Episode 3: La Course started in 2014 as a criterium race on the Champs-Élysées before the final stage of the Tour de France. Since then the race has been a two-day event with stages on the Col d'Izoard and in Marseille, before reverting to a one-day race. This year, La Course kicked off the Tour, preceding the opening stage on Saturday.

In the 1980s there was a two-week Tour de France Féminin, held alongside the Tour and so the question of why there is not an equivalent race for women now is ever-present, especially since the demise of the Grande Boucle in 2009.

There are moves to create an event worthy of the name Tour de France. The ideaa is for a week-long stage race starting in Paris at the conclusion of the 2022 Tour, a sort of Paris-Nice in reverse.

But how do the latest plans shape up?

In this episode we hear from Lizzy Banks of Équipe Paule Ka, who was recently second in the GP Plouay, plus Louise Gibson of the Internationelles and Caroline Soubayroux of the Donnons des Elles au Vélo who have been pushing for a proper women's Tour de France by riding the full route ahead of the race to raise awareness for the cause.

Kilometre 0 by The Cycling Podcast is supported by Zwift, the app for riding, training and racing at home. Kilometre 0 is a 15-part series published on weekday mornings during the Tour de France.