Women’s cycling will be covered like never before when the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, in its current guise, begins with the Grand Départ from Paris on Sunday 24 July.
After being introduced for the first time during its cycling coverage for the Tour de France, the mixed-reality Cube studio will be the cornerstone of WBDS’ broadcast of the Tour de France Femmes - the ultimate storytelling tool giving fans access to best-in-class analysis.
Orla Chennaoui will front WBDS’ coverage of the Tour de France Femmes while former professional cyclist Iris Slappendel will take over from Sir Bradley Wiggins to bring one of the great innovations in sports broadcasting to millions of fans by reporting live from the inside the peloton throughout the eight-stage race.
Respected cycling identities Laura Meseguer and Manon Lloyd will be on-site speaking to the athletes who will be making the headlines throughout while the likes of Dani Rowe (UK) and Dani Christmas (UK), Jacky Durand (France), Ilenia Lazzaro (Italy), Jip van den Bos (Netherlands) and Dori Ruano (Spain) will provide commentary analysis in their local languages.
Underpinning WBDS’ coverage of this year’s Tour de France Femmes will be a brilliant on-air campaign featuring some of the superstars of women’s cycling, including Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Annemiek van Vleuten, Elisa Longo Borghini, Kasia Niewiadoma and Elisa Balsamo posing with the famed yellow jersey they will be vying for each day.
Chennaoui, Slappendel, Meseguer and Jose Been were part of a media event to preview the Tour de France Femmes to explore the attitudes towards women in professional sport.
Chennaoui, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports cycling presenter, said: “We are at a place where we will all see a genuinely exciting race. I think the stories in women’s cycling are so much more colourful and textured. There is more depth to them because a lot of women have had to live separate lives as well as on the bike, which makes you identify with the riders even as you worship their greatness.
“We're also aware of the importance of this place in sporting history, not just cycling history, and that brings a responsibility on all of our shoulders to get this right. I am genuinely so excited to be working on this for Warner Bros. Discovery Sports - it's going to be such a massive week of racing.”
Slappendel, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports cycling expert, said: “We all know that it’s a massive thing that the Tour de France Femmes is here. I’m looking forward to seeing very exciting racing every day, being on the back of the motorbike, being around the peloton, but also being able to really capture the atmosphere, the fans on the roadside, the weather, the road conditions, to see the riders from up close. I think it's great that I can do that now for eight days in a row.
“As a rider, it’s nice to know your achievements are visible. It’s really important that we can watch this live and that there are experts in every country to report on the race. The riders can really show themselves and that will have an impact on their careers.”
Meseguer, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports cycling reporter, said: “After covering six editions of the Tour de France and almost 20 Grand Tours, I have this feeling of being part of something huge.
“To have the privilege of being on site and part of this historic moment in the sport, and to say that I’m proud of our sport being diverse and inclusive, to have the best athletes in these eight days of competition, I think it will be so exciting.”
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Live blogs, exclusive interviews and unrivalled analysis will keep fans ahead of the pack with every key moment from the Tour de France Femmes covered on eurosport.com meaning every angle will be covered and every story told in the lead-up to, and during, the race.
