Podium girls continue to be used at Tour de France despite talks of banning them this year

TOUR de France had planned to drop podium girls by the start of this year’s tour, but pictures tell a different story.

THE Tour de France was planning to ban the use of podium girls by July — but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Organisers of the tour held talks in March about ditching the longstanding but controversial tradition of having models present awards and shower winners with kisses after each stage of the race.

It was reported that Tour de France was preparing to end the tradition by this year’s tour which began in Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile on July 7. It would have seen the tour become the second major cycling race to end the use of podium girls.

However, the girls have been on hand to celebrate with stage winners over the past week.

Sports website Bicylcing.com was unimpressed.

“As we’ve seen after the first five stages of this year’s Tour, podium girls are still out there flanking the victors, handing out prizes, and planting kisses,” it reported.

“We’d say we’re angry, but we’re not new to the sport. Mostly we’re just disappointed.”

He's getting closer to Erik Zabel's 6 green jerseys each day : another green night for @petosagan 💚
Il se rapproche chaque jour des 6 maillots verts d'Erik Zabel : un nouveau jour en vert pour Peter Sagan 💚#TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/QHbLGGyobV

— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 12, 2018

RT si tu veux remporter le Maillot à Pois du jour signé par @DionSmithy !#TDF2018 #MaillotaPoisCarrefour🔴⚪ pic.twitter.com/r5h5iKX2Y1

— Carrefour France (@CarrefourFrance) July 9, 2018

RT if you want to win the @MaillotjauneLCL signed by Fernando Gaviria! 💛
RT si tu veux gagner le @MaillotjauneLCL signé par Fernando Gaviria ! 💛

By @lecoqsportif - @LCL #TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/aAcfWUUxWA

— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 7, 2018

Tour de France was set to follow sports such as Formula One and darts by deciding to stop using the girls, also known as hostesses.

The Vuelta a España became the first Grand Tour event to end the tradition last year.

The Sun reported that race officials held extensive talks about banning the use of podium girls as they believed it was “outdated” and the time had come to end the practice.

Darts was the first sport to dump podium girls. The Professional Darts Council made the move at the end of the world championship in January.

The decision was criticised by the podium girls who lost their jobs, claiming they were being denied work because of the demands of feminists.

France's Damien Gaudin celebrates with podium girls on July 12. Picture: AFP/Marco Bertorello

Formula One quickly followed suit, announcing it too would not have the girls in the upcoming 2018 season.

According to The Sun, that announcement was welcomed by equality groups as a step forward, although others claimed it was denying females the choice and opportunity to work.

Bicylcing.com reported that “it’s not a great look for a sport (cycling) grappling with issues of gender equality.”

“And as a growing chorus of critics complain that podium girls reinforce a sexist culture that reduces women in cycling to their looks and harms the experiences of female competitors and fans, more and more races have done away with the practice.”