"What do you mean you raced the Tour de France?" – New documentary sheds light on forgotten women’s Tour de France that disappeared in 2009

The 2025 Tour de France Femmes may go down as the most significant edition yet, not just for the racing that it produced. The main headline was that Pauline Ferrand-Prevot made history by becoming the first French cyclist, male or female, to win any Tour de France title since 1989. Already the holder of world titles in four different disciplines and an Olympic gold medal, her victory cemented her as one of cycling’s all-time greats. But alongside the celebration of her win, a new documentary, Breakaway Femmes, brought long-overdue attention to the turbulent, often forgotten history of the original women’s Tour de France.

The modern Tour de France Femmes is only in its fourth year since its 2022 revival, yet women’s stage racing in France stretches back decades. From 1984 to 2009, there were versions of the event, known variously as the Tour de France Féminin, Tour of the EEC Women, Tour Cycliste Féminin, and Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale. Despite lasting more than two decades, the event faded so far from public memory that many people are stunned to learn it ever existed.

“What do you mean you raced the Tour de France?” is a question many riders from that first era have been asked repeatedly. Mandy Jones, who won the UCI Road World Championships road race in 1982, recalled in Breakaway Femmes: “If you then speak to somebody and say, oh by the way, we rode it in the eighties. What do you mean you rode it in the eighties? Yeah, there was a women’s Tour de France. Well, I didn't know that.”

For director Eleanor Sharpe, the project uncovered stories that had been locked away for decades. “It was just such a huge part of their lives, and they just really weren’t able to talk about it,” Sharpe said to Cycling Weekly. “It was almost like they’d been in a war together. I don't know why they couldn't talk about it, but they didn't. They all felt that way. They just didn't feel like they had the permission to tell their story.”

Sharpe herself was stunned by the lack of public awareness. “I’ve watched the Tour de France for years…but it really surprised me that I hadn’t heard of [the women’s Tour], and when I talked to other people about it, no one else had heard about it either.”

One pivotal moment in her research came by chance. “We were interviewing Trish, and during her interview she just casually mentioned that she’d been the general manager of the Great Britain women’s Tour de France team in the 80s.” That Trish was Trish Liggett, wife of long-time cycling commentator Phil Liggett, whose connection to the race had gone largely unmentioned in public.

Sharpe went to great lengths to find as many former competitors as possible, spanning continents. “We had the race booklets that some of the riders had hung onto, and it had the names of the Chinese riders in them, but we had no idea whether they were spelled correctly, because even with the European riders, the race booklets tended to misspell and mangle all their names. Anyway, we found this Chinese company that facilitates film shoots for international crews in China, and they were able to track down these women, which was amazing.”

The decision to include the Chinese riders wasn’t only about completing the roster. “I really thought it was important to include the Chinese riders. I mean, partly because it's just such an interesting story with them coming over from a communist country, but also I was quite aware that I was telling the story of feminism, but it was a particular version of feminism. It was a white, fairly affluent, middle class feminism. So I was kind of quite consciously aware of that. I knew that if we could find these women, their story would be quite different, them coming from quite different backgrounds and different motivations.”

Not all riders in the story were easy to portray. “You really do need a couple of characters for the rough edges, definitely. And Jeannie Longo was this ball of rough edges. But she’s also an incredibly important rider. And it would have been a completely different film if we hadn't been able to get her in the film.”

Longo’s presence in the film also reignited an old point of contention. Before Ferrand-Prevot’s 2025 triumph, Longo was the last French rider to win the yellow jersey. She voiced her frustration to L’Équipe: "I was a bit depressed just now listening to the commentary on France Info. It was said that she might become the first French winner of the Tour since Bernard Hinault (in 1985). While I won again in 1989 (after having already won in 1987 and 1988).” She added, “Yes, I even have the impression that we're being walked over...”

For Sharpe, the interviews were a revelation. “What struck me when I spoke to all of them was how grateful they all were that I was taking an interest,” she said. “When I reached out to them, it was the first time, I think, in 30 plus years, that they'd really gotten the chance to talk.

“And it was like opening a floodplain, all they wanted to do was talk. I felt like I should be the one who was feeling grateful, you know, having the privilege to talk to them. When we started making this film, the Tour de France Femmes hadn't come back, so when I initially contacted them, they were still very much in the wilderness and no one was interested, and they didn't know that all the race would ever come back.”

While the film reopens the past, the present-day race is thriving. The 2025 edition was not only historic in terms of its winner but also its audience. The nine-stage event, which concluded nearly two weeks ago, drew an average of 2.7 million viewers per stage, more than half a million higher than last year’s numbers. That translated to a 31.6% audience share. Broadcasters produced over 25 hours of live coverage across France 2, France 3, and the france.tv digital platform, reflecting a level of commitment to women’s cycling not seen in decades.

The renewed visibility of the race raises questions about how and why the original women’s Tour disappeared from mainstream consciousness. The reasons are complex: lack of consistent sponsorship, strained relations with the men’s event organisers, and a media landscape that rarely treated women’s cycling as a serious professional sport. For those who raced between 1984 and 2009, the absence of acknowledgment has been as painful as the disappearance itself, and it is only natural that they feel hard done by the lack of recognition.

The riders Sharpe spoke were warriors who not only battled the brutal course, but also financial hardship, and in some cases, outright hostility from those who didn’t believe a women’s Tour should exist. Yet, as the modern race gains momentum, their stories offer a reminder that the struggle for recognition in women’s sport is cyclical.

Ferrand-Prevot’s win may inspire a new generation, but it also highlights the debt owed to those who came before her. As Longo’s comments suggest, recognition for past champions remains incomplete. At the same time, the swelling audience for the current race suggests that women’s cycling, given the platform and resources, can command the same passion and viewership as the men’s event in the coming years

If Breakaway Femmes succeeds, it will help ensure they aren’t forgotten again. The hope is that future generations will never have to ask, “What do you mean you raced the Tour de France?” because the answer will be common knowledge, not a rediscovered secret.