Marlen Reusser critical after 2027 Tour de France route presentation: 'Where is the Tour de France Hommes?'

“We have two good race directors, but I don’t feel like they’re on the same level. It’s more like the men’s race director is on the podium, with the women’s race director standing right next to him.”

“I think the Tour is doing a fantastic job and showing that there’s more to sports than just men’s sports. We talk about it a lot, but we should just do it more often. I hope these small steps are also taken when it comes to the presentation and the whole event.”

She also addressed the issue of the shorter presentation. “The presentation for the men naturally takes longer, because there are 21 stages compared to nine.”

“The Tour is essentially a single event consisting of two parts. We’re not talking about Roland Garros for men and Roland Garros for women—we’re just talking about Roland Garros. For us, the only problem is that we can’t organize both events at the same time. That’s impossible. It’s not like a tennis match where you play to the right first and then to the left.”

“I don’t blame her—after all, it is the Tour. The strength of this event, the women’s event, is the Tour de France. And the Tour de France Femmes is good for women’s sports. Above all, it’s good for the Tour, period.”