The two girls were no older than 12 and were going crazy searching for their pedal star. They were in Pau, where the Tour Femmes ended. It was the last Sunday in July, a gray day, and almost more autumn than spring. they were called nora And Haiza. They had traveled with their parents from Pamplona, two and a half hours from Pau, and managed to get into the limited space of the team buses happily and happily on their bikes, in their cycling jerseys, because, they say, they wanted to play in the Tour de France when they grew up.
They did not see their reflection in Jonas Vingegaard or Tadej Pogacar. Parents as Navarrese were proud that the girls grew up and reaped the fruits. miguel indurain. “They want to be cyclists, we encourage them, and when we go out with them on our bikes, all we do is protect them from traffic.”
from tourmaline
They knew the names of Demy Vollering or Annemiek van Vleuten, and were upset that they were next to the bus of the main Spanish figure, Mavi García, who did not start on the last stage of the Tour because she was feeling exhausted and sick after the tour. The Battle of Tourmalet is the day that more women, not just professional runners, meet on the planet’s main bike mountain.
The Women’s Tour held in the last week of July was an unprecedented success and went far beyond the first race held in 2022. ASO, the company that manages the main cycling events on the international calendar, such as the Vuelta, a race that also launched a women’s version in May, and the French races. Not counting the French men’s round, records were set for television attendance, visits to social networks, the Tour’s official website, and roadside spectator tracking, far superior to any other bike race.
tour brand
In France, they understand that tour brand It is a kind of positive label that turns everything it touches into gold, as a symbol not only of the sport but also of the culture of the country, so the French do not care about the gender of the person riding the bike. , because what stands out, what matters before going further, is that the France round is going on and for that usual ways de la Grande Boucle, in the same uniforms, accompanied by cars that helped the men three weeks ago, and finally showed off the magic of the race.
That’s why they fought television audience recordings. The women’s test was offered in France through the same channels. public television, 2 and 3 programs the men’s Tour. It was held from Sunday to Sunday, July 23-30, and was the culmination of the race on the stage climbing the Tourmalet (Saturday 29 July). They decided to delay arriving at 7:00 pm so there would be a prime time television show and they managed to pick up at least one of them. 4.3 million French with 34.6 percent screen level.
During the competition week 20 million viewers at one point they saw a snapshot of the race. An average of two minimum career hours was offered. two million people With 24.8% of the country’s television viewers, he hangs out in front of the television every day. And they did so after three weeks of overdosing on cycling with the Tour, and it’s still in July, the traditional holiday month where they usually do other things than plugging in in front of the TV.
Dutch and Spanish pursuit
But that’s it Holland The enthusiasm was even greater. Vollering And van vleutenBoth Dutch were women who fought mainly for victory, with a very intense duel at Tourmalet. that was there Vollering It doomed the Tour, a success that monopolized 47% of Dutch television viewers.
racing in spain, teleport and excluding The Tour, the viewership of all masculine televised events increased throughout the year.