Even the Tour de France put an end to the traditional podium hostesses in 2020, a French rider found a way to revive the debate on Monday.
• Read also: 110th Tour de France: it’s fascinating, covering the Tour de France… but there’s nothing “glamorous” about it
• Read also: The end of a 15-year drought: Frenchman Victor Lafay achieves “a sick thing”
• Read also: Tour de France: a clearly visible Quebec flag
Throughout the Tour de France, personalities grant the Figaro a few minutes for an express and offbeat discussion by smartphone. The leader of the Cofidis team, Guillaume Martin, was thus asked about his preference between hosts or hostesses on the podium for the official ceremonies.
“I know that hostesses are part of the history of the Tour de France, but the woman as a trophy on the podium is quite horrible,” replied the 30-year-old cyclist in this text interview.
Absent since 2020
His response was enough to bring the subject back into the news even though the organization seems to have moved on.
In this debate, the Tour de France modified its protocol in 2020 by promising a man and a woman to hand over the jerseys. The management had put an end to the traditional podium hostesses, a practice deemed sexist.
In 2018, Flèche Wallonne also opted for a mixed podium.
A petition in 2019 garnered nearly 38,000 signatures, believing that women are not objects, not rewards.
In veiled terms, a European journalist who has been covering the Tour de France for several decades confided that the podium hostesses were happy to have this job at the time. “They earned a good salary and they were not rehired in another position,” he said.