A poetic tribute to the women of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift from the 2024 Summer issue of Bicycling.
Did you know we, women, also dream of alpine battles?
Of conquering the 21 infamous turns of the knife,
over 13 twisted kilometers up the rock-and-root tower
with the names
COPPI,
HINAULT,
PANTANI,
carved like wounds on its side.
Stoic and mighty L’Alpe d’Huez proudly stands,
as if it had never met defeat.
Can the steep incline be humbled? Will it surrender at their advance?
As did Le Col du Tourmalet?
As did La Super Planche des Belles Filles?
And what for, this monumental strife?
A QOM? A hazy summit view through bloodshot eyes?
In the cool shade of its rugged stance,
does the mountain hear the riders’
HUFF
and PUFF?
The screams of fans?
Oh, the unmeasurable glory and pain endured,
all for the taste of alpine air caught in desperate mouthfuls.
But has the steep hill bowed,
or the monster stirred in the face of their Sisyphean efforts?
Or does it remain, peaks cloaked in mystery,
sleepy and tired,
unfazed by the tales
of their victories?
Despite what L’Alpe d’Huez may know
or how unvexed it may seem,
they will ride and endure the cruel and lengthy ascent,
to claim their place in history.
And while feeding their spirits with the clamoring sounds
of thousands of fans watching the Femmes,
the riders, like the peaks they climb with the snowcapped crowns,
will remain unyielding, unbroken, until the very end.
Rosael Torres-Davis, Racing News Editor for Bicycling, finds that riding bikes allows us to challenge the status quo, assert our independence, and reclaim spaces that have been taken from us. It is a noble pursuit that brings a momentary escape from the constraints of gravity, duty, and the forces that oppress us all.
Rosael is a writer and editor based in Philadelphia (Lenape land), where she enjoys the city’s obsession with sports and its accessible trail systems and cycling community. She has a bachelor’s in Communications and Journalism from the University of Puerto Rico.
