British women’s Continental team Lifeplus-Wahoo are handing out 10,000 free GCN+ passes for UK cycling fans to watch this year's Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
The initiative comes as part of an effort to boost support and engagement of women’s cycling, and follows on from an identical giveaway last year, which gave thousands of new fans the ability to enjoy the race live and on demand.
The passes will be available to UK residents only, and will give access to the full eight days of racing of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. They will be available on a first come, first served basis to those who sign up through the link on the Lifeplus-Wahoo website.
This year, the team will use the social media hashtag #EmbraceEveryMoment to spread its campaign, which seeks to make the race more accessible to a wider audience. In the UK, the race will not be broadcast on terrestrial television, and will only be available with a paid Eurosport/GCN+ subscription.
Commenting on the initiative, Lifeplus-Wahoo general manager Tom Varney said: “We’re so excited to be bringing this campaign back again for the Tour de France Femmes in 2023. #EmbraceEveryMoment really is a team mantra of ours, and we want viewers to join in on the action with us, and enjoy every minute of the race - plus to inspire them to get out on their bikes.”
The team, which competed in the race’s first edition under the name Le Col-Wahoo, will return this year with seven riders, including British talents April Tacey and Natalie Grinczer.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Grinczer explained that she’ll be looking to “take risks” throughout the event, having only joined Lifeplus-Wahoo this month. “I’m just going to try,” the 29-year-old said. “We’re not on the hunt for [UCI] points. We’re on the biggest stage and it doesn’t matter. You can try something and maybe it comes off, maybe it doesn’t.”
The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift begins this Sunday 23 July in Clermont-Ferrand. The GCN+ passes given out by Lifeplus-Wahoo can be redeemed at any time during the race, which concludes in Pau on 30 July.
Fans hoping to receive an eight-day pass can sign up through the form on the team’s website.
