The eight stages from Paris to the Planche des Belles Filles should allow the public to "put a name to a face" thanks to the two and a half hours of live TV production each day, she wishes.

Question: What was the idea in choosing the route of the course and its timetable?

Answer: "The objective was to allow the general public to get to know as many runners as possible, to put a name to a face. If we had done a very mountainous course, it would always have taken place between three or four girls. There, it There's something for sprinters, backpackers, punchers but also climbers. Obviously, the mountain comes to the end to keep the suspense going until the end (...) And for this first edition, we really cared about that to leave Paris the day the men arrive: it's very symbolic, like a hyphen (...) In eight days, you can't go everywhere, so if you want to explore other territories , you will have to start from elsewhere (...) But the start will always be right after the men's Tour de France, that allows the series to continue.Except in Olympic years, it will be postponed to August."

Q: The amount of bonuses, 250,000 euros in total, was compared to 2.3 M EUR for the men's event, do you understand that?

A: "If we compare with an eight-day men's race like the Dauphiné or Paris-Nice, we are above the men's grid (the amount is 144,300 for Paris-Nice, editor's note). The bonuses are almost a fake debate. We talk about it a lot but that's not what the girls want to experience. It's more important to see what the Women's Tour de France will bring: the media impact that we will create and the money coming with it to have financial stability and allow wages to increase.

Q: They have already risen in recent years, how much has that raised the bar compared to your years in the peloton?

The former cyclist and consultant on France Télévisions Marion Rousse, on May 20, 2022 in Paris Anne-Christine POUJOULAT AFP

A: "In six years, that has nothing to do. In the WorldTeams teams, a minimum salary has been introduced (27,500 euros per year in 2022, 32,100 next year, editor's note). Before, apart from three or four paid girls who fought among themselves, the others, like me, we had to work on the side. There was a big gap in level. I never knew the cars they have now like the men: we changed in the trunk of cars. We had professional status, but there was nothing professional. I found myself in races with cars in the wrong direction (...) The evolution was felt on TV There are race strategies put in place. It is no longer the same girl who wins every time. A homogeneity has appeared. We had to start there beforehave a women's Tour de France."

Q: Why is the media and financial gap between men's and women's cycling so much greater than other sports?

A: "In tennis, the big tournaments are at the same time. It's easy to show men and women, complementary. In similar athletics, lots of different events take place in the same stadium. Bike races, at organizing is totally different, it's an itinerant sport. We've been lagging behind and, fortunately, it has evolved a lot in recent years."

Q: Even if among its 102,000 licensees, the French Cycling Federation only has 12,000 women...

A: "We hope precisely with this Tour de France to give ideas to women and to make women's cycling on TV not a curiosity but normality."

Q: Do we need regulatory changes to the authorities to promote its development?

R "At one point there was talk of making the men's WorldTour license conditional on a women's team version, but a large number (of women's teams) have been created. Very few men's teams do not yet have their version feminine."

Q: Team bosses like Patrick Lefevere, head of the Quick-Step formation, have long been reluctant to women's cycling...

A: "Finally, he invested in a women's team (NXTG, editor's note). This formation is one of the 24 to compete in the Tour de France women. Like what, even the reluctant come to women's cycling. In addition, we discussed it together, he is very happy with this partnership: he even asked me if he could come on a stage."

Interview by Clément Varanges

© 2022 AFP