Louise Vardeman Long road to equality In 2019, she cycled the Tour de France ahead of male competitors to protest about the exclusion of women. Now, the Brit is seeing change in her sport Words JESS HOLLAND Louise Vardeman knows how to push through hard times. When the 43-year-old from Marlow, Bucks, first took up cycling six years ago, it was because she had to give up long-distance running; the cartilage in her hip was destroyed. It was a low point. She’d been in a marriage that was falling apart, with two kids, diagnosed depression and shattered confidence. After “getting to rock bottom”, Vardeman finally decided to leave her husband. She channelled her pain into riding. Two years later, she was performing at a high-enough level to represent Britain in the Gran Fondo World Championships. That winter, Vardeman saw a call-out online from a group of French women who, for the last four years, had been riding the Tour de France route a day ahead of the male competitors. Their aim was to raise awareness of inequality in cycling – the Tour de France was still a men’s-only event. For women, only a one-day competition had been allocated, with just one-hundredth of the prize money available. Vardeman contacted the group, and this led to her co-founding an international branch, The InternationElles. In 2019, they met for the first time in Brussels, at the start of the Tour de France route, and set off. The 3,500km journey was gruelling, but the women persevered, attracting global press, from the BBC’s Breakfast show to The New York Times. And at the finish point, on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, Vardeman’s boyfriend was waiting with a marriage proposal. The pandemic prevented The InternationElles from repeating their feat in 2020, but in May this year it was announced that an official eight-day women’s Tour de France will follow the men’s race in July 2022. Vardeman is not expecting to ride in the event itself – she’s an amateur cyclist with a day job in events management – but she took part in the 25-hour <strong>Red</strong> Bull Timelaps event at the end of October and is aiming to compete again in the Gran Fondo next year. The campaigning was never intended for her own benefit, she says, but to inspire a younger generation: “I hate the idea that someone might think, ‘I’m a girl, therefore I can’t do that.’” the red bulletin: Were there moments on the Tour de France route where you hit a wall? louise vardeman: About three weeks in, I had a lot of doubt. I hadn’t slept well, and I started crying at the top of one ascent. I had to play music on a speaker to take my mind off the voices in my head telling me to go home. As we approached [alpine mountain pass Col du] Galibier, I became overwhelmed. I needed the toilet, and I was feeling too hot, but I kept pedalling until I literally just fell sideways onto the floor. I thought, “I’m done, I can’t do this any more.” I couldn’t even unclip my feet from the pedals. But I realised that I’d never forgive myself if I got in the van on the 18th stage out of 21. If it took all day to do this next bit, so be it. When we got to the bottom of Galibier, I felt like something was pushing me. I just felt strong, and I ascended the whole thing without any problem. At the top, we climbed the sign and took photographs. It was just incredible – I’d conquered a mountain. Do you have the same determination when it comes to tackling inequality in cycling? Yes. Cycling is so traditional, especially in France. It’s so white and male-dominated. It doesn’t help that bikes are so expensive and cycling clubs are not very inclusive. There are so many barriers. That spurs me on. What other projects have you been working on? We did a lot of campaigning about [the disparities in] prize money last year, because there’s a big gap there. For the Strade Bianche [a road race in Tuscany] in 2021, the men’s prize pot [for the top five riders] was €31,600, whereas the equivalent for women was €6,298. So we launched a crowdfunding campaign with The Cyclists’ Alliance and a fan named Cem Tanyeri. We raised just under €27,000, which took the women’s prize pot above that of the men’s. The pros couldn’t believe it. Have your cycling experiences given you greater confidence in other areas of life? I wish they did. I lack confidence with every single thing I do. I want other people to know that [competing] doesn’t come naturally to me. It’s hard, but it’s so worth it. What advice do you have for others wanting to make a big change? You only live once, and if you’re not happy, you’re wasting your time. When it comes to making a difference, you can’t think about changing the whole world, but little changes add up. You have no idea of the ripple effect you have. And even if you only change one person’s life, that’s so important. loukew.co.uk JOSEPH O’CONNELL-DANES 26 THE RED BULLETIN
“I hate the idea someone might think, ‘I’m a girl, so I can’t do that’” THE RED BULLETIN 27
- Page 1: UK EDITION DECEMBER 2021, £3.50 BE
- Page 6 and 7: OWN THE NIGHT Sixpack Mk11 5000 lum
- Page 9 and 10: BANKS, IDAHO, USA White lies “Not
- Page 11: ALEX VOYER/RED BULL ILLUME, ALBAN G
- Page 14 and 15: URBAN LINE MADE FOR THE URBAN JUNGL
- Page 16 and 17: NEIGHBOURHOOD SKATE CLUB Boarding p
- Page 18: Radiooooo heads: Moreau (seated), F
- Page 21 and 22: NINA ZIETMAN The world is undergoin
- Page 24 and 25: Jesse Marsch Kicking up a storm The
- Page 28 and 29: Kofi McCalla The art of styling it
- Page 30 and 31: Tearing down walls Fear, stress, in
- Page 32 and 33: Bas Keep W hen Sebastian Keep was 1
- Page 34 and 35: 2 1 3 4
- Page 36 and 37: “As a kid, I would just huck stuf
- Page 38 and 39: metal safety signs with legends suc
- Page 40 and 41: Cosmic composer Award-winning compo
- Page 42 and 43: Cassie Kinoshi “I will always go
- Page 44 and 45: “I’ve always wanted to include
- Page 46 and 47: Beyond impossible Writer and climbe
- Page 48 and 49: Marc-André Leclerc Leclerc soloed
- Page 50 and 51: The Alpinist does what all great fi
- Page 52 and 53: Gripping the moment: only a handful
- Page 54 and 55: Hitting his peak: Leclerc atop the
- Page 56 and 57: Marc-André Leclerc In The Alpinist
- Page 58 and 59: The high life Lagos, Africa’s mos
- Page 60 and 61: Lagos high life “Lagosians love t
- Page 62 and 63: Lagos high life “Felabration is a
- Page 64 and 65: Lagos high life “This is a pictur
- Page 66: Lagos high life “This photo was t
- Page 69 and 70: Lagos high life “This was the ear
- Page 71 and 72: VENTURE Enhance, equip, and experie
- Page 73 and 74: VENTURE Travel A brief history of s
- Page 75 and 76: VENTURE Travel Steel edges carve th
- Page 77 and 78:
VENTURE Equipment JBL Under Armour
- Page 79 and 80:
VENTURE Fitness ABHI THAKER/RED BUL
- Page 81 and 82:
VENTURE Equipment TIM KENT THE RED
- Page 83 and 84:
VENTURE Equipment Full Metal Jacket
- Page 85 and 86:
VENTURE Equipment Two heads are bet
- Page 87 and 88:
VENTURE Equipment PROTECT Shades of
- Page 89 and 90:
VENTURE Gaming PLAY Level up Bad ki
- Page 91 and 92:
Scan to download your FREE FULLY IN
- Page 93 and 94:
VENTURE Calendar 9November to 15 Ja
- Page 96 and 97:
GLOBAL TEAM THE RED BULLETIN WORLDW
- Page 98 and 99:
Semi-Rad Adventure philosophy from
- Page 100:
BE REMEMBERED FOR THE CHANCES YOU T