La Course

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I, too, would *love* to see a women's Tour de France, but I think we should be more vocal, demand coverage and *follow* already existing, terrific races:

• Giro Rosa (9 stages)
• Thüringen-Rundfahrt der Frauen (6 stages + a prologue)
• La Flèche Wallonne Féminine
• Ronde van Vlaanderen voor Vrouwen
• Friends Life Women's Tour (5 stages)
• Trofeo Binda
• Ronde van Drenthe

Focusing on more coverage of existing races might also shore up struggling sponsorship of the Giro della Toscana (4 stages) -- last year, this tour was conducted in open roads, with cars cutting off the riders. After the third stage, about half the riders protested and abandoned the race. That included Elisa Longo-Borghini (who was the most vocal Italian in the protest and was chastised by the organizers as if she was betraying her country) and Marianne Vos (who was the leader of the race). Mind you that several of these races, save for the Friends Life tour, have a long history. The Giro della Toscana will be on its 20th year, the Giro Rosa (formerly the Giro d'Italia Femminile) nearly died a couple of years ago, until a new sponsor stepped with a commitment through 2016.

Another area where women should be more vocal should be in making the UCI drop the limits on road race distances (130km on stage races) and, I believe, 10 stages maximum (why does the UCI say 'the same limit as in 2004'... if you manage to find the 2004 rules, they refer you to the 1996 rules!). Simply drop those limits for elite women races and let the sponsors experiment.

We should also support any initiative demanding that US races (Tour of Utah and Tour of California) include a women's version, not just a token TT. USA Cycling probably carries enough weight internationally that it could ask for an exception on the length of women's races and use the same course as the men's for a women's tour.

Anyway, I am trying to put my money where my virtual mouth is, and recently joined the Women's Cycling Association and follow women's races the best I can. There are two excellent resources I have found to follow women's cycling:

• Podium Cafe: Women's Cycling
• Unofficial Unsanctioned UCI Women's UCI Cycling blog

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