Next year's Tour de France for ladies will be decided between July 24 and 31, two weeks after the Giro Donne, which is the ladies' longest competition in the calendar.
The competition starts at the Eiffel Tower in Paris with the finish line in the Planche des Belles Filles in the French Alps.
Financial challenges
But it has not been simply reviving the ladies' tour after 32 years of dormancy.
- If it had been financially sustainable, the ladies' tour would have been held for the past 40 years, says Prudhomme.
He continues:
- The most difficult challenge has been to broadcast the competition.
I think we have done a good job of starting the same day as the men's competition ends in Paris, he says, adding that the races will be broadcast in 170 countries compared to the men's 190.
While more than 300 cities annually apply to pay to stand as host of the men's tour, Prudhomme has had to look for organizers for the women's competition.
- But they all have to pay an entrance fee, and to give you a comparison, it is more than for the men's week-long stage races Paris – Nice and Critérium du Dauphiné.
The men start in Denmark
On Thursday, the cities for next year's men's race were also presented, where it will start in Denmark.
The first stage will be a 13 kilometer long pace race around Copenhagen and in the next three, the cyclists will pass Roskilde, Nyborg Vejle and Sønderborg.
- It is a competition with a bit of everything.
The word that best describes the 2022 route is that it is complete, says Thierry Gouvenou who designed the courses.
The men's Tour de France will be decided from 1 to 24 July.
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Ellen van Dijk.
Photo: TT News Agency