TNT Sports presenter Orla Chennaoui has hit out at ASO, the organisers of the Tour de France Femmes, over the lack of live coverage.
Chennaoui started covering women’s cycling 10 years ago. She said she would have never imagined the level of media attention this year’s Tour de France Femmes has seen. But despite this, live television coverage remains limited and the presenter is “getting really pissed off”.
“There is so much excitement and interest in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift,” Chennaoui said in an Instagram reel.
“The riders, the race has proven over and over again how dynamic and dramatic this sport is. I have never seen my algorithm so flooded with excitement, with joy, with celebration, for this race.”
But Chennaoui said despite this “we cannot get live TV coverage” and called out the race organisers, before highlighting how the 2023 champion and race favourite Demi Vollering’s crash on stage 3 was not covered by live television.
“She could have crashed out of the race and we wouldn’t have seen it,” Chennaoui said.
"Partial coverage is no longer enough"
Only three of the nine stages of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes are set to be broadcast from start to finish, and Chennaoui is not alone in calling out the lack of coverage.
The Cyclists' Alliance, a labour organisation representing professional cyclists in the Women’s WorldTour, also highlighted stage 3 of this year’s race.
The organisation said that the first 70km of the stage would be missed by live broadcast, including the Col de La Faucille and Côte de Lajoux.
As well as missing Vollering’s crash, this meant Uno-X Mobility’ Sigrid Haugset had already started her 88km, stage-winning attack that saw her move into the maillot jaune before broadcast began.
The Cyclists' Alliance also highlighted how France Televisions has seen a 40% increase in viewership from 18.3m in 2024 to 25.7m in 2025.
Médiamétrie figures published by Puremedias revealed the opening stage of the 2026 race on August 1 had 2.17 million viewers on France 2. Despite a lower viewership than the first stage of the 2025 race, this year’s Grand Depart had a higher audience share at 27.6%.
“For the biggest race in women’s cycling, partial coverage is no longer enough,” The Cyclists' Alliance said on Instagram. “The demand is undeniable and we are asking for the coverage to catch up.”
The Cyclists' Alliance said full coverage is the “logical next step”: “Nine stages. Start to finish in 2027”.
‘A step backwards’
In her Instagram reel, Chennaoui pointed out that it’s the decision of the race organisers ASO and France TV whether to provide coverage.
She described this year’s Paris-Roubaix Femmes, which had less than 90 minutes of live coverage, as “a huge step backwards”.
“They’re still doing a disservice to women’s racing, and we can’t then say the audience isn’t there. We can. It is there.”
