Marianne Martin claimed victory in the first ever Tour de France Féminin in 1984, giving hope to the future of women’s cycling. More significant than the fact that it was more than 80 years behind the men’s 21-stage race, which had been running since 1903, was the mere fact that it was taking place at all. Only five years later was the Tour de France Féminin cancelled. Its collapse was attributed to a lack of funding, but it was only a symptom of the wider cultural rejection of and disbelief in women’s cycling.
Now 33 years later, the Tour de France Femmes was held again. Annemiek van Vleuten, a Dutch cyclist, took first place and the coveted yellow jersey in the Tour de France Femmes. Despite having a stomach sickness at the beginning of the Tour and dealing with no less than five bike adjustments on the final stage, she managed to win on Sunday.
The revival of the Tour de Femmes was a success. The eight stages averaged 2.25 million viewers across France 2 and France 3 channels, while 20 million people watched the full race. 75 million hours of live coverage were transmitted into seven European nations outside of the host country, demonstrating the Tour de France’s ability to draw spectators to cycle racing. The achievements of Eurosport riders Van Vleuten and Marianne Vos were watched by 14 million people, including a whopping 45 percent of the Netherlands TV audience.
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