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Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale

Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale

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.

Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale
Race details
RegionFrance
DisciplineRoad
TypeStage race
History
First edition1984 (1984)
Editions26
Final edition2009 (2009)
First winnerMarianne Martin(USA)
Most wins3 riders with 3 wins
Final winnerEmma Pooley(GBR)

History

From 1984 to 1989, the Tour de France Women was the curtain raising event for the men's event. It was organised by the Tour de France Society, organiser of the men's Tour de France. In 1990, the event changed its name and format, becoming the Tour of the EEC Women, which ran until 1993.[1]

In 1992, a new race was created, the Tour cycliste féminine, organised in August by Pierre Boué. In 1998 the event name was changed to the Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale; the use of Tour was prohibited due to it being the intellectual property of the Société du Tour de France.[2]

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.[3]

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 also received a lower classification by the Union Cycliste Internationale (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."[4][5] 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,[6] but returned from 2012.

List of top three riders in general classification

YearDistance
[km]
NoSFirstSecondThird
Tour de France Women
19841066,45Marianne Martin(USA)Heleen Hage(NED)Deborah Shumway(USA)
19851230,5Maria Canins(ITA)Jeannie Longo(FRA)Cecile Odin(FRA)
1986996,1Maria Canins(ITA)(2)Jeannie Longo(FRA)Inga Thompson(USA)
1987975Jeannie Longo(FRA)Maria Canins(ITA)Ute Enzenauer(FRG)
1988?Jeannie Longo(FRA)(2)Maria Canins(ITA)Elizabeth Hepple(AUS)
1989787Jeannie Longo(FRA)(3)Maria Canins(ITA)Inga Thompson(USA)
Tour of the EEC Women
1990?Catherine Marsal(FRA)Leontien van Moorsel(NED)Astrid Schop(NED)
1991?Astrid Schop(NED)Jeannie Longo(FRA)Roberta Bonanomi(ITA)
1992?Leontien van Moorsel(NED)Heidi Van de Vijver(BEL)Roberta Bonanomi(ITA)
1993?Heidi Van de Vijver(BEL)Leontien van Moorsel(NED)Aleksandra Koliaseva(RUS)
YearDistance
[km]
NoSFirstSecondThird
Tour Cycliste Féminin
1992805,5Leontien van Moorsel(NED)Jeannie Longo(FRA)Heidi Van De Vijver(BEL)
19931183,1Leontien van Moorsel(NED)(2)Marion Clignet(FRA)Heidi Van De Vijver(BEL)
19941300Valentina Polkhanova(RUS)Rasa Polikevičiūtė(LTU)Cecile Odin(FRA)
1995?Fabiana Luperini(ITA)Jeannie Longo(FRA)Luzia Zberg(SUI)
19961238Fabiana Luperini(ITA)(2)Rasa Polikevičiūtė(LTU)Jeannie Longo(FRA)
19971156,3Fabiana Luperini(ITA)(3)Barbara Heeb(SUI)Linda Jackson(CAN)
Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale
19981392Edita Pučinskaitė(LTU)Fabiana Luperini(ITA)Alessandra Cappellotto(ITA)
19991581,4Diana Žiliūtė(LTU)Valentina Polkhanova(RUS)Edita Pučinskaitė(LTU)
20001456,2Joane Somarriba(ESP)Edita Pučinskaitė(LTU)Geraldine Loewenguth(FRA)
20011559,7Joane Somarriba(ESP)(2)Fabiana Luperini(ITA)Judith Arndt(GER)
20021568,9Zinaida Stahurskaia(BLR)Susanne Ljungskog(SWE)Joane Somarriba(ESP)
20031302,8Joane Somarriba(ESP)(3)Nicole Brändli(SUI)Judith Arndt(GER)
2004Race not held
2005411,7Priska Doppman(SUI)Edwige Pitel(FRA)Christiane Soeder(AUT)
2006467,4Nicole Cooke(GBR)Maryline Salvetat(FRA)Tatsiana Sharakova(BLR)
2007404,5Nicole Cooke(GBR)(2)Priska Doppmann(SUI)Emma Pooley(GBR)
2008556,9Christiane Soeder(AUT)Karin Thürig(SUI)Nicole Cooke(GBR)
2009306,5Emma Pooley(GBR)Christiane Soeder(AUT)Marianne Vos(NED)

See also

  • Giro d'Italia Femminile

  • La Course by Le Tour de France

References

[1]
Citation Linkwww.podiumcafe.comhttps://www.podiumcafe.com/book-corner/2014/9/2/6096243/the-breakaway-by-nicole-cooke
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[2]
Citation Linkwww.podiumcafe.comhttps://www.podiumcafe.com/book-corner/2014/9/2/6096243/the-breakaway-by-nicole-cooke
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[3]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comDauncey, Hugh (2012). French Cycling: A Social and Cultural History. Liverpool University Press. pp. 212–213. ISBN 9781846318351.
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[4]
Citation Linkwww.cyclingnews.comHedwig Kröner (2008-08-08). "2009 Grande Boucle Féminine starts in Britain". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[5]
Citation Linkwww.cyclingweekly.co.ukSimon Richardson (2009-06-19). "Pooley wins first stage of Grande Boucle". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[6]
Citation Linkwww.lest-eclair.fr"Route de France féminine : ce sera pour 2012? (in French)". L'est Eclair. May 22, 2011. Archived from the original on October 9, 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[7]
Citation Linkautobus.cyclingnews.com"La Grande Débâcle: What's wrong with the women's Tour de France?"
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[8]
Citation Linkwww.podiumcafe.comhttps://www.podiumcafe.com/book-corner/2014/9/2/6096243/the-breakaway-by-nicole-cooke
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[9]
Citation Linkwww.podiumcafe.comhttps://www.podiumcafe.com/book-corner/2014/9/2/6096243/the-breakaway-by-nicole-cooke
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[10]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comFrench Cycling: A Social and Cultural History
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[11]
Citation Linkwww.cyclingnews.com"2009 Grande Boucle Féminine starts in Britain"
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[12]
Citation Linkwww.cyclingweekly.co.uk"Pooley wins first stage of Grande Boucle"
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[13]
Citation Linkweb.archive.org"Route de France féminine : ce sera pour 2012? (in French)"
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[14]
Citation Linkwww.lest-eclair.frthe original
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[15]
Citation Linkautobus.cyclingnews.com"La Grande Débâcle: What's wrong with the women's Tour de France?"
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM
[16]
Citation Linken.wikipedia.orgThe original version of this page is from Wikipedia, you can edit the page right here on Everipedia.Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Additional terms may apply.See everipedia.org/everipedia-termsfor further details.Images/media credited individually (click the icon for details).
Sep 24, 2019, 10:50 PM