The race is a milestone for women's cycling — but there's a lot further to go.
When Marianne Martin won the first women's Tour de France Féminin in 1984, it seemed that women's cycling had a bright future. It was more than 80 years behind the 21-stage men's race, which had been going strong since 1903, but what mattered was that it was happening at all.
Then, just five years later, Tour de France Féminin was discontinued. Its downfall was attributed to a lack of funding, though that in itself was just indicative of the lack of societal support and belief in women's cycling — and"When we started the race, the French didn't think we would finish," Martin tells POPSUGAR."It shows the mentality that people can have about the capabilities of women. We've got to break that barrier.
Now, 33 years later, the sport is trying, again, to show exactly what women athletes can do. This year marks the first, another try at matching the legendary men's competition. It's being celebrated — and rightfully so — as a victory for women's cycling. But the win is bittersweet. In some ways, it only throws into relief how unequal the cycling world's treatment of women and men athletes really is.The women's tour has had a fraught history and many false starts.
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