WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY TO SUPERCHARGE COVERAGE OF WOMEN’S CYCLING WITH ENHANCED TOUR DE FRANCE FEMMES AVEC ZWIFT OFFERING

Women’s cycling will be covered like never before when the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, in its current guise, begins with the Grand Départ from Paris on Sunday 24 July.

WOMEN’S CYCLING GIVEN A STAGE LIKE NEVER BEFORE
World-class production will be complemented by unparalleled storytelling as Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBDS) supercharges coverage of one of the highlights on the sporting calendar with every minute made available by The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) broadcast live across its platforms – discovery+ *, Eurosport and GCN+ - in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region (except Australia), Latin America and Middle-East and North Africa regions**.

After being introduced for the first time during its cycling coverage for the Tour de France, the mixed-reality Cube studio will be the cornerstone of WBDS’ broadcast of the Tour de France Femmes - the ultimate storytelling tool giving fans access to best-in-class analysis. Orla Chennaoui will front WBDS’ coverage of the Tour de France Femmes while former professional cyclist Iris Slappendel will take over from Sir Bradley Wiggins to bring one of the great innovations in sports broadcasting to millions of fans by reporting live from the inside the peloton throughout the eight-stage race.

Respected cycling identities Laura Meseguer and Manon Lloyd will be on-site speaking to the athletes who will be making the headlines throughout while the likes of Dani Rowe (UK) and Dani Christmas (UK), Jacky Durand (France), Ilenia Lazzaro (Italy), Jip van den Bos (Netherlands) and Dori Ruano (Spain) will provide commentary analysis in their local languages.

Earlier today, Orla Chennaoui, Iris Slappendel, Laura Meseguer and Jose Been were part of a media event to preview the Tour de France Femmes to explore the attitudes towards women in professional sport.

Orla Chennaoui, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports cycling presenter, said: “We are at a place where we will all see a genuinely exciting race. I think the stories in women’s cycling are so much more colourful and textured. There is more depth to them because a lot of women have had to live separate lives as well as on the bike, which makes you identify with the riders even as you worship their greatness.

“We're also aware of the importance of this place in sporting history, not just cycling history, and that brings a responsibility on all of our shoulders to get this right. I am genuinely so excited to be working on this for Warner Bros. Discovery Sports - it's going to be such a massive week of racing.”

Iris Slappendel, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports cycling expert, said: “We all know that it’s a massive thing that the Tour de France Femmes is here. I’m looking forward to seeing very exciting racing every day, being on the back of the motorbike, being around the peloton, but also being able to really capture the atmosphere, the fans on the roadside, the weather, the road conditions, to see the riders from up close. I think it's great that I can do that now for eight days in a row.

“As a rider, it’s nice to know your achievements are visible. It’s really important that we can watch this live and that there are experts in every country to report on the race. The riders can really show themselves and that will have an impact on their careers.”

Laura Meseguer, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports cycling reporter, said: “After covering six editions of the Tour de France and almost 20 Grand Tours, I have this feeling of being part of something huge. 

“To have the privilege of being on site and part of this historic moment in the sport, and to say that I’m proud of our sport being diverse and inclusive, to have the best athletes in these eight days of competition, I think it will be so exciting.”

Live blogs, exclusive interviews and unrivalled analysis will keep fans ahead of the pack with every key moment from the Tour de France Femmes covered on Eurosport.com meaning every angle will be covered and every story told in the lead-up to, and during, the race. 

Alongside providing live and on demand race coverage plus in-depth race analysis from a host of cycling experts via The Breakaway and exclusive weekly World of Cycling Show, GCN+ will offer fans of the Tour de France Femmes unparalleled supporting content. Throughout each race, the GCN+ App will be home to interactive trivia, quizzes, and preview content including rider analysis, stage breakdowns, predictions and reviews. GCN+ is also home to exclusive original documentaries created to bring even more colour to every cycling fan’s experience of the racing season. Key original titles include Life, Cycling and the Circle of Death, which sees Ruth Winder and Tayler Wiles of Trek-Segafredo take on the iconic climbs of the Tour; and Trailblazers, where Jenny Graham and Emily Chappell celebrate some of the world’s cycling greats and unsung historical heroines, from Tillie Anderson to Marianne Vos.

STARS FEATURE IN NEW MARKETING SPOT
Underpinning WBDS’ coverage of this year’s Tour de France Femmes will be a brilliant on-air campaign featuring some of the superstars of women’s cycling including Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Annemiek van Vleuten, Elisa Longo Borghini, Kasia Niewiadoma and Elisa Balsamo posing with the famed yellow jersey they will be vying for each day.

Click HERE to access and download the new campaign.

ALL OF WOMEN’S WORLD TOUR ON WBDS PLATFORMS
Every race from the UCI Women’s World Tour – of which the Tour de France Femmes is a part – will be broadcast on WBDS platforms in 2022 with a further 15 women’s road cycling races not part of the Tour also screened. 

In addition, WBDS will also cover this year’s women’s UCI World Championships and World Cup events, a host of women’s cyclo-cross series events as well as the women’s races at the UCI Track Champions League – cementing Warner Bros. Discovery Sports’ position as the Home of Women’s Cycling. Click HERE to access the Home of Women’s Cycling on-air promo.

KEY NUMBERS AT-A-GLANCE:

• WBDS will broadcast all 24 races from the UCI Women’s World Tour in 2022
• In the last 12 months, WBDS has broadcast 98 women’s cycling events
• 350 hours of live racing
• A staggering 297 different broadcasts, races or stages shown in the past year 

Dates for the diary: Tour de France Femmes
Stage 1 – Sunday 24 July – Paris Tour Eiffel to Champs Elysees (82km)
Stage 2 – Monday 25 July – Meaux to Provins (135km)
Stage 3 – Tuesday 26 July – Reims to Epernay (133km)
Stage 4 – Wednesday 27 July – Troyes to Bar-Sur-Aube (126km)
Stage 5 – Thursday 28 July – Bar-Le-Duc to Saint-Die-Des-Vosges (175km)
Stage 6 – Friday 29 July - Saint-Die-Des-Vosges to Rosheim (128km)
Stage 7 – Saturday 30 July – Selestat to Le Markstein (127km)
Stage 8 – Sunday 31 July – Lure to La Super Planche Des Belles Filles (123km)

*Streaming is available on discovery+ in Denmark, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the UK and Ireland.
**Warner Bros. Discovery holds the rights to broadcast the Tour de France Femmes globally (pan-Europe – non-exclusive, Asia-Pacific – total exclusivity except Australia, Latin America – delayed rights only, MENA region – no exclusivity)