Listen, it’s the off-season. So now is the time we can scrutinize all kinds of stuff. Team rosters, rider safety, what’s up next, and yeah, even race names.

Just a couple of days ago, the routes for the 2027 Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift were announced.

There was plenty to discuss. Too many time trial kilometres for Tadej Pogačar (71 km, no less). No Pyrenees or Alps for the women. And the women’s route includes the Puy de Dôme, where fans aren’t allowed, but where Ottawa’s local legend Mike Woods won a stage. (A bit of a weird one, that.)

But then there was this from world and Swiss champion Marlen Reusser.

She had a question about the French Grand Tour (although technically the UCI doesn’t classify the women’s Grand Tours the same way as the men’s, but that’s a whole other matzo ball): “Why isn’t the men’s race called the Tour de France Hommes?”

“What I’m a bit disappointed by  still is that it’s the Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes. Where is the Tour de France Hommes? Like, this is weird to me. I don’t understand this,” she said to Cycling Weekly.

New year, who dis?

Now, who am I kidding? We don’t name-drop at the Canadian Cycling Magazine office. (What are you talking about? You do this every day, Hansen.  — Ed.)

When the great Orla Chennaoui, the Northern Irish broadcaster you’ve surely heard if you watch cycling coverage, posted about the whole issue, our intern mentioned something that’s been used on this website a whole bunch of times: Tour de France Fellas.

We’ve used it all the time in our stories when the men’s and women’s routes were in the same story. She’s an incredible commentator and always gives additional input on social.

It just kinda flows, you know? Way cooler than Tour de France Hommes.

But the issue, of course, is that the men’s race gets to be the Tour de France, while the women’s race needs an extra word to distinguish it. Same thing happens in soccer, erm, sorry Orla, football. World Cup, women’s World Cup.

The guys get the default setting; the women get the add-on. And that’s what Reusser is getting at. If we’re serious about treating both races equally, why should one need a qualifier and the other not?

Tour de France Hommes might be technically fair, but it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. Tour de France Fellas, though? Now we’re talking. It’s catchy, it’s a little ridiculous, and it makes you wonder why we ever needed to make the distinction in the first place.

And listen, I raced bikes for about a zillion years when I was younger, and I’ll admit I didn’t pay much attention to women’s cycling back then. That’s changed. I’m a convert. This stuff is GOOD.

The last couple of Tour de France Femmes have been nuts, and the road world championships have delivered some incredible racing, too. Yeah, yeah,

I’m not saying this to score points on the internet. (If even possible, at this point.)

I’m saying it because if you’re not watching pro women’s racing, you’re missing out on some seriously good shit.

The 2026 season is over, but there’s a tonne of ‘cross going on if you need a fix. But yeah, the 2027 season will be here before you know it.