I was at the men's Tour de France for two weeks and am gutted I wasn't at the Tour de France Femmes
The August race has become unmissable, and I can't wait for 2027
For the past five years, the end of my July and the beginning of my August have been spent in a bit of a daze, recovering from the rollercoaster that is reporting on the men's Tour de France.
The world's biggest bike race always takes a lot out of me. I manage the news on both our site and in the weekly magazine; attempting to keep up with the bike racing, generate content ideas, drive from start to finish to start to finish, sampling a new hotel every night, all whilst trying to remain a functioning human being is quite a pull. I wrote more than 60 articles last month; the riders are on another planet, but I certainly feel like a shell of a person at the end of the Tour.
Usually, then, the last thing I've wanted to do is go to another bike race – one Tour de France is enough for a summer. I've loved the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in its first four editions, but rarely have I wanted to be there, doing the whole thing again. This year, however, I was jealous of my peers and colleagues on the ground – Tom Davidson did excellent work for us once again. This year's race was an action-packed epic, my favourite stage event of the year.
News editor at Cycling Weekly, Adam brings his weekly opinion on the goings on at the upper echelons of our sport. This piece is part of The Leadout, a newsletter series from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. As ever, email adam.becket@futurenet.com - should you wish to add anything, or suggest a topic.
In just nine days, the leader's jersey changed hands five times, and every stage was gripping; Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) might have won by a minute over Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) in the end, but that gap was eight seconds until the final attack on the final day. The Mont Ventoux stage was still the best, but it was run close by so many other great days.
It took the Tour's organisers, ASO, long enough to make this race a reality, but now in its fifth year, it has become the must-watch stage race of the season. The narratives are all there, the top riders battling each other, and a deserving winner in the end. It all still manages to seem fun, with a spark that is missing from so many other races. Part of this is down to the continuing novelty of the event, it’s still new and fresh, but that makes it all the more entertaining.
There was even the emergence of "beef" between Vollering and Niewiadoma-Phinney over the ending to stage eight, which adds to the whole tapestry. While we don't want bitter feuds, and certainly not the online abuse that was sent to Célia Gery, a proper sense of rivalry can improve the action.
It's tempting to call for a longer race, a tougher race, but looking at the nine days here, it seems like an almost perfect product as it is; some voices have even argued that it is too difficult already. The Tour de France Femmes can still do firsts, like the first Ventoux and first double winner, and it is bringing a whole new audience to the sport.
I watched the finale of stage nine to Nice in a rammed, slightly too warm, pub in Bristol, with a pleasingly mixed crowd. It's the kind of event that I could never imagine for the men's race, and included a young girl in the pub calling out “Demi, Demi, Demi, come on Demi” constantly, willing her favourite on. Fortunately for her, Vollering delivered. I'd have missed this if I was at the race, of course, but it was so uplifting to feel like I was part of something.
At home, I was engrossed in the action – well, all that I could of course given that only three of the nine stages were shown in full – but I was itching to be out there, unpicking the stories, being close up, seeing the effort put in by the best riders in the world. Rather than feeling exhausted from covering one Tour, I was energised to cover the race, and can't wait to throw my hat into the ring for next year.
Fortunately for us in England, 2027's race starts in Leeds, with three stages on home soil, meaning it will be easier than ever to watch the Femmes in person, and the Grand Départ will be live on free-to-air TV here too. I just want to be there.
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If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.
