Le Tour Entier is an activist group to improve women's cycle racing, and call for a women's Tour de France. The group was founded by multiple world champion

Marianne Vos Marianne Vos (; born 13 May 1987) is a Dutch multi-discipline cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . After winning a junior European and World Championship in road racing, she continued her success in senior cycling by becomin ...

, Olympic silver medallist

Emma Pooley Emma may refer to: * Emma (given name) Film * ''Emma'' (1932 film), a comedy-drama film by Clarence Brown * ''Emma'' (1996 theatrical film), a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow * ''Emma'' (1996 TV film), a British television film starring Kate Be ...

, professional cyclist

Kathryn Bertine Kathryn Bertine (born 11 May 1975) is a Saint Kitts and Nevis racing cyclist, author, activist, film-maker and former professional figure skater and professional triathlete. She turned professional in road cycling in 2012 and raced on World Tour ...

and multiple world Ironman champion Chrissie Wellington in 2013.

History

In 2009, professional cyclist

was frustrated why there was no official 'Women's

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

'. She wrote to the organisers of the race -

Amaury Sport Organisation The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) is part of the French media group Éditions Philippe Amaury. It organises the Tour de France and other cycling races, as well as golf, running, sailing and off-road motorsport events. The president of ASO is Je ...

(ASO) - with a business plan on how such a race could be created. No response was received. Subsequently, Bertine became an activist for women's cycling, and formed the activist group Le Tour Entier (“the whole tour”) with fellow cyclists

and

and triathlete Chrissie Wellington. They launched a petition, calling for a women's Tour de France to be run by

(ASO), the organisers of the Tour de France. The headline of the petition stated "After a century, it is finally time to allow women to ride their Tour de France as well". The group received substantial media coverage, with over 100,000 signatures received. In October 2013, the group met with ASO to work out how a women's race could be included in the Tour. A manifesto was published by the group in September 2013, setting out proposed improvements and initiatives to improve women's cycling. This was sent to the governing body of cycling -

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

(UCI), as well as to race organisers. The manifesto called for: * A women's Tour de France to be run alongside the men's race * Creation of a women's World Tour and other continental tours & championships * Men's

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ...

events should also stage a women's race * Revision of race and stage length restrictions * Removal of average age rules for women's UCI teams * Encouraging

UCI WorldTeams UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer In ...

to set up female squads * Greater and improved media coverage of women's cycling * Greater commercial investment in women's cycling

Legacy

In July 2014, the first edition of

La Course by Le Tour de France La Course by Le Tour de France was an elite women's professional road bicycle race held in France. First held in 2014 as a one-day race on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, it has been part of the UCI Women's WorldTour since 2016 as a one or two ...

was staged on the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is lo ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

- ahead of the final stage of the

2014 Tour de France The 2014 Tour de France was the 101st edition of the race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The race included 21 stages, starting in Leeds, Yorkshire, United Kingdom, on 5 July and finishing on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 27 July. The race al ...

. Organised by ASO, La Course was welcomed by the professional peloton, media and campaigners, with Le Tour Entier praised for being the "catalyst" behind the push for the race. The

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

was won by founding member

. However, La Course did not expand beyond a one day race in subsequent years, and Bertine continued to express disappointment that it had not evolved into a multi day stage race. Following discussions between the UCI, teams and race organisers, the

UCI Women's World Tour The UCI Women's World Tour is the premier annual female elite road cycling tour. History In order to increase the coverage of Women's cycling the UCI held a summit in December 2014 between the UCI Women’s Working Group and the UCI Women's ...

was launched in 2016 - with a substantial increase in the number of race days, media coverage and minimum prize money. The World Tour included multi day races, unlike the previous

UCI Women's Road World Cup The UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup was a season-long road bicycle competition for women organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale between 1998–2015. This competition consisted of a series (which has varied from 6 to 12 events) of rac ...

. Several men's

events also now stage a women's race on the same day or weekend - such as

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes is the women's event of Liège–Bastogne–Liège, an annual road bicycle racing event in Wallonia, Belgium, held in late April. The inaugural race, won by Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen, was run on 23 Ap ...

(first edition in 2017) and

Paris–Roubaix Femmes Paris–Roubaix Femmes is a one day women's bicycle race on cobbled roads (or pavé) in northern France, held annually in early April. It is part of the UCI Women's World Tour. The equivalent men's race is a cycling monument, and after the Tou ...

(first edition in 2021). Several

now have female squads, including

Movistar Movistar () is a major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and Hispanic American countries. It is the largest provider of landline, broadband, mobile services, and pay television (Movistar+) in Spain. Movistar is ...

(launched 2017), Trek–Segafredo (launched 2018) and Jumbo–Visma (launched 2020). Average age rules for teams were also removed. In 2020, a minimum wage for riders was introduced, with some riders stating their income has doubled or even tripled. UCI has the objective to have equal minimum salaries for both men and women by 2023. In 2021, ASO announced that the

Tour de France Femmes The Tour de France Femmes () is an annual women's cycle stage race around France. It is organised by Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), which also runs the Tour de France. It is part of the UCI Women's World Tour. Some teams and media have referr ...

would be held over 8 days in July 2022. The announcement was met with praise by the media, peloton and campaigners. Bertine did caution that the women's race would be significantly shorter than the men's race, with less prize money and TV coverage. Activism in the professional peloton continues, with Cyclists Alliance (a union representing the female peloton) pushing for greater live TV coverage, greater prize money and longer races.

References

{{reflist

External links

Le Tour Entier
Cycling advocates Cycling activism Advocacy groups Tour de France Women's road cycling