Victoria Pendleton

Yes, people always cite the Grande Boucle - but how many normal people have heard of that? And it gets zero mainstream media coverage. I didn't even know Emma Pooley had won it! Honestly, a British woman wins the equivalent of the TdF and nobody bothers to report it - a British man comes fourth in le Tour and we're all falling over ourselves. (It was the same back when Nicole Cooke won it.)

And why couldn't women ride the same course as the men, on the same days, perhaps starting an hour later or something? Would that cause any logistical problems? (Genuine question - I haven't really thought this through before.)

To be fair, the Grand Boucle isn't the biggest race in women's cycling by some margin. It's suffered from a lack of sponsorship for some time and has gradually diminished in it's prestige as a result.

Races like the Giro Donne and the Tour de l'Aude are much more prestigious now, but even then suffer from sponsorship problems. I'm afraid that women's cycling doesn't get the media interest required to make it viable in the way that men's racing does. Which is a shame as the Women's World Championship road race in Varese last year was one of the most exciting races I've ever seen.