There's a Minnesota connection to the first Women's Tour De France race in more than 30 years
EDINA, Minn. -- After a 33-year absence, the globally known Tour De France is having a women's bike race.
Last Saturday, on July 23, the Tour De France Femme kicked off in Paris with 144 women competing in 24 teams.
One of those teams is Human Powered Health Pro-Cycling Team, which is managed out of an office in Edina, Minnesota. The managing director of that team is Charles Aaron, a St. Louis Park native. His team is globally represented, with 5 American women racing it.
"It's huge, I mean, plain and simple," said Aaron. "This the top, this is the super bowl for women's cycling."
The Tour De France is the most prestigious cycling race in the world. This is the first time women are racing at this level since 1989.
It's already proven to be a crowd pleaser.
"The crowds, the people, the energy and to see it every day, along the countryside and cities of France, it's just incredible," said Aaron.
It's even gotten attention from First Lady Jill Biden, who tweeted her support for the race.
"To have the first lady do that, obviously this is being recognized at a very high level," said Aaron.
Charles is thrilled to see this equality in cycling. He hopes it inspires the next generation to know that they can compete at the highest level too.
"For every little girl that's riding a bike and says 'daddy or mommy, I want to be in the Tour de France' - that answer is now you can do it," said Aaron.
While the attention on the race has been high, there are still disparities between the prize money.
The women's pot is $250,000 and the men's pot is $2 million.
The last day to watch the women's tour is Sunday, July 31.
You can stream it live on the Peacock App.
