From World Champion to Women’s Cycling Advocate: Marion Clignet at the Tour de France Femmes

From its early days in the 1980s to today, the sport of women’s cycling has evolved rapidly, and Olympic medal-winning cyclist Marion Clignet has witnessed that change first-hand. Throughout her career, she’s fought for improved conditions for women cyclists, from equal pay to better accommodations. Now, she’s co-founded a new women’s cycling apparel company, Jelenew, that promises women riders apparel designed with their bodies in mind. 

At this year’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, Marion–along with former riders Nan Deardorff-McClain, Inga Thompson, Mary Verrandeaux, Lennie Djkstra, Nancy Walker, and Debbie Stephens–will reunite to ride the stages and cheer on the women who–no longer in men’s kit–are taking the sport to the next level.

JOIN the Jelenew Strava Club to Follow Along with Marion and the Originals

From Bike Commuting in DC to a Silver Medal in Atlanta  

Marion Clignet developed an interest in cycling by necessity. At 22 years old, she suffered a seizure and was subsequently diagnosed with epilepsy. Not only did her doctor advise her not to exercise, her driver’s license was also revoked for one year. She was living in Washington, DC, at the time and desperately needed an alternative mode of transportation to get to work. She searched the Washington Post classifieds and found an ad for “a big green ugly steel bike.” Although she says it was more than a couple sizes too big, the bicycle offered her independence, a way to get around the DC area now that she couldn’t drive. “I started riding 60 km a day to get to the office and back. I’d ride in the rain and snow, and eventually I left a little later each day to see if I could make it in on time.” 

Her coworkers took notice. “Somebody at the office saw I was riding in, and he encouraged me to enter a race. I thought, ‘No, this is to replace my car and that's about it.’ But he took me to the race and things took off from there.” Marion became a self-described “endorphin junkie” addicted to cycling. “Having epilepsy pushed me to push myself further,” she says. “I wanted to see how far I could go with this.”

Clignet began racking up impressive results, including a second place finish at the 1990 US road race championships. But despite the fact that she’d proven herself as one of the top women cyclists in the country, she wasn’t offered a spot on the US team. “I was told that they wouldn't take me to the World Championships because the fact that I had epilepsy made me a risk to the team.” Because she’s a dual citizen of the US and France, Clignet decided to move to France to further her cycling career. She began racing in Europe and eventually earned a spot on the French team. At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, she earned a silver medal in Track Cycling, and then another silver medal four years later in Sydney.

Reunion with the Originals

This year, Marion will reunite with other women’s riders of her cycling era as part of the Originals. The group of women–each with her own impressive list of accomplishments–will follow the Tour Femmes over the course of the eight-day race, riding portions of the course and cheering on the racers. 

The idea for the reunion of the Originals was sparked by Nan Deardorff-McClain’s decision, in 2022, to ride a portion of the course with her husband.  “We followed the entire tour from start to finish and then we did it the next year, too,” she says. 

When asked what it’s like to see the women racers today, Nan says, “It gets me so emotional. I cannot watch it without getting choked up. I would go with my husband to watch the men’s Tour de France. I would watch it and this lump in my throat would form as I wondered, Why aren't the women here?”

Now that the Tour Femmes has returned, the Originals know it’s important to be there to show their support. “In the rare times that I've ridden in a packed velodrome or in a race where the roads are completely packed with fans,” Marion says, “it meant a lot to me when I could hear people that knew our names and were cheering us on. It really carries you forward, and we want to give that extra spark to these riders.” 

“It's a beautiful gift,” Nan adds, “to have a reunion with this group of aging cyclists and to show our support for this generation. It's beautiful to get together with the Originals to look back on what we experienced and how it has changed in today's pro peloton. I want the pro women to get as many crazy fans as possible cheering and supporting them.”

The Evolution of Women’s Cycling: Then vs. Now

Marion, Nan, and the Originals loved racing in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but are quick to point out that the conditions for female athletes were not what they are today (and still need to improve). “My mission as I raced was to ensure that the generation that was coming behind me didn't have to sleep in their car during races or pile six to twelve women into a Motel 6.”

Equal pay was also–and still is–an issue. “I was racing with a lot of guys who were making money racing. Even though I trained as hard as they did, they were getting salaries and I wasn't getting squat. So I really made it a mission to somehow find a way for women to become professional.” 

An early marker in Marion’s fight for equal pay came in 1991, after she and her team won the World Time Trial. “We were given 10,000 francs to split among the four of us. The French men got Sixth and they got 10,000 Francs each. So I opted the following year not to ride the team time trial until a change was made.”

A few years later, in 1994, Marion won gold in the individual pursuit at Worlds. While the men’s winner received 50,000 francs, she was awarded only 15,000 francs. “I handed the check back to the president and I said, “Listen, I think you forgot a couple of zeros. There must be a mistake. The men are getting 50,000 so I should get the same.”

After Worlds, she was invited to a celebration with France’s minister of sport, whom she approached about the issue. “She helped ensure that from that year on that we got the same prize money as the men.”

The presence of the Originals at the Tour Femmes serves as a reminder for how far the sport has come–and how far it has to go. “It's important for [today’s pro riders] to know that there’s solidarity in the sport and that when we stop they have a role to play as well to ensure that their daughters and the generation after them continues to see improvement and that more women enter the sport–not only as riders but as presidents, managers, directeur sportifs, mechanics, and so on.”

A New Era of Cycling Apparel for Women

A next step in moving the sport forward is improving women’s cycling apparel. Whether it’s bicycles or cars or pianos, Marion notes, these objects have historically been designed for men. “When I started racing, there was no cut style for women. The jerseys were always big and baggy so they were never really that comfortable.” Nan adds, “It was like wearing your big brother’s jersey.”

At Jelenew, Marion and the team invented CurveTec®, which takes a woman's anatomy into account. “When we make a pair of shorts, the chamois stay in place and we don't have to constantly wiggle to get the chamois to stick where we want them to. We also created a short with a zipper in the back so you don't have to get completely undressed if you stop in the middle of your ride to pee in the woods.” 

Everything from the colors to the texture to the material has been redesigned and improved for women. “Some of the pieces we make I'd actually wear on a night out with jeans because they're very cool looking and comfortable,” Marion adds.

What else can women cyclists expect from Jelenew? “We're trying to come up with the best ever rain gear–but that's still in the works."

Marion’s passion for cycling has only intensified since she first brought home that “big green ugly steel bike” after her driver’s license was revoked. “What I love about cycling is that it allows me to be completely independent and free because it's also my mode of transportation. I live in the Pyrenees and I can go up any climb, within a 20km radius.” 

Her advice for young women who want to follow in her footsteps? “It has to stay fun, and then the passion and the hard training and everything will follow.”

Jelenew carries on the values that Marion has advocated for throughout her illustrious career. Since its inception, the high-performance women's cycling apparel brand has championed women's empowerment and will continue to do so as, like Marion, more and more women find a sense of independence and belonging in the world of cycling. Now, you can also join the community, explore the latest collection from Jelenew, and experience the company’s commitment to creating high-performance apparel for female riders. Visit Jelenew.com and discover the allure of cycling!

Marion Clignet and the Originals will be sharing their activities from the Tour de France Femmes on Strava. Be sure to follow along by joining the Jelenew Strava Club and following the Marion Clignet and Nan Deardorff-McClain on Strava.