Tour de France Femmes 2022: Former French national champion Marion Rousse appointed race director
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Updated 12/10/2021 at 15:45 GMT
The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) announced Rousse's appointment ahead of the unveiling of the route for the revived eight-stage event in 2022. The race is set for 24 to 31 July next year with the inaugural course for each of the stages to be announced on Thursday 14 October. Rousse, now a prominent pundit, hopes the event can act as an inspiration to young female cyclists.
Marion Rousse has been unveiled as the director of the Tour de France Femmes
Image credit: Getty Images
Former French national champion Marion Rousse has been unveiled as the director for the Tour de France Femmes.
Rousse, a prominent pundit since her retirement in 2015, will oversee the revival of the eight-stage race which is scheduled for the final week of July 2022.
Her appointment comes before the route for the inaugural edition is revealed on Thursday 14 October.
"When I was a little girl, I watched the Tour de France on television with admiration, and when I started my career, I suspected that I would never have the opportunity to race in it,” said Rousse.
So, of course, I was very proud to be asked to take charge of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, especially because we want to do our utmost to make it a dream for little girls to participate.
Rousse secured the French national title in 2012.
Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), organisers of the Tour de France, confirmed that a women's edition of the race would re-launch in 2022 after various incarnations over the years, including latterly a one-day La Course race held alongside a stage of the men's three-week Grand Tour.
It has been confirmed that the 2022 Tour de France Femmes will begin on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on the day that the men's Tour finishes in the French capital.
“Women's cycling has come a long way in recent years, partly thanks to ASO, but it still lacked a reference stage race with real media coverage," Rousse continued.
Now that I have accepted this mission, I intend to invest myself so that it becomes a ritual among the public... and for a long time because this is not about launching a race for two or three editions.
Rousse has previously worked as a deputy race director at the 2019 Tour de Provence and 2020 Tour de Savoie Mont-Blanc.
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