14.10.2021 World-Tour, News, Race news

2022 LE TOUR DE FRANCE FEMMES AVEC ZWIFT PARCOURS ANNOUNCED

Five riders from the team attended yesterday’s official launch of the 2022 Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. The eight-day stage race will start in Paris on July 24 and finish in the Vosges mountains on Sunday 31 July.

The variety in the stages announced—four flat, two hilly and two mountain stages—has been largely well-received with riders stating it provides a range of opportunities.

Kasia Niewiadoma says, “I honestly like the stages. They give an opportunity to several different types of riders to try to win a stage. The last two stages appear the hardest and will likely make the GC, but I also like the mix, and that there is a gravel section in one of the stages.”

The tour starts with a circuit stage in Paris around the Champs-Élysées, before moving east and keeping the sprinters content with more flat stages. A 175-kilometre parcours on stage five in Saint Dié-Des-Vosges adds to the fatigue before the climbers have their chance with close to 3000 metres elevation on stage 7, and a GC showdown on the final stage with a 7-kilometre summit finish at La Super Planche des Belles Filles.

“After being to the presentation, I’m really excited about the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift,” says Ella Harris.

“Initially, before going to the presentation, I thought it would be nice to do, but there are other some other women’s races on the calendar that I considered could be substitutes to target, such as Tour de Suisse, Tour de Romandie, Giro d’Italia, Challenge Vuelta and so on.”

“What makes the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift stand out, is that it seems no stone has been left unturned. The race organisers and sponsors like Zwift, are going to all lengths to make it a polished event and they’re not taking any shortcuts. Sometimes in the past, there have been some women’s cycling events that have been more of a token gesture to make an organisation look good. The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift looks like it talks the talk and it’s going to walk the walk,” suggests Ella.

“They’ve tried to be creative with the stages and you can tell there’s a lot of thought gone into it with a mixture of everything. They haven’t gone for an easy option of a tour of 2 or 3 days, fortunately we’ve passed that point with La Course. Instead, they’ve presented a solid 8 days and they look like quite hard days. It will make for some incredibly exciting racing. With the different stages, it will be wide open until the last day, with that final mixed gravel and tarmac steep climb.”

Ella states, “I’m excited about it, and it’s definitely high on my list to make the squad for. It will be history-making and I want to be a part of it.”

Kasia adds, “I wasn’t sure that I would have this opportunity in my career, to be able to race the Tour de France. So, it’s special to have been at the announcement yesterday and to see the excitement around the race. To know that I have a chance to race it, and hopefully many other female cyclists will have the same chance for years to come is really amazing.”

Alena Amialiusik echoed the comments of her teammates. “To hear the applause for the 2022 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and to feel the excitement around the race, it makes me absolutely sure that I want to make the team for this tour. It’s an important moment in women’s cycling and everyone is going to be motivated to have success at this race.”