Tour de France Femmes: Why I Finally Started Watching Women’s Cycling
Following professional cycling has gotten complicated with all the different races, streaming platforms, and teams popping up every season. But the one event that genuinely caught me off guard was the Tour de France Femmes. As someone who spent over a decade glued to men’s Grand Tours and local crit races, I learned everything there is to know about professional road cycling. Today, I will share it all with you.
Here’s the short version: I ignored women’s pro cycling for years. Not on purpose – I just never went looking for it. When the Tour de France Femmes launched in 2022, I told myself I’d watch a stage, maybe two. I ended up watching every single one and genuinely kicking myself for sleeping on it so long.
A Bit of Background First
Probably should have led with this section, honestly. A women’s Tour de France actually existed before, sort of. There was a version back in the 1980s that eventually got scrapped. Over the years, different attempts tried to fill that gap – La Grande Boucle, La Course by Le Tour. None of them really stuck around long enough to build momentum.
The current version launched with real backing from ASO, the same organization running the men’s Tour. And honestly, that’s the part that matters most. The production quality is legitimately high, the TV coverage is solid, and the whole thing feels like an actual priority instead of something tacked on as an afterthought. You can feel the difference when an organizing body actually commits resources.
What Makes the Racing Different
Eight stages compared to the men’s twenty-one. On paper that sounds like less, but it creates this completely different dynamic that I wasn’t expecting. There’s almost no room to recover from a bad day. Every single stage carries weight, and you feel that tension from the opening kilometers.
The racing itself is noticeably more aggressive. Attacks start flying way earlier than I’m used to seeing. Maybe it’s the shorter stage distances, maybe it’s because team tactics haven’t calcified the way they have on the men’s side. Whatever the reason, I rarely find myself zoning out or checking my phone during stages.
The field is smaller too, and the gaps between the top riders tend to be bigger. That means more decisive results across the board. You get clear, undeniable winners – not photo finishes that come down to who threw their bike at the line a millisecond faster.
Riders Worth Following
That’s what makes the Tour de France Femmes endearing to us cycling fans – the personalities are just as compelling as the racing itself.
Annemiek van Vleuten was the first rider who really grabbed my attention. An absolute machine on any climb you put in front of her. Watching her ride a time trial is borderline hypnotic – smooth, powerful, completely relentless. She retired not long ago, and honestly, it left a noticeable hole in the peloton.
Marianne Vos has won basically everything the sport has to offer at one point or another. Calling her versatile doesn’t even begin to cover it. Sprints, climbs, time trials, cyclocross – the woman has palmares in disciplines most riders don’t even attempt.
Demi Vollering is the one running things now. Her attacking style is the kind that makes you sit up on the couch. She never just sits in and waits for the finale. She goes out and creates the action herself, which is exactly the kind of racing I want to watch.
One thing that really struck me is how many of these top riders come from the Netherlands. Seriously, is there something in the water over there? The depth of Dutch women’s cycling talent is honestly kind of staggering when you start looking at rosters.
The Coverage Issue
Finding broadcasts used to be a genuine headache. That part is getting better, thankfully. GCN and Eurosport carry it, Peacock has it in the US, and there are highlights all over YouTube if you just want a taste. It’s still not quite as simple as flipping on the men’s Tour, but the improvement year over year is real and noticeable.
The on-bike cameras deserve a special mention here. Because the women’s racing tends to happen in smaller groups, you actually get to see what’s going on tactically. Compare that to a men’s stage where you’ve got 150-plus riders packed into a peloton and good luck following any individual battle in there.
Why It Took Me So Long
Honestly? I just never thought about it, and I’m a little embarrassed to admit that. Cycling media defaults to men’s races. The discussion defaults there. The podcast episodes, the preview articles, the fantasy leagues – all pointed at the men’s calendar. If you wanted to follow women’s racing, you had to actively go dig for it yourself.
That’s shifting slowly but noticeably. Sponsors are getting more involved. Prize money is going up, though it’s still nowhere near equal and that’s a whole separate rant. The visibility boost during Tour de France month is huge – the women race right around the same window as the men’s stages on some days, which captures the same audience who already has cycling on the brain.
The Cultural Moment
Women’s cycling genuinely feels like it’s hitting a tipping point right now. The racing quality was always there if you knew where to look. What’s different now is the infrastructure around it is finally starting to catch up.
Teams are becoming more professional across the board. Salaries are improving, though they’re still absurdly low compared to what the men make – which is wild considering the level these women are performing at. But here’s the thing that gets me: young girls can now actually see a viable path to professional cycling that barely existed a decade ago. That matters more than any single race result.
And for those of us who just want to watch compelling bike racing – well, more options is never a bad thing in my book.
What I Watch Now
The Tour de France Femmes is the obvious centerpiece of my calendar. But there’s a full season worth exploring once you start pulling that thread:
Paris-Roubaix Femmes is pure, beautiful chaos. Same horrific cobblestones the men suffer over. It’s shorter, sure, but every bit as brutal and punishing to watch.
Strade Bianche runs across those white gravel roads winding through Tuscany. Visually stunning doesn’t do it justice – it’s one of the most gorgeous days of racing on the entire calendar.
The Giro Donne takes on the Italian mountains. It’s climbing-heavy and GC-focused, which scratches a very specific itch if you’re into stage racing drama.
My Suggestion If You’re New to This
Start with the final stage of the Tour de France Femmes. It typically finishes on one of those iconic climbs – the Tourmalet, Alpe d’Huez, that kind of legendary terrain. It’s pure mountain racing with absolutely everything on the line, and the drama writes itself.
If that doesn’t hook you, then honestly cycling might just not be your thing, and that’s fine. But I have a strong feeling it will. Good racing is good racing, full stop, regardless of who’s turning the pedals.
See you in July.
