"We expect to see a great spectacle" - Marion Rousse proud of Tour de France Femmes route, believes it could be the best edition of the race yet

The Tour de France Femmes will return with a vengeance in 2024, starting in Rotterdam and climaxing atop the infamous Alpe d'Huez. The woman behind the route, Marion Rousse is incredibly proud of what her and her team have created.

"The Grand Départ in the Netherlands is anything but a coincidence. We are ensuring popular success, we are going to be very well received,” explains Rousse in conversation with Cyclism'Actu following the presentation of the profiles and route reveal on Wednesday. "With the Olympic Games, it's a special edition. We really wanted to stay during people's vacations, it has to remain a popular success. We won't be the fourth week of the Tour de France, but it will be a real test."

The likes of defending champion Demi Vollering, teammate Lotte Kopecky and challengers such as Katarzyna Niewiadoma will finish next year's edition of the race atop one of cycling's most historic climbs in Alpe d'Huez, a prospect that is incredibly exciting for the sport of women's cycling as a whole.

"It will be a grand finale. After the Vosges and the Pyrenees, we wanted to go to the Alps, and I don't think there is much more legendary than Alpe d'Huez and its 21 bends. We expect to see a great spectacle until the end and we don't go there by chance, we know that the history of the Tour is also part of the route," says Rousse. "Since the first edition, we have said to ourselves that we can do more, but we have to go slowly and carefully. There have been Tour de France Femmes before us, and it is clear that we never found the right formula since the key was put under the door each time. We must establish this race, so that it becomes sustainable, and then we would obviously like to do more."