Elise Chabbey has been forced to withdraw from the 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in a major setback for both FDJ-Suez and the Swiss opening weekend of the race.
The Geneva rider had been expected to play a central role for Demi Vollering’s team when the Tour begins in Switzerland on 1 August, with the opening three days taking the peloton through Lausanne, Aigle and Geneva. Instead, Le Temps reports that Chabbey will miss the race after FDJ-Suez indicated that the physical conditions were not in place for her to start.
Le Temps also reports that a source close to the rider has indicated that Chabbey is suffering from a virus. The 33-year-old has not raced since Liège-Bastogne-Liège on 26 April, where she finished seventh, and her absence now removes one of Vollering’s strongest climbing and attacking lieutenants before the biggest race of the season.
The news is especially painful because of the route. Chabbey, who was born in Geneva, had spoken openly about how much the Swiss Grand Départ meant to her. The 2026 Tour starts with a stage in Lausanne, continues from Aigle to Geneva on stage 2, then starts from Geneva the following day before heading into France. For Chabbey, that would have meant racing through her home country and in her home city during one of the most visible moments in the women’s cycling calendar.
In an interview with Noemi Rüegg published by Le Temps earlier this year, Chabbey described the Swiss start as a “major event” in her season and said she was delighted by the prospect of riding the Tour on home roads. “What an experience it’s going to be,” she said at the time.
That experience will now have to wait.
Chabbey absence weakens Vollering support
Chabbey’s withdrawal is a sporting blow as well as an emotional one. FDJ United-SUEZ are expected to arrive at the Tour with Vollering as one of the leading contenders for the yellow jersey, and Chabbey’s skill set would have been highly valuable across the nine-stage route.
She is one of the most complete riders in the women’s peloton, capable of climbing, attacking from distance, covering dangerous moves and supporting a leader deep into hard stages. Her absence removes a rider who could have been used in several ways: as a breakaway threat, a climbing domestique, a tactical card before the decisive mountains, and a rider able to take pressure away from Vollering.
The 2026 Tour route makes that support especially important. After the Swiss opening weekend, the race heads into France, includes a time trial in Dijon, rolling stages through eastern France, and then builds towards Mont Ventoux and the final weekend around Nice. For a team aiming to win the overall, depth will matter as much as headline strength.
Chabbey’s recent record underlines why she will be missed. A former canoeist who competed at the London 2012 Olympic Games, she has become one of the leading figures in Swiss cycling. She won the Tour de Romandie, claimed the 2025 Tour de France Femmes mountains classification, and added Strade Bianche to her palmarès earlier this season on the gravel roads of Tuscany.
Her wider career and recent FDJ role are covered in our Elise Chabbey rider profile, while her last race before this absence came at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes 2026, where FDJ United-SUEZ again shaped the race around Vollering’s strength.
For FDJ-Suez, losing that rider so close to the Tour means revisiting the balance of the squad. Vollering remains the central leader, but the team must now assess replacement options and work out how to cover Chabbey’s range across a route that will demand control, climbing strength and tactical flexibility.
Photo Credit: GettyGery confirmed for Tour debut
The Chabbey news came as FDJ-Suez also confirmed that Célia Gery will make her Tour de France Femmes debut.
The 20-year-old French rider has been named in the team’s plans for the race, continuing a rapid rise that has already made her one of the most exciting young riders in the peloton. Gery turned professional in 2025 and has quickly moved from prospect to proven WorldTour-level winner.
Her selection comes only days after she won the French road race title in La Tour-du-Pin. That national championship victory added to an impressive 2026 season in which she has also won Brabantse Pijl, the Grand Prix de Chambéry and a stage of the Giro d’Italia Women.
That Giro success came on stage 7, when Célia Gery won in Salice Terme after a late break held off the chase. Her Giro also underlined why FDJ United-SUEZ have trusted her development so quickly, with Gery featuring prominently in the Giro d’Italia Women 2026 stage 7 GC and jerseys picture and later in the wider assessment of what the Giro d’Italia Women 2026 means for the season.
Gery’s Tour debut will also carry a local angle. Stage 6 runs from Montbrison in the Loire to Tournon-sur-Rhône in the Ardèche, giving her a chance to race on familiar regional roads during her first appearance in the biggest women’s stage race in the world.
For FDJ-Suez, her inclusion gives the team another attacking option, but it should not be seen as a simple like-for-like replacement for Chabbey. Gery is still at the start of her professional career, while Chabbey is an experienced, proven all-rounder who has already delivered at the highest level. The team will need to manage Gery’s Tour carefully, particularly if Vollering’s yellow jersey challenge remains the main objective.
Photo Credit: RCSFDJ-Suez face selection rethink
FDJ-Suez remain one of the strongest squads in the women’s peloton, but Chabbey’s absence changes the calculation. Vollering will still lead the French WorldTeam into the Tour, one year after finishing second behind Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, but the support structure around her now looks less certain.
Chabbey’s value was not only physical. She also offered tactical security. She could be used to mark moves, force rival teams to chase, protect Vollering on difficult terrain and go on the attack if the race situation required it. In a Tour route with three stages in Switzerland, a key individual time trial in Dijon, and the looming challenge of Mont Ventoux, those qualities are difficult to replace.
FDJ’s strength this season has often come from using depth before Vollering’s decisive move. That was clear in the spring, when FDJ United-SUEZ used Chabbey and Gery as part of their race-shaping structure, rather than relying only on Vollering’s final attack.
Gery’s confirmation gives FDJ-Suez a positive counterpoint to the Chabbey setback. She arrives as French champion, a Giro stage winner and a rider with momentum. But her role is likely to be different. She can animate stages, learn from the pressure of the Tour and offer another card on rolling terrain, but Vollering’s GC campaign will still require experienced climbing support around the key mountain days.
That makes the final squad balance important. FDJ-Suez must decide whether to replace Chabbey with another climbing domestique, an all-rounder, or a rider capable of protecting Vollering on transitional stages. The team’s strength this season gives them options, but few riders offer Chabbey’s exact blend of form, race craft and home-road motivation.
For Chabbey, the timing could hardly be worse. The Tour’s Swiss start had been one of the defining targets of her season. Instead, she will miss the race entirely, with recovery now taking priority over the chance to ride through Lausanne, Aigle and Geneva.
For Gery, the picture is different. Her first Tour de France Femmes now arrives with the French champion’s jersey, a growing list of wins and a team that suddenly has even more need for its young riders to step forward.
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