Rousse visits Clermont-Ferrand as the potential Grand Départ, move away from Paris opener could lead to new stage opportunities
Annemiek Van Vleuten wins Tour de France Femmes(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
The 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will reportedly begin with a Grand Départ in Clermont-Ferrand, the capital of Auvergne region, located in the Massif Central on July 23.
The eight-day Women's WorldTour race, set to take place from July 23-30 next summer, may include multiple stages in the Auvergne region with speculation that a mountain stage could include Puy de Dôme.
According to a report in La Montagne on Wednesday, Tour de France Femmes director Marion Rousse recently visited the Auvergne region to consider its potential to host multiple stages of next year's event.
The Tour de France Femmes is set begin in Clermont-Ferrand on the same day as the concluding stage 21 of the men's race annually held in Paris.
However, the Auvergne region and Clermont-Ferrand will reportedly also host the men's Tour de France with a mountain stage 9 finish to Puy de Dôme on July 9, a rest day on July 10, a stage 10 from Vulcania to Issoire on July 11 and stage 11 is likely to run from Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins on July 12.
Clermont-Ferrand Mayor Olivier Bianchi said that gender equality was an important factor in its bid to host the opening stage of the women's race.
"We have made gender equality an important point in our sports policy," Bianchi said. "So, we said we were happy that the Tour de France for women was starting up again and that Clermont could potentially be on the program for this event."
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Rousse, who was named the director of the Tour de France Femmes last year, has reportedly visited Clermont-Ferrand to validate the city as host organisers.
Her visit was reportedly not only concerned with Clermont-Ferrand as a host of the Grande Départ, but also to discuss stage 2 and the potential for it to be held between Saint-Genès-Champanelle (Puy-de-Dôme) and Mauriac (Cantal).
Move away from Paris opener could lead to new race opportunities
Tour de France Femmes 2022 stage 1 in Paris (Image credit: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
The Grand Départ of the rebirth of the Tour de France Femmes last year was held in conjunction with the men's event as a circuit race on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
The women's race then travelled north east to the Vosges mountains and finished atop La Super Planche des Belles Filles.
While many had hoped for the event to visit the iconic Tour de France mountains of the Alps and Pyrenees, there were obvious challenges and limitations to how much of countryside the Tour de France Femmes could traverse in just eight days.
The Grand Départ's move away from Paris to a new location in Clermont-Ferrand will mark a significant change, however, it would also allow the event to cover new and varied territory during the eight days of racing.
In addition, moving away from Paris and a short circuit race stage, could allow organisers to replace it with something more substantial such as new mountainous terrain and possibly an individual time trial.
ASO will announce the full route details on October 27 at the Palais des Congrès convention centre in Paris.
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
