Breakaway Femmes ©

Maria Canins climbing during the Tour de France Féminin. The Italian rider won the race in 1985 and 1986.

An American rider pushes uphill during a stage of the Tour de France Féminin in the 1980s.

The Forgotten 1980s Tour de France Féminin: An Interview with Breakaway Femmes

(Almost) Forgotten Heroines: Few people today are aware that there was also an all-female Tour de France in the 1980s. The documentary Breakaway Femmes tells the story of the Tour de France Féminin, which took place between 1984 and 1989. The film, directed by Eleanor Sharpe, sheds light on an almost forgotten era of women’s cycling and the rivalry between riders such as Jeannie Longo and Maria Canins.

In our interview, Sharpe talks about the making of the film and the history of the women’s tour.

A commemorative Tour de France Féminin shirt celebrating the women’s race held between 1984 and 1989.

Women’s Stage Racing

The first Tour de France for women was held in 1955. When women’s cycling became an Olympic sport in 1984, the Tour de France Féminin was revived and ran from 1984 to 1989. In 1990 the race was separated from the Tour de France and continued under the name Tour de la CEE until 1993. After that, France had no major women’s stage race until the Tour de France Femmes was reintroduced in 2022.

The men’s Tour de France has existed since 1903 and was interrupted only during the two World Wars.

Interview with Eleanor Sharpe about the Tour de France Féminin (1984–1989)

In our interview, director Eleanor Sharpe explains how the film project came about.

You can find more information about the film on our Breakaway Femmes film page.

Where did you first hear about this story?

Eleanor Sharpe: We were working on a documentary about Paul Liggett, the English cycling commentator, and we interviewed his wife Trish as part of the project. It turned out she had been the manager of the British women’s cycling team. She was the first person who told me about the women’s Tour de France in the 1980s. I was surprised, did some research, and thought: this could make a great film.

How did you manage to track down all those women?

I had to search for them all over the world, and very few of them spoke English. So I translated my outreach emails using Google Translate. Most of the women are now in their sixties and don’t really have social media profiles. If they had anything at all, it might be Facebook—but they rarely checked their messages. It was difficult, but once I reached one rider in a country, she could usually connect me with her former teammates.

Had you ever made a film with such an international cast?

No, but I actually like hearing so many different languages in the film. Of course, it made everything more complicated—finding the women, conducting the interviews, and editing the footage. We had hundreds of hours of material that wasn’t in English. A few years ago we wouldn’t have been able to work with that at all, but AI makes it possible now.

Female riders of the Tour de France Féminin leaving the start area in Chamonix during the women’s stage race in the 1980s. — In the 1980s, women’s cycling became more popular than ever before.

A rider wearing the polka dot jersey during a mountain stage of the Tour de France Féminin. — The sporting challenges of the Tour de France Féminin were just as demanding as those faced by the men—only the women also had to contend with a host of prejudices.

How did the riders react when they heard about your film project?

I think they were simply grateful and happy that someone was paying attention to them after all these years. That was wonderful, but also a little sad. Many people didn’t even believe they had ridden the Tour de France. So the women moved on, started families, and pursued their careers. Nobody seemed interested in the Tour de France anymore, and they never really had the chance to process what they had experienced.

Archival material and history of the Tour de France Féminin

Where did you find the archival footage?

Because women’s sports were covered far less, I found very few articles online. But the Tour de France itself had a large amount of excellent—and very expensive—archival material. We could only afford 23 minutes of it. We also used private photos from the riders, which I loved because they provide such a personal behind-the-scenes perspective. The archival footage is fantastic as well, but it’s very uniform because the riders are all wearing helmets and sunglasses, so you can hardly recognize their faces.

What was the main focus you wanted for the film?

I never saw the film as a detailed chronicle of every single stage. I wasn’t particularly interested in who won where. I knew that Jeannie Longo and Maria Canins would be important because of their rivalry. And the very first winner, Marianne Martin, of course. But what mattered most to me was making a film about the women who rode the Tour.

The two cyclists, Longo and Canins, are battling for the lead during a stage of the Tour de France Féminin.The two cyclists, Longo and Canins, are battling for the lead during a stage of the Tour de France Féminin. — Jeannie Longo and Maria Canins in a gripping duel at the front of the race—riding shoulder to shoulder in the battle for a stage victory at the Tour de France Féminin.

The film is set in the 1980s, but it feels very contemporary—is that a good or a bad thing?

As a filmmaker, of course it’s good to make a documentary about the past whose themes still resonate today. But in this case, that’s also the bad part. I think the women felt the same way. They had expected things to improve much more by now. They’re happy that there’s once again a Tour de France for women, but they’re disappointed that it doesn’t run for the full three weeks. Yes, a lot has changed—but it’s still not quite where it should be.

The Return of the Tour de France Femmes

The Tour de France Femmes returned in 2022. Was that the perfect ending for your film?

When we started the project in 2021, that wasn’t certain yet. But while we were right in the middle of our research, it was announced that the women’s Tour de France would return. That had a huge impact on the film’s ending and overall tone. Before that, it might have been more of a film about forgotten heroines. Suddenly we had to go to Paris! I suggested the idea to the women and simply hoped they would come too. And they did—the British riders quickly organized a van and came for the whole weekend. It was wonderful.

Members of the Canadian team preparing for a stage of the Tour de France Féminin.

The podium ceremony of the Tour de France Féminin with the overall winner in the yellow jersey.

Two riders celebrate after finishing a stage of the Tour de France Féminin in the 1980s.

Support cars carried spare bikes and equipment during the Tour de France Féminin, just like in the men’s race.

Thank you very much for the insightful conversation, Eleanor!

Eleanor Sharpe

The American filmmaker combines cycling with contemporary social themes in Breakaway Femmes. With Mamil (2017) and Phil Liggett: The Voice of Cycling (2020), she has already produced two other films about the world of cycling.

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