Ahead of this month’s historic La Course by Le Tour de France, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is joining forces with key partners including Tour de France organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and UCI Women Road World Cup sponsor The Sufferfest, to launch the Women’s Cycling Week (WCW), from 20 to 27 July. The goal of the WCW is to grow the profile of women’s cycling at every level via a series of events that will take place throughout the month of July to get more girls and women riding.
The WCW will include the following events:
- Ride to Paris: A group of 25 amateur women cyclists from across the world will ride from Utrecht in Holland to Paris in just four days, arriving on 26 July the day before La Course by le Tour de France. Along the way they will be sharing their experiences on UCI website and social media;
- Female elite riders will be setting the pace for women participants in the mass participation event L’Etape du Tour on July 20. In addition, every female rider registered to ride in L’Etape du Tour will receive a free �?La Course by Le Tour de Franceâ branded cycling jersey from the UCI (www.letapedutour.com);
- Leading cycling training video company The Sufferfest has created a new training film - Halfiseasy - that contains content from womenâs competitions which will be shown in gyms worldwide (www.thesufferfest.com);
- Women riders from all over the world are invited to share their cycling experiences and show how they have pushed their boundaries via social media using the hashtags #owntheroad, #ownthetrail, #ownthejumps, #ownthetrack. Best tweets will be shared on @UCI_cycling and @UCIWomenCycling;
- UCI President Brian Cookson will present medals to La Course by le Tour de France podium finishers.
UCI President Brian Cookson said:
âWe are entering an historic moment for womenâs cycling with La Course by Le Tour de France Âon July 27 which will attract a level of media focus and attention on womenâs cycling never before seen in the history of the sport. It is critically important that as a sport we embrace this unique opportunity to further shine the light on womenâs cycling, and get more girls and women riding bikes. This is exactly what the WCW is seeking to achieve.
âSince I became UCI President nine months ago, we have made unprecedented investment in the funding of broadcast packages around the UCI Women Road World Cup. This followed the appointment of Tracey Gaudry as the UCIâs first Women Vice-president, and the establishment of the UCIâs first Womenâs Commission. While we still have much to do, I believe that 2014 will be remembered as a breakout year for womenâs cycling.â
UCI Vice-president Tracey Gaudry stated:
âThe UCI is determined to maximise recognition of women in cycling as a sport and for participation. We are not alone with this ambition and have embraced that the rise of womenâs cycling must involve everybody. Thereâs enormous diversity on the Womenâs Commission with leaders representing womenâs teams, sponsors, events, media, coaches and athletes. Weâll be finalising our strategy at our next meeting in a couple of weeks in Paris, in conjunction with La Course by Le Tour de France.
âOur priorities can be achieved by working with, and supporting the initiatives of cycling stakeholders â such as La Course by le Tour de France by ASO. This outstanding event will showcase the strength, thrill and drama of womenâs cycling to millions of viewers worldwide.â
Dutch champion Marianne Vos reacted:
âThe sport has grown in the last few years and it is great to celebrate the achievement of womenâs cycling. During this dedicated week, I especially look forward to La Course and meeting the girls riding #RoadtripParis on the Champ Elysees.
My dream is to make cycling more accessible to women. I want to take the best from both menâs and womenâs cycling and use this to create a stage from which the dreams of every aspiring cyclist can be launched, whether they are young, old, fellow professionals or future talents.â