Can anyone stop Demi Vollering? Analysing the favourites to win the 2027 Tour de France Femmes yellow jersey

Demi Vollering of FDJ United – SUEZ celebrates in 2026 with the Yellow Jersey as overall winner (Image credit: Getty Images)

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney rode in the Canyon-SRAM colours on stage 7 at the Tour de France Femmes to win atop Mont Ventoux (Image credit: Getty Images)

Marlen Reusser of Movistar wore the yellow leader’s jersey after winning the individual time trial on stage 4 of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes (Image credit: Getty Images)

Marlen Reusser is one of the riders who will have looked at the Tour route and been dismayed at the lack of a time trial, as this is undoubtedly where she stands to gain the most against her rivals. But don’t get it twisted, Reusser is also a fantastic climber on even the hardest of mountains, and whilst she’s not always the instigator of early attacking racing, she’s always alert and able to handle it when things get aggressive early.

The lack of a TT isn’t any reason to count Reusser out, as she only gained 17 seconds on Vollering on the TT stage in 2026 and was still contending for the win until a crash on the final stage wiped out her chances. She will have to find another way to take time next summer, but with plenty of climbing and other chances to attack, there’s no shortage of opportunities for Reusser to continue proving her worth as a GC rider.

The only question mark for the Swiss rider is where her new teammate Paula Blasi fits into Movistar’s Grand Tour plans, and whether Reusser retains sole leadership here or focuses more on another Grand Tour. (MP)

Pauline Ferrand-Prevot of Visma-Lease a Bike (Image credit: Getty Images)

Elisa Longo Borghini of UAE Team ADQ (Image credit: Getty Images)

Until 2026, Elisa Longo Borghini had a fairly unfortunate record with the Tour de France Femmes, mainly marred by DNFs, but this summer she conquered her demons and ascended to the podium on the final day, her best Grand Tour result of the year. Though a two-time Giro d’Italia winner, Longo Borghini has still sometimes been slightly undervalued as a Grand Tour rider, perhaps owing to her lack of a record in the big mountains of the Tour, but third has surely underlined her status as a consistent and genuine podium contender.

In terms of the course, next year’s route with its even spread of climbing rather than one big mountain will probably play into Longo Borghini’s abilities, a hardy, punchy climber who has sometimes slightly faded when the altitude breaks 1,750 metres of elevation. This course, then, that packs in the elevation but with more, smaller climbs is surely better for her, and poses fewer risks in terms of losing time to the purer climbers. Her attacking style is also obviously great for the earlier, punchier days, so there’s no reason why the Italian shouldn’t target the podium again, if not the yellow jersey. (MP)

German rider Antonia Niedermaier of Canyon-SRAM (Image credit: Getty Images)

With the departure of Niewiadoma-Phinney after nine successful years, Canyon-SRAM will likely be spearheaded by their star home German rider Antonia Niedermaier in 2027, a consistent climber and elite time trialist.

At just 23, Niewiadoma has one of the highest ceilings among the current peloton, and having already finished fourth overall and won the best young rider’s white jersey at this year’s Tour, alongside taking second behind Vollering at the Giro, she’s more than shown she is ready for leadership at the big occasion.

When it comes to the course, any climb suits Niedermaier, but she isn’t the punchiest rider in the bunch, so she may be looking to either anticipate or stay in contact in preparation for the Puy de Dôme finale. What does work in her and Canyon’s favour is the team time trial, which, despite only being 18km in length, should be a chance to gain some time with the likes of Niedermaier and Zoe Bäckstedt powering their team. (JM)

Paula Blasi raced for UAE Team L’IMAD at the 2026 Tour de France Femmes (Image credit: Getty Images)

Paula Blasi was the Grand Tour revelation of 2026, winning La Vuelta Femenina in exciting fashion, but she hasn’t fully turned her hand to the Tour yet, riding in a controversial co-leader role with UAE this summer. Complications over her role within the team and impending departure aside, though, Blasi put together a great week of racing to finish fifth overall, and underlined that her Vuelta win was not a fluke or surprise.

Considering she took fifth as a co-leader, with teammate Longo Borghini taking third, the next question is how she could perform as sole leader, but it’s not immediately clear whether that question will be answered next year.

Heading to Movistar this winter, Blasi will link up with established Grand Tour leader Marlen Reusser, and the pair are expected to balance GC leadership opportunities, but it’s not clear yet what that may look like. It seems likely that the two of them could both race the Tour, and therefore it might mean another year of waiting for sole leadership for Blasi. But, as this year proved, she can achieve a top result even when sharing the limelight, so it seems very possible that she could still take home a solid top 10 even if Movistar nominate Reusser as leader. (MP)

Cedrine Kerbaol of EF Education-Oatly celebrates at finish line as stage 3 winner during La Vuelta Femenina 2026 (Image credit: Getty Images)

Cédrine Kerbaol is not only the best descender in the women’s peloton, but also one of the top operators when the road goes uphill, landing her career-best GC finish at this year’s Tour de France in sixth.

Making the move from EF Education-Oatly to SD Worx-ProTime, Kerbaol joins one of the top teams in the sport as a potential leader for the Tour, with likely combinations alongside Anna van der Breggen, Nienke Vinke, and Lotte Kopecky.

A team time trial is less favourable to the French rider than an ITT, but the Dutch team should still put up one of the strongest outfits for the race against the clock, with the punchy stages in France and route down to the Massif Central suiting Kerbaol’s versatility.

She may be outclimbed on the Puy de Dôme even by teammate Vinke, but will have wanted to attack in prior stages to try and arrive at that finale with time to defend. The constant ups and downs of stages 5 and 8 are right in her wheelhouse, with several chances to attack away on a descent, then stay away on the climbs – with a less brutal climbing route, Kerbaol comes more into play. (JM)

Kim Le Court-Pienaar win 6th stage of the Tour de France Femmens from Montbrison to Tournon-sur-Rhone (Image credit: Getty Images)

AG Insurance-Soudal’s Kim Le Court-Pienaar is another rider who will potentially benefit from the lack of a major Alpine or Pyrenean ascent when it comes to the 2027 route.

Her characteristics as a Classics star who can also climb well make it likely that she arrives at the final duo of stages with a lead over some of the purer climbers. And after the rotten luck she has had for much of 2026, the Mauritian will hope to come to the UK Grand Depart without as many bumps in the road as she had in the most recent campaign.

Winner of the stage of the Tour this year, the former yellow jersey winner also won the Tour of Britain, finished ninth on GC at the Tour, and finished fourth at the Tour de Suisse and UAE Tour.

Now established as one of the top riders in the world, Le Court is a marked rider in the bunch, but with a hopefully full-strength Sarah Gigante and Justine Ghekiere among her supporters in 2027, she could put together a result that propels her much higher than ninth in the race for yellow, over a route which is much more suited to her on paper.

Isabella Holmgren in a breakaway for Lidl-Trek at Tour de France Femmes (Image credit: Getty Images)

Isabella Holmgren proved herself as a future GC leader in 2026 with standout results at both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France Femmes, finishing seventh and eighth overall, respectively, but she may have found herself bumped down the leadership hierarchy at Lidl-Trek with the arrival of Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney. It’s no slight on Holmgren’s ability, but just the reality of having a former Tour winner join the team.

It does mean, though, that we don’t know quite what role Holmgren might have in the Tour next year, or even if she goes at all – perhaps a sole leadership bid at the Giro d’Italia will be the focus of her summer. But if she does return to the Tour, something she has more than earned, she’ll be a valuable domestique for Niewiadoma-Phinney and strong enough to grab a spot in the top 10 herself. The lack of big, high mountains is probably a disadvantage for the lightweight Canadian climber, meaning her stocks probably aren’t quite as high as they were for this year’s race. (MP)

Her lack of racing in 2026 makes it hard to judge her level, but if Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal) can put together an illness- and injury-free run-in to the Tour de France Femmes, then she is always a formidable contender, though she’ll rue the lack of an ultra-big climb. With Urška Žigart too, AG Insurance have a wealth of options for this race.

Ninke Vienke is one of SD Worx-Protime’s next Grand Tour leaders, but has probably shifted down the hierarchy slightly with the arrival of Cédrine Kerbaol, who will likely claim leadership at her home Tour. Vienke can still provide important climbing support and perhaps a solid result of her own.

Dominika Włodarczyk was the third part of UAE Team L’Imad’s three-pronged attack in 2026, and delivered with a seventh to go with her fourth from 2025, proving herself as one of the peloton’s most underrated GC riders. She’ll step up a level with Blasi gone, but will likely still play second fiddle to Longo Borghini, which may place a ceiling on what she can achieve.

While likely to become a domestique for Niewiadome-Phinney in 2027 at Lidl-Trek, 10th place on GC at the Tour and fifth place overall at the Giro this year, Niamh Fisher-Black should be in the game for the top spots, but the lack of pure high-mountain climbing puts her further down the pecking order.