Dave Brailsford is looking into the idea of a female Team Sky as a way of giving female cyclists more opportunities as well as “greater parity” between male and female riders.

With there no longer being a women’s Tour de France, there aren’t many races for female cyclists compared to men’s and the Team Sky manager is trying to come up with ideas to increase the number of outings for Great Britain’s Emma Pooley and Lizzie Armitstead.

“We’ve got some brilliant female cyclists,” Brailsford said after the first La Course by Le Tour.

“We all are very aware that there needs to be a greater parity, not just in road cycling but across all disciplines, both at Olympic and professional level.”

Pooley was pleased with how La Course went and hopes that those that watched the race, won by the Netherlands’ Marianne Vos, were able to see the abundance of talent that women’s cycling has to offer.

Pooley said: “This was the best opportunity for people all around the world to be able to see it.

“Track cyclists are brilliant at showing the world how strong women are and road cycling deserves that stage as well.

“There’s definitely the potential for more, it has to grow slowly, because there’s such a difference in the sports at the moment.

“There’s nothing that stops women, physically. At the moment it is only a semi-professional sport so at the top level the riders are paid and they ride for time.

“But a lot of cyclists have to work as well to pay their way so they can’t train for 250km stages.”