Cycling-Minor adjustments as women's Tour de France sets off from Clermont

PARIS : The second edition of the revived women's Tour de France will set off from Clermont Ferrand and feature an ascent of the iconic Col du Tourmalet at the end of an undulating eight days of racing, organisers said on Thursday.

The race will start on the day the men's Tour finishes in Paris but this time it will not depart from the French capital.

Organisers made some adjustments following last year's race, which left riders beyond the point of exhaustion after the final climb to the Markstein on the penultimate day.

"We have listened to what the riders told us," women's Tour de France director Marion Rousse told Reuters.

"The last stage last year was too tough and even if the Tourmalet is a rough climb, the stage will feature fewer metres gained.

"Our goal is that the race becomes perennial."

An individual 22 kilometre time trial in Pau, southwestern France, will be introduced.

Asked whether the race would become longer and end up lasting three weeks like the men's event, Rousse insisted that sustainability was the key word.

"It's not possible yet. There's still a long way to go," she explained.

"But we hope that things will evolve in that direction."