Here's your complete behind the scenes look at the women's Tour de France 2022 start area, with a deep dive into the bike computer, smart trainer, and power meter tech.
Today kicked off the first 8-stage Women’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. This year the race started in Paris, where the women completed loops of the same main Parisian circuit as the men, similar to what the women have done in La Course over the last decade. After Sunday’s opener, the women are working their way eastwards, towards the Alps, before a finish this weekend.
For this post, I’m focusing on the sports tech of the women’s teams, just as I did for the men’s side. As you may know, I’ve been covering the geekier side of the women’s peloton for many years of La Course, Giro, and Tour Down Under events. While these events have had varying levels of WorldTour status, the reality is all of them were largely attended by the same top WorldTour teams.
Simply put – the shift this year in sponsorship money, and teams provisions is astounding. In the case of all of the 14 WorldTour Teams, the main gear, team bus, and sponsorship/equipment levels were near identical. And even in the 10 Continental Teams (essentially a slightly lower tier), the gear was often the same as well. It was mind-bogglingly amazing to see this jump for the women’s teams. Gone are the hodge-podge of unsponsored team equipment lineups, replaced with the latest top-end gear that the men also have.
0:00 Quick Overview
1:07 Power Meters and More
11:35 Team Presentation Area
12:48 Warm up, Trainers, Bike Computers
18:19 Race Start Area
#TourdeFrance2022 #TourDeFranceFemmes #WomensTourDeFrace
