Women Ride The Tour de France Too!
(be that a couple of stages, or all 21!) and we’ll show you how …
Either you’re a woman who loves riding her bike, or you know women who love riding their bikes – and I mean really love riding their bikes.
You probably follow the Tour de France Femmes every year, watch the men’s Tour de France and look forward to each new Netflix “Unchained”. No doubt you also ride in sportives, or self-supported long rides such as audax, or you’re in a cycling club that is encouraging and supportive of all the women in their ranks (we hope!).
Maybe you’re looking for your next big cycling adventure and you’re ready to challenge yourself physically and mentally for a ’once in a lifetime’ ride around the iconic roads of France, tackling epic climbs like the Tourmalet, Galibier and Alpe d’Huez. If some or all these things ring true, then maybe Le Loop is for you!
We know there are often greater barriers in the way for women riding events on this scale than men, so let’s see what we can do to help figure out if riding all or part of the Tour de France route should be your goal next summer:
I’d love to ride stages of the Tour de France route, but it’s just too big (I’m not sure I’m good enough or fast enough).
The Training
It’s fair to say that as a rule, preparations for Le Loop should get focussed from January and serious from March. For those in the Northern Hemisphere, that means some long wintry rides or becoming good friends with your spinning gym / turbo trainer. But hey – it’s not a life-changing, life-enhancing challenge if it’s easy!
Joining a cycling club, finding mates willing to do at least part of those longer rides with you (maybe design a training route where friends can join for a lap or 2 if they don’t want to ride the whole thing with you) and finding ways to make a turbo trainer tolerable (Videos? Photo album slideshows? Training Apps? Music?) are all good ideas. So is good kit that keeps you warm and dry. By the time Easter arrives you’ll be ready to enjoy gorgeous long rides in the warmer weather and keep building that fitness up.
Good planning is a key part of fitting training into a busy life. Early morning rides, evening rides, maximising the commute and finding clever ways to ride a route that you’d otherwise drive (the rest of the family can meet you there in the car!) are all worth thinking about.
Get friends and family on side – Le Loop is going to be a big part of your life and their support will make that easier. Don’t underestimate recovery time too (often difficult with young kids in the house).
We provide a monthly motivation blog along with training plans. We’re with you. We’ve got this!
And once on tour?
We have 11 Loops to choose from each year. They’re summarised here.
We’re always happy to chat about the Loops in more detail and advise you to help make sure you make the right choice. Here are some options to consider:
Go short
Only 50 riders tackle all 21 stages of the Tour each year – that’s only half the field on any stage. The vast majority of Loopers ride between 3 and 7 stages. Our shortest and easiest Loop is the Tour de France Adventure – the 2 easiest consecutive stages of the Tour and a brilliant ‘taster’ for those who are looking for a decent challenge and aren’t daunted by what might still be 2 back-to-back 100 miler stages (though flatter than most).
Go Lite
For those who love the mountains but don’t want to bite off more than they can chew, we adapt the Alps and Pyrenees stages to create Lite options.
We’ll organise transfers or short cuts depending on the stages and routes, so that the stages become a more manageable 100km (ish). But you won’t miss any highlights: you still get the summit finishes, you still get the big name climbs and you still cycle with all our other Le Loop cyclists. And if you’re feeling strong, you can choose to ride the full stage instead.
Summary
Le Loop IS big – we don’t want to persuade you to do something that is just too big a stretch by pretending it’s easier than it is. We want you to enjoy it! It’s a challenge for sure, even for seasoned roadies, but the right training, and the right choice of Loop is the key to a wonderful, life-enhancing experience on Tour. So be honest with yourself, and if you think this IS for you, go for it at full throttle and prepare to have the time of your life!
I find riding with the boys just too ‘blokey’ and intimidating
We hear you!
Le Loop is not a race – it’s a group of passionate cyclists who want to challenge themselves, make new friends from all over the world and work together towards a common goal: not just riding stages of the Tour de France, but also helping young people have a chance to realise their own dreams through fundraising for the William Wates Memorial Trust.
It’s an inclusive, supportive and encouraging group of riders. We’re in this together – we complete it together. We’re a team.
There is also a broad range of fitness, age, experience and ability. On a mountain stage the group will be very stretched out and there is likely to be several hours between the first finishers and the last riders making it into the hotel. We’ll be out there supporting you for as long as it’s safe and sensible for you to be there. We want you to complete the stages just as much as you do!
However, we’re not going to shy away from the fact that you need to understand what you’re taking on and have done the appropriate training. So, these notes on speed are important to read and understand and will help you keep on target.
The camaraderie on tour is very special. We support each other – riding in groups where possible, taking turns on the front – helping others when we’re feeling strong and accepting help when we’re struggling. It’s no coincidence that this mirrors the experience of the young people we’re supporting through WWMT, who are facing daily uphill struggles.
Where testosterone overrides judgement, we’ll call it out – not just we as organisers, but fellow riders too, ensuring that the unique tone of Le Loop is respected and honoured by all Loopers.
OK – but what about toilets?
We get it – there’s a world of difference between a guy nipping behind a tree for a discreet wee, and a woman having to practically undress to get her bib shorts around her ankles among mother nature!
We’re going to be brutally honest here – we can’t guarantee a lovely loo at every feed stop. It’s just not possible. But we WILL scout out the nearest open loo (did you know there are toilet-locating apps!?), let you know ahead of time if there’s going to be a long stretch with no facilities and in some cases we’ll recommendyou popping into a café for a quick espresso in return for use of their facilities.
Rest assured – the entire support team are out on the road with you and guess what – we need the loo too! So, we’re on constant look out for facilities. BUT – there is a chance that you’ll be forced to nip into the undergrowth at some point on tour, just as you might have to on one of your training rides. We’ll do our best to help you avoid those occasions.
We also expect the blokes to behave appropriately on this subject (and, dare I mention, the public application of chammy cream … it should never be public!) and make sure that they do.
There’s fundraising involved – I really hate asking friends to sponsor me.
Obviously, this isn’t a women-only subject, but we do tend to hear it more from women. But don’t worry – we’ve got your back. We have masses of tried and tested methods for fundraising and we’ll help brainstorm the right one for you. Kate has supported almost 2,000 riders to reach their targets over the past 14 years and done it herself too! She knows what works, where the easy wins are and best of all, the methods that avoid asking Aunty Jean for £20, again! We’ve got fundraising resources and inspiration in your Rider Account once you’ve signed up. We arrange charity visits so you can see where the funds go. We share stories from the charities we support that you can share on with your supporters. We bring 2 young charity visitors on tour every year and we even encourage our Loopers to champion grant applications from suitable charities local to them.
Our fundraising targets do require a proper effort, (the majority of riders have a target of £1,200, but the majority also raise over their target each year) but they’re most definitely achievable. The target depends on the Loop you’re riding, the lowest being £1,000 and the highest, £3,000).
Embrace this aspect of Le Loop and you’ll reap the benefits, just as much as the young people we’re supporting. Trust us – knowing that your herculean efforts on the bike (and in your fundraising) have an even greater impact than just your own personal sense of achievement is the icing on the cake. Be proud of it. Own it.
It's expensive to take part.
We operate at cost (we’re a not-for-profit) and while we don’t offer luxury bells and whistles, we do provide superb support on tour so that literally all you need to do is eat, sleep and cycle. We think we offer brilliant value for money. Check out this blog that gets into more detail.
We charge on a ‘per night’ basis, so the shorter your Loop, the less you pay.
The trailblazers!
Some pretty awesome women have ridden with us since our first tour in 2012. They’ve come in all shapes and sizes, ages, backgrounds, nationalities and ethnicities. We’ve welcomed experienced racers right through to relative newbies. The common trait is that they LOVE riding their bikes. They’re not super-human. They’re like you and me. They’re just (wonderful) women, with a thrilling ambition to ride all or part of the Tour de France Route.
Check out our ‘rogues’ gallery’ below – just a very few of the faces of our wonderful women Alumni!
Plus a great podcast from one of our Alumni
Mel MacGregor did this fab podcast after her ‘Loop’ back in 2022. It’s well worth a listen. Enjoy!
Will you join our ranks next year? We’d LOVE you to! If you’ve got questions, get in touch. Grab a Priority Loop now, or wait until the route release on 29th October – our final places will be released on 8th November!
Vive Le Tour!
Rogues Gallery of totally awesome women Loopers!
Putting this together brought back some fantastic memories – I wish we could feature every single woman who’s ridden with us here!
