Sad, strange, and a shame are some of the words riders and sports directors used to describe the limited TV coverage of this year's Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Just two of the nine stages stage five from Mcon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais and the closing stage around Nice have been granted full, flag-to-flag broadcasts, with hours of coverage missing from the remaining seven stages. On Monday, Uno-X Mobility rider Sigrid Haugset attacked before the TV cameras had begun rolling, with 88km to go, and pulled off the farthest solo victory at the race. Had she made her move 5km later, fans at home would have been able to see it happen. Instead, the TV feed, licensed by the race organiser, ASO, missed it by around seven minutes. There wasnt so much to see, Haugset, the races new yellow jersey wearer, played down after the finish. It wasnt so much of a punchy attack, either... It was more like slowly drifting. Other riders, however, were more critical of the missed action. The best way to get more public is to show it properly, said Paula Blasi (UAE Team LIMAD). Today, I felt it was such an incredible race. [I have] all the love for mens [cycling], but when Tadej [Pogaar] goes, it is so easy to predict. With womens racing, sometimes you have much more interesting moves. Its quite sad that we cannot really watch it. On the eve of this fifth edition of the Tour de France Femmes, The Cyclists Alliance (TCA), the independent body that represents the womens peloton, warned that partial coverage would mean fans would miss the attacks, the tactics, and the moments that could define the race.For the biggest race in womens cycling, partial coverage is no longer enough, TCA wrote. The demand is undeniable and we are asking for the coverage to catch up.TCA also criticised the broadcast of Paris-Roubaix earlier this year, describing it as a massive affront to womens cycling that only the final hour and a half was shown live.A post shared by The Cyclists' Alliance (@thecyclistsalliance)A photo posted by on More than 26 hours of this years Tour de France Femmes will be broadcast live across the nine stages an average of around two and a half hours a day. The mens race, by comparison, was shown in full, every moment of every stage, for 21 days. Carmen Small, sports director at EF Education-Oatly, believes the partial coverage of the womens race is a bit strange. You would think they would do [full coverage] at least now. Its only nine stages, its not that were having three weeks like the men, she said.TV coverage is particularly important for teams at the Tour as it gives them crucial airtime for their sponsors. We race aggressively to show the jersey. We hope for results to show the jersey, Small explained. I mean, its all together, right? Its a shame that theyre not doing the whole entire stage. Picnic PostNLs Josie Nelson agreed. I think for the biggest race of the year, they could probably pull it out the bag a bit better, to be honest, she said. On days like today, when everything kicks off at the start, its a shame that no one gets to see how the race pans out. Another key moment the TV broadcast missed on stage three was a crash involving one of the GC favourites, Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez), which happened with 143km to go 55km before the broadcast went live. For those who weren't able to see it, the race organiser, ASO, shared a mobile phone video of the aftermath on social media. Crash in the peloton involving Demi Vollering. The 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift winner is back on her bike and riding again.Chute dans le peloton impliquant notamment Demi Vollering. La laurate de l'dition 2023 peut repartir. #TDFF2026 #WatchTheFemmes pic.twitter.com/9hndJscmBBAugust 3, 2026Stephen Delcourt, Vollerings FDJ United-Suez team manager, said he questioned ASO on the morning of the stage about broadcasting more of the race. I dont want to blame [ASO]. I know theyve improved a lot of things this year, [by adding] a time trial and a ninth stage, he said. Before we had no Tour de France, we had nothing, we had no TV, and I think were improving every year. Yes, we dream about full coverage, especially for a race like this, because it was really beautiful at the beginning of the stage. You just need to be patient. The Tour de France Femmes continues on Tuesday with an individual time trial. Coverage is due to begin at 15:45 local time (CET), meaning the starts of at least 55 riders 40% of the peloton will not be broadcast. Womens cycling has the audience and this race is the pinnacle of the sport, TCA wrote on Instagram on Monday. Now it needs full start-to-finish coverage.