Organisers held nothing back in designing the challenging route of the fourth edition.
The organisers of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift held nothing back when designing the fourth edition of the race. The final four stages are all potential general classification days, and the first two stages will be incredibly hard as the peloton takes on the Bretagne region of France.
There are only two real possibilities for the pure sprinters, although someone like Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) or SD Worx-Protime’s Lorena Wiebes will be eyeing the opening stage. As for the yellow jersey hopefuls, almost every stage is a GC stage. Anyone wanting to win the Tour will need to be on at all times.
If the Tour de France Femmes is anything like the Giro d’Italia Women we were treated to only two weeks ago, it’s going to be the best edition of the race we’ve ever seen, which is saying a lot for a race that came down to only four seconds between first and second place in 2024.
Below you will find a full route preview of the Tour. Keep an eye out for a contenders preview to come closer to the Grand Depart in Vannes.
How to watch
🇺🇸 Peacock, 🇬🇧 TNT Sports/ITV, 🇪🇺 Eurosport, 🇨🇦 FloBikes, 🇦🇺 SBS On Demand
The opening stage on Saturday the 26th is later in the day – live coverage is set to start at 17:00 CET while Sunday’s stage starts at 13:00 CET. Stages 3 to 7 all start at 15:15, but with the men’s Clasica San Sebastián on Saturday, August 2, stage 8 starts at 13:30 CET. The final stage on Sunday, August 3 is set to start at 15:00 CET.
Play our Tour fantasy game!
Over at Escape Collective, we’ve simplified and perfected the fantasy competition. In our Tour de France Femmes fantasy game, you choose one rider before the start of each stage. Win and get points, shoot for the moon and see where you land. Plus, you can challenge your friends in your very own mini-league. Just don’t forget to make your daily pick, or we just might choose a rider for you.
To play simply head here. Alternatively, download the app from either the App Store (iOS) or Play Store (Android), and you’re all set.
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Stage 1: Vannes to Plumelec (78.8 km) 
Date: Saturday, July 26
Stage type: Uphill reduced sprint
About the stage: The opening stage from Vannes to Plumelec is no sprint stage. The two categorised climbs at 55.4 km and 13.7 km to go don’t really do the stage justice; it’s going to be a lot harder than it looks on paper. Immediately after the peloton completes the first categorised climb, the Côte de Botségalo, an 800 metre ascent averaging 5.3%, they will climb up another uncategorised ascent. This one is 2.9 km at 3%, with a steeper section near the top of 10.9%.
They then have one more poppy short climb before they enter the finishing circuit that they will complete two and a half times. As soon as they enter the circuit, they go up the most significant climb of the day, the Côte de Cadoudal. This climb also features as the intermediate sprint point (which it’s not categorised in the QOM competition). They will then race this 1.7 km, 6.2% climb two more times before they finish the stage. Even better: the finish is at the top.
The stage is made even harder by its short length. At only 78.8 km and with the first yellow jersey on the line for the winner, this stage is going to be full gas from the word go.
There’s not much wind on tap as of writing, but no one thought the fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia was going to be defined by crosswinds, so best to at least check the weather. If there is any chance of a crosswind, it will be in the long section of road as the peloton makes its way north before turning right towards the final circuits.
Since the opening stage is in the Bretagne region, it’s not necessarily the climbing that the GC riders need to worry about, but the roads. The region is known for its technical and twisty nature, and crashes will be a huge concern for the top riders on this opening stage. The descent off the circuit climb is narrow with some tricky road furniture. A lot of riders will be thinking about the yellow jersey on this stage, the first of the race, and a lot will just be thinking about making it to the finish line without losing time or skin.
With the short, steep climbs throughout the stage and especially the climb on the circuit that the peloton will ride three times, the finish is likely going to come down to a fast finisher like Vos or Wiebes. A reduced bunch will make it to the base of the climb together, and the climb isn’t necessarily long enough for a GC favourite to take yellow on the first day. The top of the climb levels off before the finish, and Wiebes has been climbing really well this season. She wore yellow once, in 2022, but missed out on the lead last year to PicNic-PostNL’s Charlotte Kool. That said, it’s hard to tell whether this climb is too long for her or if it’s one she can power up.
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