The return of the women's race to the annual cycling tournament, the Tour de France, is reportedly set to get maximum exposure as it is expected to be shown in 147 countries, with 12 channels across 104 of those countries showing it live.
The race, known as La Course, will feature 120 cyclists covering 13 laps of the Tour's finish circuit up and down the Champs Elysees, turning at Place de la Concorde and at the Arc de Triomphe, all three in Paris, with a total distance of 90 kilometres on July 27.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Le Tour de France organisers have claimed that the race will have the most exposure a women's cycle race will receive apart from at the Olympic Games and could lead to a sponsorship windfall.
World champion Marianne Vos, who was named patron of the race, said that the women's race needed a showcase, which has been provided for them and the report added that La Course is set to be the richest event on the women's calendar with 33,500 dollars for the first prize.
The report mentioned that the race, which would also see male hosts greeting the winner, would also include an intermediate sprint on every lap for points counting towards a sprinters' prize.
The Tour has not featured women's racing since the last women's Tour de France was run alongside the men's event in 1989, and the inception of La Course by Le Tour is the result of a petition calling for the return of the women's Tour de France, the report added.