2022 Tour de France Femmes

The 2022 Tour de France Femmes (officially Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift) was the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes, which took place from 24 to 31 July 2022. It was the 16th event in the 2022 UCI Women's World Tour and followed years of campaigning by the women's professional peloton for an equivalent race to the men's Tour de France. The race drew large crowds, had substantial international media coverage, and was highly praised by the public, media, teams and riders.

The race was won by Annemiek van Vleuten, taking the general classification (GC) leader's yellow jersey (maillot jaune) by winning both mountain stages in the latter part of the race. Demi Vollering finished in second place after finishing behind van Vleuten on both mountain stages. Vollering also took the polka-dot jersey as winner of the Queen of the Mountains (QoM) classification. Third place went to Katarzyna Niewiadoma, who put in a consistent performance during the first six stages and finished in the top five on both mountain stages.

Marianne Vos won the green jersey for points classification and the super-combativity award, following consistent stage finishes and two stage wins in the early part of the race. Another two stages were won by sprinter Lorena Wiebes. Shirin van Anrooij took the white jersey as the winner of the young rider classification, which was awarded to the best-placed GC rider under the age of 23. won the team classification as the team with the lowest aggregate time among their three best-placed riders.

Background
The Tour de France is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race held primarily in France, first held in 1903. Since the mid 1980s, various professional women's cycle stage races across France were held as an equivalent race for women, using the Tour de France Féminin name from 1984 to 1989. These races struggled with financial difficulties, limited media coverage, sexism and trademark issues with the organisers of the Tour de France, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). The last of these races took place in 2009.

La Course by Le Tour de France
In 2013, activist group Le Tour Entier (“the whole tour”) began pushing for a women's Tour de France and other improvements to women's cycling. Following substantial media coverage, and a petition signed by over 100,000 people, ASO launched La Course by Le Tour de France in 2014. The one-day stage race would take place prior to the final stage of the men's race in Paris. Between 2014 and 2021, La Course took place in a variety of locations across France in conjunction with the men's race, with ASO arguing that this was the "best way to shine a light on female cycling".

La Course was initially praised for the exposure gained by 'sharing the stage' with the Tour de France, with sponsors welcoming the live TV coverage and visibility of taking place alongside the men's race. However, La Course was criticised for being overshadowed by the men's Tour de France, not having enough stages, and not being challenging enough for the professional peloton. Organisers ASO were also criticised for not doing enough to promote the race. Riders and campaigners pushed for La Course to evolve into a multi-stage race. Cyclist & commentator Joanna Rowsell stated that "We need mountain climbs, flat stages, time trials and a Champs-Elysees finish". Pushing back at criticism, ASO stated that logistical issues mean that a men's and women's Tour de France would not be able to be staged simultaneously, and that races must be financially sustainable.

Tour de France Femmes
In May 2021, ASO announced that they would launch a new women's stage race, Tour de France Femmes. The first edition was be held over 8 days in July 2022, following the 2022 Tour de France. The men's tour director, Christian Prudhomme stated that lessons must be learned from the failure of previous events, with the aim of a financially sustainable event, one "that will still exist in 100 years". The reaction from the professional women's peloton was overwhelmingly positive, with Dutch rider Anna van der Breggen stating "it's long been a dream for many of us to compete in a women's Tour de France" and Danish rider Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig stating "this is a day that we’ve waited for, for a long time".

Teams
The 24 teams which participated in the race were announced on 30 March 2022. All 14 UCI Women's WorldTeams were automatically invited. They were joined by 10 UCI Women's Continental Teams: the three best 2021 UCI Women's Continental Teams (Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling, Parkhotel Valkenburg and Valcar–Travel & Service) received an automatic invitation, and the other seven teams were selected by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the organisers of the Tour. A total of 144 riders from 25 nationalities started the race, with the Netherlands having the largest contingent (29 riders).

UCI Women's WorldTeams



UCI Women's Continental Teams


 * Arkéa Pro Cycling Team
 * Arkéa Pro Cycling Team

Route and stages
In October 2021, the route was announced by race director Marion Rousse. It comprised eight consecutive days of racing, covering a total of 1033 km. The race started with a stage on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, on the same day as the final stage of the men's tour. The route generally headed eastwards from Paris, including gravel sections in Champagne vineyards on stage 4, stages in the Vosges mountains (including the longest, stage 5), and a summit finish on stage 8 at La Super Planche des Belles Filles in the Vosges. The route was welcomed by the professional peloton and campaigners such as Kathryn Bertine, with praise for the variety of stages. Rouleur considered that the mountainous terrain of the last two stages could mean that the winner could be unsure "until the riders cross the finish line on the final stage". The overall length of the event was met with agreement, with some teams noting that they do not "yet have the staff or numbers" for a race three weeks in length (such as men's Tour de France).

The route itself required a waiver from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), as Women's WorldTour races have a maximum stage length of 160 km and a maximum race length of six days. The restrictions were criticised by the professional peloton and campaigners as "sexist", as the UCI does not allow women to compete over identical distances as men.

Race overview
Annemiek van Vleuten, Elisa Longo Borghini, Ashleigh Moolman, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, Marta Cavalli and Katarzyna Niewiadoma were all named as pre-race favourites for the general classification (GC), with Lorena Wiebes and Elisa Balsamo tipped for the points classification. The field of 144 was described as "packed with talent", with the top 28 riders in the UCI rankings all taking part.

Media coverage prior to the event was very positive, calling the race a "historic moment for women's cycling" and "game changing". There was some criticism regarding the €250,000 prize fund, compared to the €2.2m prize fund for the men's race. ASO noted that the prize fund was larger than men's races of similar length – such as the Critérium du Dauphiné. Riders from The Cyclists' Alliance – a union representing the female peloton – stated that live TV coverage for races was their biggest priority, rather than prize money.

Early stages


Stage 1 of the tour took place on 24 July in Paris, with a start beneath the Eiffel Tower and eight laps around the Champs-Élysées (on the traditional circuit which concluded the men's tour later that day). In a sprint finish, Wiebes (Team DSM) outsprinted Marianne Vos (Jumbo–Visma) to take the first yellow jersey of the race, as well as the green jersey of the points classification. Stage 2 to Provins was marred by multiple crashes in the final 30 km, with Cavalli having to abandon the race as a result. Van Vleuten (Movistar Team) also came close to abandoning the race after suffering from a stomach infection and being unable to eat or drink. In the final, Vos outsprinted a small group to take the yellow and green jerseys.

Stage 3 took place on rolling terrain, with a final loop into Épernay. On the Côte de Mutigny, seven riders contending for the general classification broke away from the peloton. On the final steep climb to the finish, Uttrup Ludwig outsprinted the group to take the stage while Femke Gerritse (Parkhotel Valkenburg) took the lead in the Queen of the Mountains (QoM) classification.

Stage 4 to Bar-sur-Aube was another hilly stage, its final half including four gravel sections. Multiple riders including Niewiadoma, Longo Borghini , Uttrup Ludwig and van Vleuten suffered punctures and other issues but most of them were able to rejoin the peloton and not lose time. Mavi García was hit by her own team car while trying to catch up to the main field after two punctures, causing her to lose a minute and a half. With around 23 km remaining, Marlen Reusser attacked, riding solo to win the stage by nearly a minute and a half.

Continuing east across France, stage 5 to Saint-Dié-des-Vosges was the longest of the Women's WorldTour calendar at 175.6 km. With around 45 km left, a crash in the peloton took down several riders, with Emma Norsgaard having to abandon. In the final sprint, Wiebes overtook Balsamo and Vos to secure her second stage win. In the GC, Vos kept the yellow jersey, extending her advantage to 20 seconds due to bonuses. Stage 6 to Rosheim was a hilly stage, with four categorised climbs and another climb with bonus seconds at the top. On the descent of the penultimate climb, a small group including Wiebes and Lotte Kopecky crashed on the descent, with everyone involved finishing the stage. The early breakaway was caught in the closing kilometres, with the stage win determined by a bunch sprint. Vos outsprinted Marta Bastianelli and Kopecky to win her second stage of the race. In the GC, Vos extended her advantage due to the ten bonus seconds she gained for the stage win as the race headed towards the mountains.

Mountain stages
Stages 7 and 8 took place in the Vosges mountains in Grand Est, with five category 1 climbs over the two days, and two summit finishes. Owing to their difficulty, the two stages were considered to be queen stages, likely to decide the eventual winner of the general classification (GC).

Stage 7 had 3000 m of vertical climbing including the Grand Ballon. On the first climb of the day, Vos dropped behind other contenders, ensuring that the yellow jersey would change hands at the end of the day. Meanwhile, Wiebes abandoned the race, following her crash on stage 6. On the Petit Ballon, with 86 km remaining, van Vleuten broke away from the peloton with only Demi Vollering able to match her pace. A chase group with most of the other GC contenders formed behind them. A kilometre (0.6 mi) from the top of the Col du Platzerwasel, the second climb of the day, van Vleuten accelerated ahead of Vollering. Van Vleuten extended her lead to almost four minutes by the final climb of the Grand Ballon. Van Vleuten lost some time to Vollering on the final plateau section, but nevertheless achieved an impressive stage win, 3 min 26 s ahead of Vollering, who took the polka-dot jersey as leader of the QoM. In the GC, van Vleuten took the yellow jersey, more than three minutes ahead of Vollering while Katarzyna Niewiadoma rounded out the podium at four and a half minutes down. Despite losing the yellow jersey, Vos continued to hold the green jersey. Stage 8 was the second mountain stage of the Tour, with three categorised climbs. The final climb to La Super Planche des Belles Filles was 7 km long with an average gradient of 8.7 percent, with the final kilometre featuring an extended gravel section with gradients as high as 24 percent. On the first climb, no break had been established and Vollering was able to take maximum points to extend her lead in the QoM classification. With 57 km to go, van Vleuten suffered a mechanical and and  increased the pace of the peloton. Van Vleuten rejoined the peloton at the foot of the second climb, the Ballon d'Alsace. On the climb, van Vleuten made four more bike changes but she quickly made it back to the peloton each time. On the final climb to La Super Planche des Belles Filles, van Vleuten attacked from the peloton with 6 km remaining. She passed the remnants of the breakaway with Vollering in pursuit. Much like the previous day, a chase group of GC contenders formed behind them. Van Vleuten gradually extended her lead and won the stage and the Tour title. Vollering finished 30 seconds behind, confirming her win in the QoM classification.

Results and reception
In the final general classification, van Vleuten (Movistar Team) won the Tour de France Femmes with an advantage over Vollering of almost four minutes while Niewiadoma was third at more than six and a half minutes down. Vollering won the mountains classification while Vos won the points classification and the super-combativity award. Shirin van Anrooij won the young rider classification. The team classification was won by as the team with the lowest aggregate time among their three best-placed riders. Out of 144 starters, 109 finished the event.

Van Vleuten expressed that she was "super proud" to have won, stating that winning in yellow was "a dream come true". Her rival Vollering considered that they had performed well throughout the race and therefore had "nothing to regret". Other riders praised the event, with Niewiadoma noting it was one of the most difficult races that the women's peloton has taken part in, and fourth-place overall Juliette Labous (Team DSM) explained that she was surprised by the large crowds, stating "I didn't expect this much, I knew there would be a lot of people but I didn't expect as much as this."

Worldwide media coverage praised the event, with CNN calling the race a "rebirth", Cycling Weekly stating that the race was a "huge step for the women's sport", and L'Équipe stating that people came to see "the Tour de France without making the slightest distinction between men and women". Race director Marion Rousse stated that "it's a proper Tour de France, with the caravan, the crowds, placards, flags" and Le Tour Entier co-founder Kathryn Bertine called it a "wonderful edition".

Future improvements to the race were also discussed, including increasing the riders in each team, more days of racing (including an individual time trial and stages in the Alps or Pyrenees mountains), and increased sponsorship. It was also noted that work was still required to improve the competitive depth and "economic model" of the women's peloton, with L'Équipe referencing the "enormous difference in level between the ... runners-up and the rest of the peloton". The 2023 edition of the race subsequently featured both an individual time trial and mountain stages in the Pyrenees, with the 2024 edition of the race set to visit the Alps.

Broadcasting
Live television coverage was provided by France Télévisions in conjunction with the European Broadcasting Union. There was over 22 hours of live coverage over the 8 stages, with some viewers requesting that live TV coverage be expanded to encompass the entire length of the stage. The race was broadcast around the world, including on NBC's Peacock in the United States, on Eurosport across Europe and by a variety of national broadcasters such as France 3, RTVE and SBS.

Following the event, broadcasters reported high viewing figures, with a cumulative live audience of 23.2 million. In France, France 3 reported an average of 2.25 million viewers over the eight stages (an 26% audience share), and a peak of 5.1 million watching the final part of stage 8 (a 45% audience share). This is just under half the audience of the men's tour. In the Netherlands, a 45% audience share was reported at peak times. Eurosport reported a reach of over 14 million across Europe. France Télévisions commented that the audience figures were a good surprise, and that they were "a very solid basis on which the world of cycling will be able to build".