The women’s cycling association “Donnons des Elles au Vélo” has been challenging itself for 7 years to do the same circuit one day in advance as the riders of the Tour de France. At the arrival of their stage rallying Nîmes to Carcassonne, a wine of honor awaited them at the town hall on Thursday evening.
Proving that women are as capable as men is the fuel of the “Donnons des elles au Vélo” association. For 7 years, the club which wants to give autonomy to women in this very masculine world of cycling, has launched a huge bet: to reproduce identically the route of the riders of the Tour de France one day before them. The goal ? Encourage women to emancipate themselves in sport and above all, prove that women also deserve to have their own turn, if they cannot participate in it.
For this stage of Nîmes-Carcassonne, the runners, coming from the four corners of France, were accompanied in part by the young Hakaora of the association Just did it. The 16-year-old left Nîmes, then stopped the race to meet the local press, then at the end of the day, he joined the peloton to arrive at their side at Carcassonne town hall, where a guard of honor awaited them. If Hakaora runs at a young age, it is to make young people aware of her disease: type 1 diabetes. That is to say, diabetes where the patient is insulin-dependent.
Hakaora, who has just obtained her baccalaureate, arrives first. He looks delighted. Then the girls take over. Claire Floret, at the origin of the project and who has been running since its creation, says: “We thought it would be the simplest stage, but we had a major enemy: the wind. We took it in the face and it is not the easiest way to climb. However, our team cohesion still remains. at the top and that helps a lot! ” After a few photos and a drink, the girls left to taste a good cassoulet to build up their strength for the next stop: Carcassonne – Quillan!
–
