour
They ride every stage of the Tour de France before the men do. Over the same mountains on the same 3,351-kilometre (2,082-mile) route.
But there won’t be a podium or prize money waiting for them on the Champ-elysees when they finish today, one day before the yellow jersey arrives in Paris.
These 13 amateur female cyclists hope, instead, for recognition, respect and the return of the women’s Tour.
“We want a women’s stage race with the same media coverage and the same attention as men have,” said Tetiana Kalachova. “Not necessarily the same roads and not necessarily the same quantity of dates, but with the same appreciation.”
Kalachova and her teammates rise early every day to complete the three-week challenge. They do the same stage as the men, a day before the men.
They have conquered the jarring cobblestones of Roubaix, daunting ascents in the Alps, the foothills of the Massif Central, and have been pedalling this week through the Pyrenees.
“We are trying to prove that women, even amateurs, totally clean – no doping, no special assistance – are able for this kind of effort,” Kalachova added. None of the team, called
Donnons des elles au velo ina play of words meaning give women or wings to cycling, is being paid for her efforts.
Unlike the men, they have to contend with normal traffic. Dirty air from heavy trucks washed over the women as they departed Carcassonne for a 218-kilometre stage.
“We respect the traffic signs. We stop at red lights. We respect the rules,” Kalachova says.
Ideally, the team would like the return of the Tour de France Feminin, which ran alongside the men’s event from 1984-89, or at least a women’s stage race that is given the same importance as the men’s.
“Cycling is one of the unequal sports,” said Kalachova.
Dutch star Marianne Vos, a two-time Olympic champion and three-time winner of the women’s Giro d’italia, has no doubt women are physically capable of completing a 21-day Tour de France.
But Vos, who praised the recent development of women’s cycling, also wonders about the feasibility of a women’s Tour, saying it would impact on the existing calendar and a shorter stage race might be preferable.
“Of course it would be great to have a (women’s) Tour de France for 21 days, but I don’t think it’s the best thing for women’s cycling at the moment,” said Vos.
The Donnons des elles au velo project started with only three female cyclists in 2015 and has grown each year. “Now when we come, people scream and encourage,” said Kalachova. “They prepare food for the breaks or on arrival. They write our names on the climbs and this is pretty awesome.”
Every day, the team posts its position publicly so others can join at any stage.
“Every single stage this year, we’ve had a double or triple peloton. In Brittany, we had 120 people on the start.”
Their efforts are inspiring younger riders, too. One ten-year-old girl from the UK joined for the first stage in Noirmoutier-en-l’ile.
Kalachova said, “She is doing so much cycling and she is so into it, that we hope there will be a women’s Tour some day and she will ride it.”