So far, this Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift has had almost everything. Sprints, punchy finishes, gravel, and mountains. Time trials.

For the peloton's time trial specialists, this is a disappointment in a race that is supposed to test riders in all disciplines, and many have called for the inclusion of time trials in future events.

Time trial world champion Ellen van Dijk told Cycling News that she personally would prefer to ride her favorite discipline in the Tour, but that it is also an important part of stage racing.

"As a time triallist, of course I want one. There's very little in the Vuelta, in the Giro, in the Tour, in the WorldTour races."

The lack of a time trial has been the bane of specialists throughout the season. The Giro's prologue and the 17.8 km stage of the Simac Tour.

In June, Van Dijk published a message about this gap in the calendar, jointly signed by Jos Roden, Marlen Reusser, Lisa Brennauer, and Annemiek van Fluten.

"I took to Twitter to call attention to this race because I think it is unusual not to have a World Tour race with a time trial," van Dijk said. If the organizers would pay attention to this race, that would be great."

While some argue that the inclusion of a time trial would have a skewed impact on GC and benefit athletes like Annemiek van Fruten (Movistar) and Demi Vollering (SD Walks) more than those who are weak in time trials, van Dijk said that the overall challenge, he says it should be part of the challenge.

"If you want to offer everyone a complete GC and stages, I think that belongs in the Tour. 'There are sprint stages, there are medium stages, there are mountain stages, there are time trials. If you want to get the whole picture, you have to be part of it."

Former world time record holder Jos Roden (Unoex Pro Cycling) also expressed disappointment that the Tour does not have a race against the clock, but hopes it will in the future.

"It's really disappointing not to have one during the race," she told Cycling News. 'But with the first Zwift Avec at the Tour de France Femme, you can't do everything right from the start. I hope to see the TT here next year."

What is not clear, though, is why time trials are notably absent from the 2022 women's peloton.

"It's really hard to say," says Roden. 'Some years there are more TTs than others. Last year we had a very good TT stage in the women's tour and this year we didn't. The TT stages in the men's race are really successful."

"I don't want to always compare it to the men's race because the races are different, but there are definitely TT stages."

The women's race has a very good TT stage, and the men's race has a very good TT stage, but the men's race has a very good TT stage.

As for time trials, there is no denying that there is a particularly large difference in ability and equipment from the top to the bottom. Because time trials are so rare, many teams and riders do not (or cannot) devote significant resources to time trials as part of their training and preparation.

As a result, riders begin time trials in races with little or no experience on TT bikes, and the difference is stark. In last month's Tour de Suisse, riders finished outside the time limit in the TT, recording times more than 30% slower than the winners.

However, Roden believes that this problem should not be a reason to stop the top teams from showing their ability against the clock.

"In fact, if you look at the World Tour teams, they have TT bikes. We could definitely race a TT, and I think there is a gap in World Tour racing right now. [If there is no TT, then all the energy we have put in as a team, as riders, as staff, as sponsors, as equipment providers, is going to showcase that.

Even without the TT, the time triallists won the fourth stage. Olympic and World Championships silver medalist Marlen Reusser (SD Works) won after a 23km solo attack. Was it an alternative to the time trial?

"It's a shame there is no time trial," Reusser said after his victory. Today was a time trial, but after such a long race it's not the same. My legs feel different than they did when I prepared specifically for the time trial.

For the TT specialists in the peloton, there are still the European and World Championships to go this season.