Eight stages, one super mountain, one individual time trial. Last week was not only presented the Tour some men. On the same occasion the women's Grande Boucle was also unveiled: the Tour de France Femmes.
We were talking about eight stages like last year, with almost no transfers and a lot of central-southern racing. The new feature is the time trial. That's also why the distances are a bit shorter. We go from 1.034 last year to 956 next summer. By the way: Le Tour de France Femmes will take place from July 23 to 30.
Nervous stages
The route winds entirely through the South, but woe betide anyone who thinks of the beautiful and luxurious French Riviera. It goes from the heights of the Massif Central to those of the Pyrenees, passing through the hills and valleys of the Garonne and the Tarn.
Clermont Ferrand will host the Grand Depart, right in the Massif Central area. A very nervous first stage right from the start, with a final "cote" that will make things very, very complicated for the sprinters.
And this is one of the leitmotifs of the next Tour de Femmes: the absence of a real flat stage. Last year, thanks in part to the intense competition, we saw how the "French plain" with its typical rolling hills managed to wreak havoc. This year, things seem to be worse.
The sixth and third stages are also winking at the fast wheels, but they will have to sweat for this last one once again.
Great finale
For the rest The key word is nervousness or cotes. A continuous Liège. Not to mention that the mileage won't be easy at all. The longest stage, the fourth, Cahors-Rodez, measures 177 kilometres.
The only stage under 100 kilometers, excluding the time trial, is the one that will most likely decide the race, namely the seventh. That of Tourmalet. The one that during its presentation at the Palais des Congres attracted considerable murmurings from the audience.
The Pyrenean giant is approached from the less demanding side, but one must still reach the summit. Therefore From La Mongie, the last 6 kilometers are brutal. The road narrows, and the gradient fluctuates constantly between 10 and 11 percent. You leave behind the barracks of civilization (La Mongie, precisely) and enter the realm of nature. It will be a true spectacle up to the 2.110 meters of this superb and historic pass.
Not to mention that first you climb another mythical pass: the Aspin!
And the next day there is the time trial. As was done in Wollongong, the only time trial on the program for men and women is 22 kilometers. Another symbol of the rapid evolution that women's cycling is experiencing.
However, the Pau-Pau is smoother than the men's time trial. And more for specialists. And all things considered, after tough stages and the Tourmalet, it's also fair to give the female rouleurs a chance.
The protagonist
The big names starting from the defending champion, Annemiek Van Vleuten, they all said that it is a Tour Femmes quite hard, more than last year.
«I will enjoy my last year as an athlete – said the Movistar champion – I'm happy to see a famous climb like the Tourmalet, as well as that there will be a time trial. And that there will be no dirt roads. This will make everything more balanced. But it's certainly a demanding route in the other stages too."
«I think it's a challenging and exciting path right from the start – said the 2022 rider-up, Demi Vollering There's only one big mountain stage, but you have to get there in good shape. We saw it this summer: trouble is always around the corner, especially with such tense stages. I can't wait to do the reconnaissance."
And also Martha Cavalli he stated: «The Tourmalet doesn't give you anything for free and many stages are truly beautiful».
«We relied on what the riders suggested to us last year – said the director of the Tour Femmes, Marion Rousse - the idea is to keep the race open until the end, which is the dream of all the organizers. We wanted to have a balanced path and I think we succeeded."
