Tour de France Rest Day 2
I’m headed out for a bike ride — for my own ‘rest day’ — but I was trying to find out something about the women’s race. This year, a multi-day stage race was planned and cancelled, and all that’s left is “La Course by Le Tour”, a short event typically held on the last day of Le Tour, with little televised fanfare.
I don’t know if NBCSports will show it on my subscription (currently, it’s “TBD” for July 23rd), so I went to the official Facebook page for it from Le Tour.
That’s it; it’s said to be held on the Champs-Elysees on July 24 and in another spot on July 27. Which is it gang?
I had to go to the website listed (letour.fr) and then hunt for the actual La Course site. Here I find two dates: not the 23rd, the 24th, or the 27th, though!
The Thursday July 20th 2017, La Course by Le Tour de France will be running from Briançon to Izoard and will cover a total distance of 67.5 kilometers.
The Saturday July 22th 2017, La Course by Le Tour de France will be in Marseille and will cover a total distance of 22.5 kilometers.
At least they have the list of riders and teams (something the UCI didn’t manage to do until a few days before the start of the World Championship in Richmond — which made it nearly impossible to write about the women’s race contenders! Pick some big names and hope they show.)
The organizers claim that there is less interest in the women’s race, but a significant factor has to be the lack of information and the difficulties in watching it. If Le Tour wants to seriously run a race for women, they need to pick a date, make it consistent, and make sure that they provide information early enough to meet the schedules of journalists: The same as they do for their men’s race.
I did find two stories (from women writers!) about La Course, via Twitter. This first one was written by Kristen Legan in May and October, and is rightfully disappointed with the decision to do a single-day event. It ends on a hopeful note though, based on speculation at the time that the route will go up the Izoard, a grueling and brutal effort that Le Tour visits on the same day.
And then the news got better for Marion Gachies piece: La Course was confirmed as a race up the Izoard with the best riders going on to race in Marseille two days later, the same day that the men will time trial it.
It’s not a stage day, but it is innovative and exciting. I hope that the Tour organizers make next year’s event even bigger. Please let me know if you know how to watch the events — I’ll be sending a feedback email to NBC too about their erroneous listing and asking them if they’re broadcasting it.
