Check that the dropouts, as was the case with Rigoberto Urán’s group, return to the peloton without any illegal help, ensure that the final fall does not mean a loss of time because it occurred in the last 3 kilometres, review the sprint in detail to detect possible irregularities… the first day online was a classic day at the office for the 2022 Tour refereeing team.
It is a team of sixteen people of various nationalities who, for the first time in the history of the French race, and there are already 109 editions, act under the direction of a woman, the Italian Francesca Mannori, president of the international jury of the Tour, one of the positions of greater responsibility in the caravan of the race.
Mannori, a 49-year-old lawyer by profession, thus opens a new gap in a sport with deep sexist roots in which years ago women were prohibited from entering the interior of the cycling caravan and today they hold positions of responsibility in all teams. (masseurs, doctors, assistants, press consultants…), in the organization of the race and, finally, at the head of the refereeing team.
Reaching the pinnacle of cycling arbitration, occupying the presidency of the Tour jury, is a long road that not everyone completes. The Catalan Josep-Damià Bochaca achieved it in 1994 and in 2002. Mannori is now ultimately responsible for all decisions and is aware of the challenge. There will always be someone who will not forgive the slightest mistake.
The time when a cyclist, after a fall, spat at the doctor who was treating him when he realized that he was a woman is long gone. Fortunately.
