Tour de France Femmes: A lasting impact?

September 21, 2022

For most of its 120 years of existence, the Tour de France was misogynistic. Pro men’s teams had no female staff members; the presence of women in official race vehicles was not allowed; and a woman journalist in the press room was a rare sight. Matters began to change in the mid-1980s thanks to an influx of American, Australian, British and Irish riders at the sport’s highest levels. They made it clear they wanted their wives or girlfriends to visit them on rest days; the first U.S. team to compete at the Tour brought along a (tut-tut!) female soigneur; and one or two women journalists were finally given official accreditation. Peloton Magazine