Anonymous asked: Sarah! Was La Route de France ever seen as ladies Tour de France? In my opinion, it was, but still there are people claiming it wasn't. What's your professional insider opinion? Big thanks /Katja
In my view, the Route de France was never the women’s TdF. Yeah, it was over a week, but it was an amateur organisation, and it never got even most of the big names, or all the big teams.
It took place during the time the big name riders were taking their summer break, before the World Cups at the end of August, and the preparations for Worlds, and I’m sorry it went, but it was in no way the equivalent of the TdF.
(We used to have 3 women’s Grand Tour equivalents - the Giro Rosa, which still runs, and the Grand Boucle, which at one point was the women’s Tour de France, though not run by the ASO, and the Tour de l’Aude in the French Pyrennées. Now it’s just the Giro, sadly)