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90km to go: Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) leads the peloton on the descent. Here is a list of the 14 riders in the break: Muzic, Fisher-Black, Squiban, Ghekiere, Chabbey, Vallieres, Santesteban, Markus, Kastelijn, Claes, Edwards, Meijering, Koch and Bunel.
92km to go: The breakaway group have 35secs on the peloton. Here are the results from the first climb:
Col de Plainpalais QOM climb result:
1. Chabbey, 10pts
2. Squiban, 8pts
3. Markus, 6pts
4. Meijering, 4pts
5. Muzic, 2pts
6. Kastelijn, 1pt
98km to go: Chabbey sprints to reach the summit first and take maximum QOM points. Behind, AG Insurance-Soudal lead the peloton. Impressively, sprinter Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) is firmly in this first group of the peloton, unlike her rival for the green jersey, Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike).
99km to go: And of course, Squiban effortlessly gets across. The 15-rider break only have 18secs on the peloton now. Talking about her strength and energy, it reminds me of this video where her dad asks her if she’s slept. A classic parent question, even when your child has just won two Tour de France Femmes stages!
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Updated at 08.36 EDT
100km to go: Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) is off! She’s attempting to bridge across to the breakaway. It would seem the French rider just does not tire.
101km to go: A group of 14 riders, including Chabbey and Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) have managed to get up the road away from the peloton. They have almost 30secs on the bunch.
Updated at 08.28 EDT
103km to go: Our maillot jaune, Kim Le Court-Pienaar, wants to get away. She breaks away from the peloton for the second time, closing in on a counterattack by Marion Bunel (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Chabbey. Ostolaza has been distanced by Markus at the front of the race. It’s been a lively start.
105km to go: Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek) attacks with Usoa Ostolaza (Laboral Kutxa-Fundaction Euskadi), with about 8km to the summit of the Col du Plainpalais. The peloton is losing ground. There are a couple of groups of distanced riders, with Andersen 4mins back alongside Laboral Kutxa-Fundaction Euskadi’s Alba Teruel.
106km to go: The start, heading upwards towards a category first climb, has caused early fractures in the peloton. Two groups who fell behind have now merged into one consisting of 16 riders. The GC contenders are all in the peloton and it seems to be mainly Uno X Mobility’s Susanne Andersen who is struggling with the pace.
ShareDilyxine Miermont withdraws from the race
French rider Dilyxine Miermont for Ceratizit did not start stage eight so has withdrawn from the race. There are now 129 riders in the Tour peloton.
Dilyxine Miermont of Ceratizit Pro Cycling in happier times, namely before stage four. Photograph: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 08.34 EDT
108km to go: Elise Chabbey (Lidl-Trek) is on the attack. The number of riders already dropped on this immediate uphill grows to seven and includes Uno X Mobility’s Susanne Andersen, Fenix-Deceuninck’s Flora Perkins and Winspace Orange Seal’s Fiona Mangan.
109km to go: The peloton are riding on the slopes leading to the category one Col de Plainpalais (13.2 km at 6.3%). Already, four riders have been dropped and are 42secs behind.
Updated at 08.04 EDT
The racing has begun!
110km to go: The flag has dropped and racing is under way on this Tour’s queen stage! Let’s see what the riders have in store for us.
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney has a mechanical. The defending champion stops to change her front wheel 1km from the end of the neutralised sector.
ShareToday’s rollout has begun
Stage eight of the Tour de France Femmes 2025 is under way. The peloton have rolled out from Chambéry. There’s a 4.8km neutralised section before the racing begins.
Maeva Squiban of UAE Team ADQ (left) takes a selfie alongside yellow jersey holder Kimberley Le Court Pienaar, polka dot moutain jersey holder Elise Chabbey and green sprint jersey holder Lorena Wiebes at the start line in Chambery. Photograph: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty ImagesThe peloton rolls out of town. Photograph: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 08.53 EDT
For the second day in the row, Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) is on the front page of L’Équipe:
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She also delightedly shared a congratulatory message from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, on social media. In it, he said:
Deux victoires consécutives sur le Tour de France pour Maëva Squiban ! Bravo pour cette performance exceptionnelle qui fait rayonner le cyclisme français. Le pays est derrière vous !
According to a quick Google Translate, this means:
Two consecutive Tour de France victories for Maëva Squiban! Congratulations on this exceptional performance that shines a spotlight on French cycling. The country is behind you!
And who’s wearing which jersey:
Yellow jersey: Kim Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal), 22hrs 28mins 31secs
Green jersey: Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), 208pts
Polka dot jersey: Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez), 29pts
White jersey: Nienke Vinke (Picnic-PostNL), 22hrs 37mins 46secs
Here’s a reminder of the top ten on GC after stage seven:
Kim Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal), 22hrs 28mins 31secs
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), +26secs
Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon/SRAM), +30secs
Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez), +31secs
Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx Protime), +35secs
Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck), +1min 4secs
Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), +1min 9secs
Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal), +1min 14secs
Évita Muzic (FDJ-Suez), +1min 35secs
Juliette Labous (FDJ-Suez), +1min 35secs
Here is the route profile of stage eight of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift:
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ShareStage eight: Chambéry to Saint François Longchamp – Col de la Madeleine, 112km
Here’s a look at today’s stage, Saturday 2 August: Chambéry to Saint François Longchamp – Col de la Madeleine, 111.9km, with the race director of the Tour de France Femmes, Marion Rousse:
There’ll be no respite on what’s the queen stage of the 2025 edition. It will head into the Bauges massif straight away, with the first major difficulty coming on the way out of Chambéry in the form of the Col de Plainpalais (13.2km at 6.3%). After crossing the less demanding Col du Frêne, the race will reach the Maurienne and tackle the toughest flank of the Madeleine. Extending to 18.6km, with regular changes in gradient (averaging 8.1%) and a rough surface, this climb will provide plenty of opportunities to create gaps.
SharePreamble
Stage eight of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is the queen’s stage – regarded as the most challenging mountain stage of a multi-day race. It often featurs the highest climbs and most significant elevation gain. Today, the peloton will ride 111.9km from Chambéry to Saint François Longchamp – Col de la Madeleine, taking in more than 3,500 meters of climbing, making it a brutal day out. The first ascent of the day will come at 13km, with the category one Col de Plainpalais (13.2km at 6.3%). The sharp Côte de Saint-Georges-d’Hurtières comes duing the second half of racing, and then it’s all go towards the finish at the summit of the imposing Col de la Madeleine (18.6 km at 8.1%, rising to over 2,000m above sea level).
It’s the penultimate day of the Tour, so any GC contenders who want to make their mark will surely have plans for this decisive stage. While Kim Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) hung on to the yellow jersey yesterday after being dropped on the final climb, she’ll face stiff competition from Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon/SRAM), Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx Protime) who are all biting at her heels (none are further than 35secs behind the maillot jaune). Le Court Pienaar’s teammate and powerful climber Sarah Gigante might fancy the stage win and the Mauritian rider spoke effusively yesterday about her colleague’s strength coming into this mountain stage.
Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) made it two victories in a row yesterday, so I’m excited to see what she’s got in store today. Shirin van Anrooij and Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez), Silke Smulders and Mavi García (Liv Alula Jayco) are worth keeping an eye on in terms of a potential breakaway.
Today’s action will kick off at 1.45pm CET/12.45pm BST. Here is Jeremy Whittle’s stage seven race report from Chambéry: