Amid rising tensions at the Tour de France Femmes, Grace Brown is asking riders to take a hard look in the mirror. The Olympic time trial champion and president of The Cyclists’ Alliance has used this year’s race to promote a visible show of unity within the women’s peloton, but says solidarity must go deeper than purple ribbons.
Speaking before stage 6 in Clermont-Ferrand, Brown addressed the wider safety debate sparked by Demi Vollering’s stage 3 crash and the subsequent finger-pointing among teams. Her message was clear: the responsibility doesn’t lie solely with organisers or the UCI.
“We can’t sit here and say all the problems are from outside,” Brown said. “It’s not just the organisers or the UCI making the races dangerous. Riders also have a responsibility to respect each other, to ride within their limits, and to be safe.”
The stage 3 crash, which took Vollering out of GC contention, has become a flashpoint in a broader discussion about the changing culture within the bunch. Some sports directors have publicly criticised the way riders are handling themselves under pressure, and Brown believes part of that comes from how the racing environment has evolved.
“Every rider is being told they have to be at the front at this or that moment,” she said. “They’re under pressure to perform exactly to plan, or risk being seen as a failure. That sort of stress can push people to take risks they wouldn’t normally take.”
Brown isn’t calling for a return to rigid hierarchy, but she does think the loss of senior voices guiding younger riders has removed an important layer of accountability. “The culture has changed. The old-school hierarchies weren’t always good, but experienced riders used to call out reckless behaviour. That’s missing now.”
The Cyclists’ Alliance campaign – marked by the purple ribbons seen throughout the bunch – was intended to highlight unity and rider welfare. But it’s become more pointed in recent days as tensions around safety, racing behaviour and internal team pressure have risen.
“This is not just about one incident. It’s a broader reflection of how the peloton functions,” said Brown. “We’re not afraid to say that riders themselves have a role to play in fixing it.”
That extends beyond rider-to-rider interaction. Brown also pointed to the structural gaps in the sport that create uneven standards across different levels of the peloton. The introduction of a ProTeam category in 2025 will bring better regulation and minimum salaries to a wider tier, but many Continental-level teams still operate without that basic framework.
“The Continental level of racing is really being left behind,” she said. “The standards there are not acceptable. If I could change one thing right now, it would be that. These teams race the same events as WorldTour teams, but they’re not regulated properly by the UCI.”
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Pauline BalletBrown confirmed that The Cyclists’ Alliance is working more closely with the CPA, the global rider association that has historically had greater reach in men’s cycling.
“We’re building our relationship with the CPA because, in the end, we want the same things. The CPA focuses more on safety, while The Cyclists’ Alliance has put a lot of energy into equality and working conditions – but together, we can cover more ground.”
From race safety and pressure within teams, to fairer pay and maternity support, Brown says the issues are all linked by one thing: riders being heard.
“This is about power being shared better across the sport,” she said. “That starts with riders being honest about what’s going wrong – even when it’s uncomfortable.”
