Paris-Roubaix race director Thierry Gouvenou has defended the decision to reduce the level of broadcast coverage of the women’s race this year, amid criticism from the women’s peloton.
For the first time since its inception in 2021, Paris-Roubaix Femmes is taking place on the same day as the men’s race, with the women's race finishing roughly an hour and a half later today.
While fans could watch three hours of the women’s race last year, only the final 90 minutes will be shown today, with TV pictures potentially not starting until the riders have already gone through the Haveluy to Wallers cobbled sector that has been added to increase the difficulty of this edition.
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“When coverage is reduced, it sends the wrong message,” read a statement on Saturday from the women’s rider union, The Cyclists’ Alliance. “Coverage is not just about watching a race. It is about visibility, value, and the future of the sport.
“This is one of the biggest races on the calendar. A race that has quickly become a defining showcase for women’s cycling. And yet, just as momentum continues to build, visibility is being pulled back. Progress in this sport is not guaranteed. It needs to be protected.”
Gouvenou was in Compiègne early on Sunday morning ahead of the men’s race, where he spoke to Cyclingnews about the issue.
“It’s true, we have a shorter broadcast, but on the other hand, there will be a much bigger audience, with everyone who was watching the men’s race, and audiences are notably better on Sundays,” he said.
“We have fewer minutes, but more eyeballs. We compensate one with the other, but I think women’s cycling is winning,” he said.
Gouvenou explained that ASO had received feedback from local authorities that it was “complicated” to block off so many roads in the Nord region on consecutive days.
“We had technical choices to make, and when we decided to run the races on the same day, we felt it was best to have the women’s race after the men’s. That’s the way it’s done at Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. As a reminder, we used to run the women’s race before the men’s at Liège, but that meant the women starting at 8 in the morning, and they prefer not to do that, they prefer to race after the men. The problem is that there are many, many kilometres to broadcast. We have a shorter broadcast, but there will be a bigger audience this way.”
Gouvenou went on to make a wider comment on the economics of women’s professional cycling, saying: “Despite appearances, it’s still difficult to finance women’s races.”
When challenged on this comment, he was quick to defend ASO’s track record, pointing to the successful re-launch of a women’s Tour de France in 2022, along with the first-ever women’s Paris-Roubaix the previous year. Zwift had backed both of those events as a title sponsor, but this edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes has been tighter budget-wise after the indoor training company declined to extend its sponsorship of the one-day race.
“We invested a lot in women’s cycling already. The investment is huge for organisers, but we are not always followed by sponsors. Zwift left us…
“We would like parity, but in reality’s not yet possible. That’s the economic reality right now. It’s difficult for organisers to balance the books with women’s cycling. We have to be patient. Audiences are good. It’s going to come, it’ll take some time, but we shouldn’t always criticise."
The fact that the women’s race is taking place on the same day feeds into another controversy that Gouvenou has found himself embroiled in.
On Saturday, L’Equipe ran a piece on the logistics of the respective finishes, and the question marks over whether riders who are dropped and likely to be outside the time limit in the men’s race will be pulled off course as the women come through.
Gouvenou spoke of a ‘moron’ who was riding far behind the race in 2022 and holding up the process of opening the roads back up. The person in question was Bas Tietema, the former pro and YouTuber who went on to launch the media-savvy Unibet Rose Rockets team.
“The L’Equipe article was clumsy. But it’s true that Tietama was riding to make content for social media,” Gouvenou told Cyclingnews just as the Rockets bus pulled up in Compiègne.
“He was dropped from the first sectors. The driver of the broom wagon told me, ‘he’s never making any efforts’. He cruised round all day, made video sequences, and at the finish I got questions from the police because the roads had been blocked for an hour more than they should have been.
“We can’t accept that a rider comes to Paris-Roubaix and cruises around. It’s a Monument. You don’t come here for social media. Of course, if it’s cycling first and social media second, that’s fine, but when it’s the other way around…”
The time cut for the men’s race will be 8% of the winner’s time, giving the last riders around 30 minutes to register a result. Many more will be able to finish outside the time limit, but ASO is able to order riders to stop if they’re lagging 45 minutes behind. Gouvenou confirmed that the directive has been in place since the hassle of 2022, but they will be particularly vigilant to avoid interference with the women’s race.
In any case, he was keen to play down any idea of a rift with Tietema or his team, who received an invite for Paris-Roubaix but missed out on a Tour de France wildcard.
“We’ve already spoken a lot. I think his project is magnificent. At a certain moment, it’s a case of sport before media, but I think he’s in agreement with that now.”
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