'It has everything' – Annemiek van Vleuten buzzing for 'milestone' Tour de France Femmes

It’s hard to believe that there is anything left outstanding on Annemiek van Vleuten’s CV. The Dutch cycling superstar has been a leading light in the sport for well over a decade, helping to push women’s cycling on the global stage. But while her legacy is already more than assured, with Olympic medals, prestigious stage race victories and world titles already won, 2022 has a new race on the calendar and it is one Van Vleuten has her eye on.

The women have raced versions of La Course for a number of years now, the one-day race being attached to the end of Tour de France in 2014. But as women’s cycling has grown, so have the voices calling for parity between the sexes when it comes to the major races. And those voices — including van Vleuten’s — have been listened to.

Ad/> In 2022, the Tour de France Femmes will take place, an eight-day stage race that starts in Paris the day the men’s version finishes, and takes in white gravel roads, sprint finishes and gruelling mountain days. It is a far more fitting way for the professional women’s peloton to show their skills to the wider world — something van Vleuten is keen to point out. /> CyclingA new era, no more limits — we're proud to be the home of women's cycling36 MINUTES AGO “I think the milestone for me, is the organisation of the Tour de France really wants now to organise it for us.