From the Arc de Triomphe to the Renaissance… There are a hundred days and so many hopes. To mark the occasion, the Tour de France Women, which will start on July 24 at the foot of the Eiffel Tower while its male counterpart will find its epilogue the same day on the Champs-Elysées, celebrated its D-100 this Friday at the top of the famous Parisian monument. “A symbol that was close to our hearts, underlines Marion Rousse, director of the event. The presentation at the Palais des Congrès in October was incredible, but it seems so far away. There, we say to ourselves that it is concrete. »
On the eve of the second edition of the women’s Paris-Roubaix, the Tour therefore entered the minds of the peloton like a compass that should never be separated. The route, from the capital to the Vosges, with the arrival, Sunday July 31, at the top of the Planche des Belles Filles, passing through Champagne was already known but it seems even more real today.
“It was designed to introduce all the girls,” says Marion Rousse. If there had been too many mountains, we would always have seen the same ones. And the Vosges, with two stages, is a very beautiful playground. Leaving Paris is symbolic, it represents a link with men, it’s important for the first. This will mark history because we want to be part of the long term, the long term. »
“We really want to become a benchmark race”
Emulation is already being felt within the women’s peloton through video patches that will be available to view on the race’s digital media, from next week until the day of the start. Evita Muzic, the reigning French champion (FDJ-Nouvelle-Aquitaine), present this Friday at the top of the Arc de Triomphe, is already showing her impatience.
“We’ve been waiting for it for years,” said the 22-year-old. The race by the Tour, it was on a single day, it was not the same. I arrived in the good era. This is my fifth year pro. It’s been a dream since childhood. I always watched the Tour and I didn’t even imagine that it would be possible one day to do it. Only a hundred days left… We are a good generation of French runners and I hope that we will give birth to vocations. »
A few steps away, Marion Rousse smiles. “We really want to become a benchmark race, continues the 2012 French champion. Me, I only identified with men. How many times I rode my bike feeling like Tom Boonen… I was super proud. There, it will be a great novelty for all the little girls who will identify with champions. »
