Tour de France
 

Curious, are women allowed to enter this race? It was an exciting finish today!!

Anyone good enough to make a team could ride.

Ciggalechanta; Hello,
Sorry mgmargate's info is incorrect;
women are positively NOT allowed to enter the Tour de France. Sad but true.
It's an all mens race.

Tod: Is that an actual rule? Hard to believe the lefty French would stand for such discrimination.I just assumed if you were able you were allowed. I quess we can't assume anything.

In the 80's they used to hold the Tour De Femmes. I don't know why they stopped.

The competitors in the Tour are just such a long way ahead of the level women could compete at right now. (You notice, it's not estrogen they are testing for!) A great example of the differences in capabilities is the Race Across America (RAAM www.raceacrossamerica.org) While women have competed, and finished, they consistently finish a day or two behind the lead men; not ALL men, just the winners.

Hi folks,

I haven't checked this out, but I'm pretty sure that there is a women's tour which (broadly speaking) runs parallel to the men's.

I'm assuming that the stages are shorter but I think that they may have the same finish lines. Maybe the women start further up the course so that they can finish their stage before the men arrive?

Jim

Jim, I meant, can they race WITH the men as equals.
I guess grasshopper explains it. Thanks all.

To satisfy my curiousity I e-mailed cycling news and they said men and women are not allowed to race together at the UCI level.I don't know what UCI means.

Union Cycliste Internationale

Thanks.

There is a women's Tour, called Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale. It's held in August and is about a week shorter than the men's Tour.

There are comparable women's tours to other European cycling races like the Giro de Italia, etc. Women and men generally race separately in the U.S. as well.

I have a cycling co-worker who lived in Europe in the 80's and he always got strange looks when he cycled with a woman. Things may have changed since then.

I've always wondered about those who plan an entire vacation to Europe and want to see one of the stages of the Tour. You have to hike into the country or wait in city crowds for hours and then the racers speed by in less than 10 seconds. Still, the countryside they're showing on the race telecast sure looks pretty!