Tour de France Femmes 2022: 'To be a woman in cycling you have to be crazy' - Audrey Cordon-Ragot

“People are not ready” for the impact of the inaugural Tour de France Femmes, according to Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Trek-Segafredo). Starting from Paris and ending with an epic summit finish, the eight-day race has a bit of everything as the women’s peloton races across the roads, cobbles and mountains of north-east France. Ad/> “To be a woman in cycling you have to be crazy,” Cordon-Ragot says on the latest Power of Sport episode.

Tour de France FemmesWarner Bros. Discovery to supercharge coverage of women's cycling with Tour de France Femmes16 HOURS AGO “You don’t do it for glory, you don’t do it for money. You do it because you love suffering on your bike and what it offers in terms of adrenaline and going beyond yourself.

Cordon-Ragot grew up watching the legendary Bernard Hinault, a five-time winner at the Tour, and says she also has “character” like her fellow Breton to star at a Grand Tour. The 32-year-old is likely to operate as a super domestique to Elisa Longo Borghini in the mountains and Elisa Balsamo on the flat terrain. “I believe that the fact I was born in Brittany helped me in my career.

You have this identity that is transmitted to you when you’re born, and that you then have to defend. I believe I was given a mission as a Breton,” she said. “When I had that first bike, for me the important thing was to compete on the weekend and win.

The adrenaline I felt, even at a young age, when you cross the line and are applauded was something that blew me away and that today pushes me to continue. “I’ve grown up with this image of Bernard Hinault. I can still remember putting a tape in the video player and watching his killer instinct in action.

I’ve grown up with that. I was born with it. I used to say that being