The wearers of the Tour de France Femmes special classification jerseys – Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) in green, Élise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) in polka-dots, and Nienke Vinke (Picnic PostNL) in white – did not see a serious challenge to their leads in the respective classifications on the stage 9 finale in Châtel.
They each celebrated as the respective winners and were able to take their jerseys home after the stage, which, for Wiebes in particular, meant there was a feeling of relief after three unsuccessful attempts to win the points classification green jersey.
“This is finally a Tour de France without bad luck [for me]. In the first edition, I crashed out, in the second edition, I got sick, and last year, it was also not our best Tour. Finally, everything fell into place, and I’m really grateful to the team that they gave me this chance to go for it,” said Wiebes before stepping onto the podium in Châtel to receive the green jersey for the final time.
You may like
In 2022, Wiebes had won the opening stage on the Champs-Élysées as well as stage 5, but then crashed out on stage 7, and Marianne Vos won the points classification. The next year, Wiebes won stage 3 but had to abandon the race again, and in 2024, she did not win any stages and finished behind Vos in the points classification.
In 2025, Wiebes won stages 3 and 4 ahead of Vos and continued to chase points at the intermediate sprints to bolster her lead. When she was second across the line at the intermediate sprint in Morillon on stage 9, this meant that Wiebes only had to finish to take home the green jersey.
Chabbey spent the whole day in the gruppetto, paying the price for her attacking racing on the earlier eight stages, and on the first climb of the day, Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) sprinted for the mountain points from the group of favourites behind lone attacker Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime).
But Chabbey could count on the help of her teammates: Eventual GC runner-up Demi Vollering herself tried to stop Squiban from taking too many points, and although she did not succeed in that, the pace set on the Col de Joux Plane saw Squiban lose contact with the GC contenders, securing the polka-dot jersey for Chabbey.
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
“It was great that she was able to help me defend the jersey like that,” said Chabbey, thanking Vollering for her effort.
“I am speechless. It is a huge honour to have worn this jersey from start to finish. It’s a very iconic jersey. OK, it’s not what we came for, but it is still a good prize, and I am very happy,” she continued.
The final stage, close to her native Switzerland, was a day to remember for Chabbey.
“It was incredible, the crowd was shouting my name, people had written my name on the road, and I saw so many people with polka-dot t-shirts. It was incredible, really, these moments will truly stay with me,” said Chabbey.
Squiban, who finished joint-second in the classification eight points down on Chabbey, took home the overall combativity award to go with her two stage wins.
Vinke took the white jersey off Julie Bego (Cofidis) on stage 7 but suffered in the last two stages, losing time in the general classification. Luckily for her, Bego was suffering even more, especially on stage 9.
“All the other young riders were behind me, so it was mostly about making it to the finish line in a good way,” said Vinke. “But it was a really hard day, and I was completely empty.
“Fortunately, I had Franzi [Koch] with me the whole day. She stayed with me, paced me, and really helped me a lot. It’s really special to win a jersey in a Grand Tour, especially in the Tour de France, as it’s one of the biggest races on the calendar.”
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our Tour de France Femmes coverage. Don’t miss any of the breaking news, reports, and analysis from one of the biggest women’s stage races of the season. Find out more.