Even the First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, has gotten caught up in the racing action as the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift makes women’s-racing history. Biden took to Twitter on Sunday at the start of the race to offer her best wishes to the racers, and to comment on the wild ride that the women’s Tour has had in the last few decades.
“What an amazing Stage 1 of @LeTourFemmes — and such a great sight to see after 33 long years,” she tweeted. “Wishing the best of luck to Florida native, @lily_bwilliams, and all the cyclists competing this week.”
Her note about the 33-year hiatus refers to the 1984 to 1989 editions of a women’s iteration of the Tour de France, put on by the same event promoters of the men’s event. The nineties saw the Tour Cycliste Féminin race similar routes to Le Tour, but with different event promoters. Then, 2014 saw the first iteration of La Course by Le Tour de France, a one-day race for women concurrent with Le Tour. Later versions of La Course stretched to two days, but this year’s Tour de France Femmes is the first time the race has reintroduced a proper stage race for the women’s pro peloton.
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We have to commend the First Lady on publicly mentioning anything cycling-related, especially after President Joe Biden has had to deal with plenty of jokes about his own cycling prowess after a minor unclipping incident left him on the pavement during a ride last month. Still, the Bidens are avid cyclists—the President reportedly wanted to bring a Peloton into the White House, but it was deemed a security risk, and the two are often photographed riding together—so it’s no surprise that the First Lady is a fan of women’s cycling (and progress towards equality in the sport).
