When the 2025 Tour de France Femmes rolls out from Vannes this Saturday, few riders will feel the significance of the moment quite like Aude Biannic. The 34-year-old Breton returns to the race less than nine months after giving birth to her son Noah, becoming the first French mother to ride the modern edition of the Tour since its revival in 2022.
For Biannic, from Ergué-Gabéric near Quimper, the start in Brittany is far more than symbolic – it’s personal. Stage 2 will pass through both the region of her childhood and the area where she lives today, offering her the rare opportunity to race at the top level with family and familiar roads around her. Noah will be watching from the roadside, and for Biannic, that changes everything. She says that when she sees him, she won’t be thinking about the pain in her legs – she’ll be riding for him.
The Movistar rider missed the 2024 edition of the Tour while pregnant but has made a remarkably quick return. She resumed racing just two and a half months ago and was selected for the Tour off the back of strong early-season form. Her training has adapted to the new reality of motherhood – shorter, more focused sessions that she believes have helped her thrive.
It’s a contrast to her earlier Tour appearances. In 2022, she finished 94th while helping Annemiek van Vleuten to overall victory, and in 2023 she was 84th, again riding in support. This year, the dynamic shifts slightly as she lines up behind Marlen Reusser, Movistar’s GC leader, with renewed confidence and perspective.
The transition to balancing motherhood with elite-level racing hasn’t always been smooth. In February and March, Noah was unwell and the demands of sleepless nights made training difficult. Biannic admits there were moments when she doubted if she’d get back to her previous level. But by listening to her body, trusting her instincts and leaning on her support network, she gradually found her rhythm again.
That support structure has been key. Her partner, a mechanic for FDJ-Suez, alternates race travel so that one of them is always at home with Noah. Grandparents and nursery also help cover the gaps. It’s a finely tuned system that has allowed Biannic to stay in the sport on her own terms.
While other riders in the women’s peloton – including Lizzie Deignan and Elinor Barker – have returned to racing after childbirth, Biannic is the first French woman to do so in the modern era of the Tour de France Femmes. She says she hopes it encourages more French riders to see it as a possibility. The sense of perspective it offers, she explains, means that on bad race days or when training doesn’t go to plan, coming home to a smile from Noah puts it all in context.
Her place at the Tour this year is about more than form – it’s about visibility, belonging and showing that it’s possible. Biannic is expected to sign a two-year contract extension with Movistar, continuing a career that she’s reshaped on her own terms. This week, though, it all begins back home, in Brittany. And for Aude Biannic, that’s exactly where it should.
