Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale

Grande Boucle is also a common nickname for the (men's) Tour de France.

The Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale, formerly known as the Tour Cycliste Féminin, was one of the Grand Tours of women's cycle races. Grande Boucle means "big loop" and describes the individual stages which form a circuit around France.

History

The organizers had to scramble for sponsorship nearly every year and were forced to schedule stages in cities which contributed money, regardless of their location. As a result, there were long transfers between the finish of one stage and the start of the next. Another problem in the mid-1990s involved the name. Until 1998, it was the Tour Cycliste Féminin, but the Société du Tour de France, organizers of the men's Tour de France, said that infringed their trademark and in 1999 the name was changed.[1]

In 2004, the race could not be held because of organisational difficulties. It returned, smaller, in 2005. The previous tours were 10 to 15 stages; later ones had five and stayed in one region. The race was also rated lower by the UCI, and had a reduced field. In 2008, the race was six days and seven stages. However, in 2009 the race was only four days long with only 66 riders, after a planned race start and three stages in Britain fell through, leading winner Emma Pooley to joke that the race was "more of a Petite Boucle than Grande."[2][3] The race was discontinued after 2009.

With the subsequent termination of the 10-stage Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin after 2010, the major women's stage race in France became the Route de France Féminine (this was also canceled in 2011, leaving France without a major women's stage race for the first time since the mid-1980s,[4] but returned from 2012).

List of top three riders in general classification

Year First Second Third
1984  Marianne Martin (USA)  Heleen Hage (NED)  Deborah Shumway (USA)
1985  Maria Canins (ITA)  Jeannie Longo (FRA)  Cecile Odin (FRA)
1986  Maria Canins (ITA)  Jeannie Longo (FRA)  Inga Thompson (USA)
1987  Jeannie Longo (FRA)  Maria Canins (ITA)  Ute Enzenauer (FRG)
1988  Jeannie Longo (FRA)  Maria Canins (ITA)  Elizabeth Hepple (AUS)
1989  Jeannie Longo (FRA)  Maria Canins (ITA)  Inga Thompson (USA)
1990 Race not held
1991
1992  Leontien van Moorsel (NED)  Jeannie Longo (FRA)  Heidi Van De Vijver (BEL)
1993  Leontien van Moorsel (NED)  Marion Clignet (FRA)  Heidi Van De Vijver (BEL)
1994  Valentina Polkhanova (RUS)  Rasa Polikevičiūtė (LTU)  Cecile Odin (FRA)
1995  Fabiana Luperini (ITA)  Jeannie Longo (FRA)  Luzia Zberg (SUI)
1996  Fabiana Luperini (ITA)  Rasa Polikevičiūtė (LTU)  Jeannie Longo (FRA)
1997  Fabiana Luperini (ITA)  Barbara Heeb (SUI)  Linda Jackson (CAN)
1998  Edita Pučinskaitė (LTU)  Fabiana Luperini (ITA)  Alessandra Cappellotto (ITA)
1999  Diana Žiliūtė (LTU)  Valentina Polkhanova (RUS)  Edita Pučinskaitė (LTU)
2000  Joane Somarriba (ESP)  Edita Pučinskaitė (LTU)  Geraldine Loewenguth (FRA)
2001  Joane Somarriba (ESP)  Fabiana Luperini (ITA)  Judith Arndt (GER)
2002  Zinaida Stahurskaia (BLR)  Susanne Ljungskog (SWE)  Joane Somarriba (ESP)
2003  Joane Somarriba (ESP)  Nicole Brändli (SUI)  Judith Arndt (GER)
2004 Race not held
2005  Priska Doppman (SUI)  Edwige Pitel (FRA)  Christiane Soeder (AUT)
2006  Nicole Cooke (GBR)  Maryline Salvetat (FRA)  Tatsiana Sharakova (BLR)
2007  Nicole Cooke (GBR)  Priska Doppmann (SUI)  Emma Pooley (GBR)
2008  Christiane Soeder (AUT)  Karin Thürig (SUI)  Nicole Cooke (GBR)
2009  Emma Pooley (GBR)  Christiane Soeder (AUT)  Marianne Vos (NED)

See also

Notes

  1. Dauncey, Hugh (2012). French Cycling: A Social and Cultural History. Liverpool University Press. pp. 212–213. ISBN 9781846318351.
  2. Hedwig Kröner (2008-08-08). "2009 Grande Boucle Féminine starts in Britain". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
  3. Simon Richardson (2009-06-19). "Pooley wins first stage of Grande Boucle". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
  4. "Route de France féminine : ce sera pour 2012? (in French)". L'est Eclair. May 22, 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-27.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, December 30, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.