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This week's issue is presented by Joni:

"This is not charity. Absolutely not. This is a serious investment. As a woman, I think it’s almost insulting that these world-class athletes are being considered by some people as some sort of 'DEI project.'"

- Michele Kang has purchased shares in three women’s soccer teams, invested $50 million in a research hub to focus on women’s performance, and now pledged $4 million for women’s rugby in the U.S.

Three big stories to know this week in women's sports

1. The closest Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift finish ever 🚴‍♀️

Just four seconds ultimately separated Kasia Niewiadoma and runner-up Demi Vollering.

On the last day, up the final climb on the Alpe d'Huez defending champ Vollering launched a plan to claw back her 1:15 deficit — and she did everything she could, winning the day’s stage — but, behind her, Niewiadoma dug deep to stay as close as possible. When she crossed the finish line behind Vollering, she had managed to hold onto the overall title by *just four seconds* total after the eight stages.

There's never been as close or dramatic a finish 😳

The controversy

No good sports event is without some drama, though! In Stage 5, a crash about 6km from the finish took out a large section of the field — including the leader-at-the-time (and pre-race favorite) Demi Vollering.

These things happen all the time in cycling (!), but Vollering's team then failed to come back and help her. Typically, in cycling, the team will work to protect their team leader — especially if she's a favorite for the overall win. But, whether through miscommunication or confusion, Vollering was left mostly on her own to try and lose as little time as possible, while one of her teammate took the win on the day's stage.

Of course, this is all part of what it takes to win a multi-day event like the TDFF! Teamwork, luck, hardwork, skills! And Niewiadoma fought hard to hold onto her lead, and deserved the win!

"There are so many ifs, but you can't buy anything from the ifs."

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😍 Relive the moments: Check out some of the amazing photos from the epic day

🎉 Let's celebrate: Niewiadoma and boyfriend, cyclist Taylor Phinney, had a fun night after

🍔 Hamburgers on the bike: Alison Jackson is always a legend

🎧 Listen from-the-ground: Our Girls Gone Gravel podcast was there every day of the historic race

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💜 Thank you to all our amazing sponsors for their support of our Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift coverage

Precision Fuel & Hydration: Use this link to get 15% off your first order
Liv: The cycling brand dedicated to women. Learn more at liv-cycling.com
Zwift: Join Zwift for a month-long celebration of the power and passion of women's cycling at zwift.com/watchthefemmes
buycycle: use the code FEISTYFEMMES for FREE seller protection when you list a bike for sale on buycycle.com
Wahoo: Shop bike computers, trainers, and more at wahoofitness.com

(Photo: ASO/Charly Lopez)

2. Olympic medalists are back on start lines 🥇

While many athletes need some well-earned rest after the Olympics, for some sports the season simply keeps rolling straight through the fall.

🏊‍♀️ Both Paris triathlon gold medalists raced in Boston this past weekend at the first Supertri race of the year — a super-fast, short-course style of racing. But the medalists looked tired 😫 and were beat out by Jeanne Lehair, who bounced back after a frustrating crash in Paris.

🏃‍♀️ Track’s premier circuit, the Diamond League, also starts back up this weekend & has FIVE more races in the season. Some of the big names (Sha'Carri Richardson) are skipping this weekend to hit up the rest of the races later. But we will see Femke Bol (the 400m hurdler), high jump gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, and an exciting 800m women's race.

🏊‍♀️ And cycling, of course, immediately jumped back into its biggest event of the year: The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. And then the Women's World Tour will close out with some smaller tours through the end of the year.

Plus: Professional soccer, basketball, tennis, and golf are all back! And the Gold Over America gymnastics tour (with Simone Biles) starts in September!

3. Supreme Court ruling on Title IX leaves behind confusion...

Introduced in 1972, Title IX shaped the landscape of women’s sports in the U.S. — requiring that no school receiving federal funding could deny equal participation "on the basis of sex." The effects of that simple sentence essentially remade the opportunities for girls in sports.

Earlier this year, the Biden Administration passed a rule to expand that definition to include "sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics." While much of the focus of these protections has been on the effects it will have for transgender students and athletes, the expansion of Title IX would also clarify how schools must handle sexual assault and harassment cases, as well as provide regulations for pregnant and post-partum students and employees (such as required lactation areas).

However, 26 states have since put a temporary hold on the rules. And this week the Supreme Court opted to allow that hold to continue — choosing to NOT let the other portions of the rule move forward. Not even the parts of the rules that no one was arguing about! 😱

This has now created confusion and a patchwork framework of enforcements. What should schools do about sexual assault cases now? What regulations apply to postpartum protections? Will different states implement different gender identification rules? What will Title IX look like into the next 50 years?

Tip of the week

Is a wave of CTE coming for female athletes?

CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) is a degenerative disease linked to concussions and traumatic brain injuries. CTE can lead to behavioral and mood disorders and memory loss, and we've begun to study the effects in football and soccer players, and boxers. But the first CTE case diagnosed in a female athlete only came last summer.

Research has found that female athletes to date tend to be more susceptible to concussions and often experience symptoms for longer than male athletes — though some of that difference appears to disappear when female athletes are diagnosed and treated within the same time frame as male athletes, and when equivalent levels of on- and off-field support are provided.

As the levels of professional competition continue to increase for female athletes and the number of girls entering high-level sports increases, we're going to need more and more female-specific concussion research!

LISTEN: A sneak peek at our special concussion series starting on Sept. 2 — 'Brain Storm with Rebecca Rusch and Selene Yeager'

Once upon a time of the month

For far too long, people have been shamed from talking about their periods and sharing their stories. That ends now. End period silence.

joni is committed to fighting the stigma around menstruation — and now they're putting together a book on periods to start conversations and encourage people to share their stories. Everyone has got at least one bloody good story 😉

SHARE YOUR PERIOD STORY by Aug. 26 and it will be part of a beautiful mosaic of stories — some of which will be included in joni's period book and the proceeds will support joni's Giveback program. Looking for sustainable period products? You can also get 10% off your joni order with the code FEISTY at getjoni.com.

The highlight reel

🚵‍♀️ Redbull Rampage announced its first women’s line-up. Rampage, the premier freeride mountain event in the world, has long excluded women — but this year will feature eight of the best riders.
🏃‍♀️ Mary Denhold won the classic Leadville 100-mile running race in Colorado and set a second-best historical time (though Ann Trason’s 1994 course record still stands!).
🏔️ In her trail running debut, Kenyan Joyline Chepngeno won the famous and mountainous Sierre-Zinal race.
The Masters Track & Field World Championships are taking place right now in Sweden and there have been a number of exciting results: 60-year-old Sue McDonald ran a championship record of 2:25 and 58-year-old Michelle Rohl became the first person (man or woman) to win a world title in a run event (18:30 in the 5,000m) *and* ina race walk event.
During the Olympics, a group of women hosted an alternative competition to name the world’s best athlete: A two-day Decathlon World Championship in Cleveland highlighted the lack of decathlon for women at the Olympic level.
👑 10x world champion Daniela Ryf announced her sudden retirement yesterday. She had planned to make one last run at the Ironman World Championship in September, but an injury forced an early end to her season and career.
🤸🏾 While the Olympic floor exercise bronze medal has been now awarded to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu, Jordan Chiles has said she has no plans to return her bronze medal. Flavor Flav has also made Chiles a unique bronze clock for what she's gone through.
The WNBA 🏀 is back in action and the NWSL ⚽ returns to play next week.
🏌️‍♀️ After having never won an LPGA event in her career, Lauren Coughlin has now won two in a month with the Scottish Open this past weekend.
🎾 Ahead of the final Major of the year, Aryna Sabalenka beat Jessica Pegula at the Cincinnati Open.
🥂 The first women’s sports bar in California, Watch Me!, drew big crowds and pro athletes for its opening day.

Your Feisty recommendations

What to watch: Young Woman and the Sea — the story of the first woman to swim the English Channel

What to read: Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water

What to listen to: "I Am, I Can, I Will, I Do in Menopause"

A thing we could totally *not* do: Challenge Jordan Chiles to a handstand competition