Audrey Cordon Ragot: "To be a woman in cycling, you have to be crazy"

Tour de France Femmes is being held for the first time in history, and Trek-Segafredo rider Audrey Cordon-Ragot believes it will be a big hit.

“To be a woman in cycling, you have to be crazy,” said Cordon-Ragot. “You don’t do it for glory, you don’t do it for money. You do it because you love suffering on your bike and what it offers in terms of adrenaline and going beyond yourself."

She has always been vocal about her admiration for Bernard Hinault. “I’ve grown up with this image of Bernard Hinault. I can still remember putting a tape in the video player and watching his killer instinct in action. I’ve grown up with that. I was born with it,” said Cordon-Ragot

She believes the tour will be a significant turning point in women’s sports history .“We are entering an era that we’ve never witnessed as female athletes and that we’ve never witnessed in women’s sports. I’m going to be part of that. We’re going to put women’s sport on the national TV channel with girls on bikes. Riding at 40kmh, climbing hills that we’ve only seen men on,” concluded Cordon-Ragot.