The Tour de France Femmes enters its fifth modern edition from August 1-9 with its longest route yet. The 2026 race covers 1,175km before homologation and brings the peloton to Mont Ventoux for the first summit finish on the legendary climb.
Organised by ASO, the nine-day race has quickly become the leading stage race in the women’s peloton. Since its 2022 revival, it has produced four winners in four editions.
Annemiek van Vleuten won in 2022, Demi Vollering followed in 2023, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney claimed 2024, and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot took yellow in 2025. The 2026 start list features three former champions, giving the race a deep general classification field.
The modern race has also delivered broad stage-winning variety. Across four editions, 20 riders from nine nations have won stages. Dutch riders lead the national count with 17 victories, while Kim Le Court gave Mauritius its first non-European stage win in 2025.
Tour de France Femmes route reaches Mont Ventoux
The 2026 route runs through Switzerland and France, with the Jura, Massif Central and Alps all on the menu. Riders face a record 18,795 metres of elevation gain across nine stages.
The race includes three flat stages, three hilly stages, one individual time trial and two mountain stages. The centrepiece comes on Stage 7, when Mont Ventoux makes its debut as a summit finish.
The opening stage starts in Lausanne, Switzerland, in only the second foreign Grand Départ in race history. Organisers classify the stage as flat, but the finish on the Côte Saint-François should make the first yellow jersey selective.
Stage 2 offers the clearest chance for the sprinters. Stage 3 then carries the race into France, where the Col de la Faucille and rolling roads could favour a breakaway.
The individual time trial returns on Stage 4 after missing the 2025 race. The 21km route from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon includes the Lacets de Marsannay climb. It should create larger gaps than the 6.3km Rotterdam test in 2023.
Stages 5 and 6 bring repeated climbing and descending, despite lacking a major summit finish. Those profiles suit aggressive racing and could tempt GC contenders before the high mountains.
Stage 7 sends the peloton up Mont Ventoux, a 15.7km climb averaging 8.8 percent. The ascent should strongly shape the general classification and the destination of the yellow jersey.
The race still leaves room for late drama. Stage 8 gives sprinters another chance, though two late climbs could launch attacks before Nice.
The final stage tackles the Col d’Èze four times. The last ascent comes from the steeper side, before a technical descent back into Nice decides the 2026 champion.
Vollering leads GC contenders after Giro comeback
Demi Vollering arrives with the strongest Tour record among the favourites. The FDJ-SUEZ leader has finished second, first, second and second in the four modern editions.
After runner-up finishes in 2024 and 2025, Vollering will target the yellow jersey she won in 2023. Her 2026 season also gives her a compelling case as the rider to beat.
The European champion won the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège during a superb spring. She then produced a final-stage comeback to win the Giro d’Italia ahead of Anna van der Breggen.
FDJ-SUEZ also brings strong support. Juliette Berthet finished fifth at the Vuelta this season and seventh at last year’s Tour while riding for Vollering.
Paris-Roubaix winner and German champion Franziska Koch gives the squad another powerful card. French champion Célia Gery also adds major depth after winning a Giro stage in June.
Gery, an under-23 world champion and multi-discipline talent, helped Vollering win the Giro. She could again prove valuable on home roads.
Ferrand-Prévot and Niewiadoma-Phinney return as former winners
Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has raced a quieter stage-race campaign than Vollering. Yet the same doubt surrounded her before her 2025 Tour victory.
The Visma | Lease a Bike rider finished second at the Tour of Flanders and third at Paris-Roubaix. She then started the Vuelta España Femenina among the favourites.
Ferrand-Prévot never entered the GC battle there and finished 35th overall. That remains her most recent outing, leaving questions over her current form.
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney again starts among the major contenders for Canyon//SRAM. The 2024 champion has built another consistent season.
She finished second at Strade Bianche, Amstel Gold Race and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. She also placed third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, then took third overall at the Tour de Suisse.
Canyon//SRAM also has Antonia Niedermaier, one of the brightest young climbers in the sport. The German finished second overall at the Giro d’Italia Women, strengthening her GC credentials.
That pairing gives Canyon//SRAM multiple options when the race reaches the steepest climbs.
Blasi, Van der Breggen and Reusser add depth
Paula Blasi is arguably the most intriguing Tour debutant. The 23-year-old Spaniard starts for UAE Team L’IMAD after a breakthrough season.
Blasi finished on the podium at the Tour Down Under, then won Amstel Gold Race. She later became the first Spanish winner of the Vuelta, taking red from Van der Breggen on the final stage.
Overall victories at the Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées and Volta a Catalunya have raised expectations. She now enters her first Tour as a genuine yellow jersey threat.
UAE also has Elisa Longo Borghini, whose experience and race craft remain significant. The Italian won the final Giro stage and finished fourth overall, then placed seventh at the Tour de Suisse after dropping from second on a difficult final day.
Longo Borghini responded by winning a seventh Italian national road race title. Her climbing and consistency give UAE another serious GC option.
Anna van der Breggen has twice lost Grand Tour leads on final stages this season. She finished second at the Vuelta and third at the Giro after late reversals.
Even so, the SD Worx-Protime rider has clearly advanced from her 2025 return season. The Stage 4 time trial also gives her a valuable chance to gain time before Ventoux.
Marlen Reusser will seek a very different Tour experience after leaving last year’s race on the opening stage. The Movistar rider holds world and European time trial titles.
Reusser’s third overall victory at the Tour de Suisse in June showed her climbing form. Her time trial strength could also make her a podium contender.
Niamh Fisher-Black brings further climbing depth for Lidl-Trek. The New Zealander finished fifth at last year’s Tour and fifth at the 2026 Giro.
Cédrine Kerbaol remains a consistent top-10 candidate for EF Education-Oatly. World champion Magdeleine Vallieres adds intrigue after finishing 12th at the Giro.
Kim Le Court Pienaar and Puck Pieterse should also animate the race. Le Court wore yellow twice and won a stage at the 2025 Tour.
Pieterse won a stage on her Tour debut in 2024. She also finished on the podium at the Tour of Flanders, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April.
Reports suggest Pieterse will chase stages rather than the overall classification. If so, her aggressive style could shape several key days before Nice.