Breakaway Femmes

The untold story of the halcyon era of women’s professional cycling, Breakaway Femmes.

For six glorious years during the 1980s, the Tour de France held a women’s race alongside the men’s race. These women raced over the same cobblestones, conquered the same mountains, and were cheered by the same throng of adoring crowds as the men.

The women’s race delivered underdog victories, great rivalries, and immense feats of courage. Along the way, they battled financial hardship, injuries, discrimination, derision, the emerging doping culture and logistical nightmares.

But they also found something else, an inner strength and a bond of sisterhood that would last the rest of their lives.
Ultimately, their race was cancelled, and their heroic deeds have been almost forgotten. More than three decades later, older and wiser, the women look back at their brief moment at the pinnacle of cycling.

Breakaway Femmes finds out what did they lose? What did they gain? And what can these pioneers of women’s sports offer to the next generation who dare to dream?