The Tour de France Femmes, the prestigious women’s counterpart to the legendary men’s race, carries a journey that underscores the progress and challenges of women’s cycling. The first iteration of a women’s Tour de France took place in 1955, a single event won by British rider Millie Robinson. However, it wasn’t until 1984, with the introduction of the “Tour de France Féminin,” that the event gained traction. Marianne Martin of the United States claimed victory in the inaugural race. From 1984 to 1989, the race ran concurrently with the men’s Tour, albeit on a reduced scale, with fewer stages and shorter distances. This period marked a significant milestone, offering a vital platform for female cyclists to shine on the world stage.
In 1990, the race rebranded as the Tour of the EEC and lost its direct association with the ASO’s Tour de France. This version of the race ran for four editions before its cessation. Subsequently, the Tour Cycliste Féminin, later known as the Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale, filled the gap from 1992 to 2009, peaking with 14 stages but gradually dwindling to just four by its final year.
The landscape of women’s cycling experienced a revival with the introduction of La Course by ASO in 2014. This race, championed by prominent cyclists like future yellow jersey wearer Marianne Vos under the Le Tour Entier initiative, initially took place on the Champs-Élysées before expanding to various one-day locations across France. La Course continued until 2021, leading up to a pivotal moment in 2020.
In 2020, the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), organisers of the men’s Tour de France, announced the return of a dedicated women’s race, rebranded as the “Tour de France Femmes.” The inaugural edition in 2022 was highly anticipated, promising extensive television coverage to elevate the profile of women’s cycling. The revival of the Tour de France Femmes was celebrated as a landmark event, offering a prominent stage for female cyclists. Annemiek van Vleuten claimed the first edition with a series of dominant climbs but was succeeded in 2023 by Demi Vollering, who outperformed Van Vleuten on the slopes of the Tourmalet and solidified her victory with a strong time trial performance. She is the odds-on favourite to retain that title this year too.
Previous Winners
2023
Demi Vollering
2022
Annemiek van Vleuten
2021
Not held
Tour de France Femmes 2024 Stage Profiles
Stage 1
Stage 2 (TT)
Stage 3
Stage 4
Stage 5
Stage 6
Stage 7
Stage 8
TV Coverage
Monday 12th July – Sunday 18th 2024
Live on Eurosport/Discovery across Europe
Stage 1: 11:00-15:00
Stage 2: 8:30-11:00
Stage 3: 14:40-17:15
Stage 4: 12:30-15:30
Stage 5: 12:30-15:30
Stage 6: 12:30-15:30
Stage 7: 12:00-15:15
Stage 8: 15:20-18:30
All times in BST
Twitter: #TDFF2024
Startlist: FirstCycling
Tour de France Femmes 2024 Contenders
Demi Vollering is the major pre-race favourite once more and there’s little to dispute that status. There were a couple of murmurs earlier in the season that she wasn’t winning races but she’s put that to bed with 12 wins in May and June, including the major goal of the Vuelta Femenina. The bookies can’t see an easy route for any other rival and it feels like it would take a crash or a mini-disaster for Demi Vollering to not reach the end of the race in the yellow jersey. She gets support from Niamh Fisher-Black who was propelled to a Giro d’Italia Women stage win not too long ago but has looked a little bit behind some of the other climbers in the peloton at times this year. She will probably ride her own race and see how she gets on. Lorena Wiebes should end the first stage in the yellow jersey and repeat what she did in the first stage of the rebooted race in 2022. In fine form, she’s miles ahead of her sprint rivals this season and can put a disappointing Olympics behind her with a maillot jeune. Especially as she could actually win the TT as well. Mischa Bredewold will keep things together in the Marlen Reusser role and can potentially pick up an attacking breakaway stage win if she plays her cards at the right time. She has 3 wins already this season. Blanka Vas might also do well after getting 4th in the Olympics but with Wiebes here it’s almost hard to see where that might be…potentially into Liège.
Lidl-Trek will certainly be strong here. Elisa Longo Borghini will have confidence from her Giro d’Italia Women GC win but said at the Olympics that she just didn’t have the legs that day. She may have the best chance of toppling Vollering but may have to settle for a podium spot. Gaia Realini is a great pure climber but may struggle with the short TT and the really flat stages in the wind early on in the race. If she can minimise the time losses to zero, there’s a chance. Elisa Balsamo has a shout in the sprints but feels like she won’t beat Wiebes in her current form. Still on the comeback from breaking her arm in Burgos, she took a 3rd in the Giro before leaving the race. Lucinda Brand is racing at home in the first few stages and will want to impress, maybe a breakaway move is in the works. Ellen van Dijk will try her best in the TT but the Olympics one didn’t go well in the rain and this one is a bit short at 6km. In theory though, she will be a favourite for it. The 2022 white jersey winner Shirin van Anrooij will be a Swiss army knife throughout the race. She was 5th in GC at Burgos without seriously challenging and hasn’t been seen racing since 12th at the Thüringen Ladies Tour in late June.
Kasia Niewiadoma feels like a good shout to finish 3rd for the 3rd year in a row at the Tour de France Femmes. She also won the Queen of the Mountains competition last year and has a large number of top-10 results without getting a stage victory. The Pole finally got the no-win streak off her back this year and looked super strong at the Tour de Suisse after a disappointing Vuelta where she didn’t look on it because of illness. She will challenge but ultimately fall short of Demi. Neve Bradbury also looked strong at the Tour de Suisse and the Giro d’Italia Women. Finishing 3rd in the later race with a stage win and the youth jersey was a great return for the former Zwift Academy winner. She can support Kasia whilst wearing white this year. In theory, Chloe Dygert will do well in the time trial and could be a fun option in the sprints if she recreates 2023 now the American has a gold medal. Soraya Paladin might also get to sprint but it will be later on in the harder lumpy stages. She took a 2nd in the Giro d’Italia Women as she continues her impressive streak of WWT podiums without a WWT win. Elise Chabbey looked good in the Olympic Games road race despite a coming together with her trade team teammate Dygert. She looks ok after the broken bone in her foot sustained at the Giro.
Juliette Labous has just announced a homecoming move to the French FDJ-Suez team next year and will be looking for a podium finish in her last big tour for dsm-firmenich PostNL. She was 5th in the Giro which was a solid return and 4th in the Olympics time trial was a great ride with a home crowd behind her. Maybe she will contest the short TT here but will begin to come into her own later on as the road starts to go uphill. Charlotte Kool will be the sprinter for the team and will relish racing on her home country roads early on here. She’s been unable to beat Lorena Wiebes in a straight head-to-head this season despite looking promising in that pursuit last year. It’s taken until a few weeks ago for Kool to even take her first win of 2024, where she did technically beat Wiebes who was unable to read a chaotic finish as well as DSM and Kool did. Pfeiffer Georgi might fancy the Liège stage after finishing 4th at the Amstel Gold Race this year. She gets opportunities on rolling terrain and will be a strong road captain elsewhere in the race.
AG Insurance-Soudal would’ve liked to come into this year’s race with an in-form Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio but the South African has had a tough season but has managed to recover from an injury in a crash at the Volta Catalunya to make it back for the Olympics and Tour de France Femmes. That may see the GC torch passed to Sarah Gigante. The Aussie started the year with a popular domination of Willunga Hill and has bided her time since. We’ve seen flashes at races like the Vuelta Espana and at the Thüringen Ladies Tour which doesn’t fully suit her skillset. She will be looking for a solid result in her first participation. Kim Le Court should get opportunities as well. The Mauritian won the final stage of the Giro d’Italia Women, becoming the first rider from her country to take a Women’s WorldTour win. She’s been progressing in each race this year and will have a chance from breaks or small groups coming to a finish.
FDJ-Suez is centred on Evita Muzic in this year’s race. She’s one of the very few riders to have beaten Demi Vollering on a climb this season, which she did at the Vuelta on her way to finishing 5th in GC. She has this potential to have the one-off epic results and has done well in many races this year but hooking it up across a week when there are flat stages and a TT is what will see her drop out of podium contention and potentially only be a top-5 shout. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig was close to her best again at the Giro d’Italia Women, finishing 8th in GC and 3rd in the 4th stage. She’s a co-leader here with Muzic and if anything happens will take the reins. She won a stage here in 2022 and Stage 5 might be a similar-ish finish. The new Olympic time trial champion, Grace Brown, will want to do well in the TT. Unfortunately for her, it’s only 6km but she will get another chance on the Liège stage after winning on the same finish already this year.
Marianne Vos is another rider who took a stage win in 2022 with a victory that also saw her take the yellow jersey. She’s had a great 2024 season with a good collection of major one-day race victories, 2 wins at the Vuelta a couple more for good measure. She will struggle against Lorena Wiebes but can put herself in the hunt during the middle section of the race as the race makes its way into France. Anna Henderson has a really strong chance in the TT, not only the Olympic silver medallist and British national champion, she has previous for winning prologue length events too. Beating Wiebes will be tough but she’s one of the few who might be able to. It’s similar for Riejanne Markus, but she might’ve wanted the TT to be a longer effort as well. She won the Dutch champs this year and has picked up a few more wins too on her way to a trio of 2nd place GC finishes since the start of May. She’s potentially underrated after securing the 2nd place at the Vuelta, with bookies making her the 12th favourite here when she can finish much higher. I also want to be hyped about Fem van Empel but she’s not really had that many results this season. 7th in GC at the Volta Catalunya and 8th at Flèche Wallonne are the only strong results.
For Liv AlUla Jayco, Spanish rider Mavi Garcia will look to put in a strong GC stint. The flat stages and time trial won’t help with that but provided she doesn’t lose much time early on can try and challenge for the top-5. She often does more work than she needs to in the front group of races and if she can sit in the wheels a bit more she might be able to reach the higher-end of the top 10. She will get support from the likes of Silke Smulders who had a strong Giro to finish 13th overall and Caroline Andersson who was almost a part of the winning move at the Olympics and has been a consistent just outside the top-10 kind of finisher all season. Ruby Roseman-Gannon might get the nod in sprints but the Aussie ideally needs a tougher race than the opening stages and so might be looking a few days further down the line.
Movistar’s hopes are on Liane Lippert who might not be able to have a solid GC after coming back from her early season injury but can repeat her stage win from the Giro d’Italia Women this year. Maybe Stage 5 is the one she tackles, with GC riders looking at the tougher late options. The German looked decent at the Vuelta a Burgos by finishing 8th in GC there and may yet sneak into the top 10 in this year’s Tour de France Femmes. Emma Norsgaard will be looking to repeat her win from last year’s race but may find it tough. She’s got less interest in the big sprints but any tough stages that come down to a smaller bunch may see the Dane interested again. There are attacking options in the form of Floortje Mackaij, Olivia Baril and Mareille Meijering too.
It feels like Karlijn Swinkels will lead the UAE Team ADQ efforts as the rider with the best set of results recently. She’s not going to be challenging for GC but early on she might have a bit of a sprint and a bit of a time trial and be an outsider chance to nick the yellow jersey if the cards fall the right way. She’s recently been 4th at the Kreiz Breizh Elites and almost won a Thüringen Ladies Tour stage. Silvia Persico has had a very quiet season since the classics, with only a win at GP de Plumelec-Morbihan to show really. We know at her best she’s a good climber and a fast finisher but hasn’t really delivered since the spring. Erica Magnaldi might get the GC nod after finishing 14th at the Giro with 3rd place in the 3-up sprint to the line on Stage 6. She may sneak into the top-10 but I would be surprised if she finished much higher than that.
Kristen Faulkner will be on a high after winning the Olympics gold medal, her well-timed attack stumped the big names in the lead group and saw the American win solo. It’s not the first time she’s done that this season with a Vuelta stage win and a long-range move at the Omloop van het Hageland too. She also has a chance in the short time trial. Kim Cadzow will get plenty of hype with the Kiwi finishing 10th in the Vuelta (which should’ve been higher without a late crash) and a strong Tour de Suisse too. The heat got to her at the Giro making her really struggle and effectively get no result of note there. She will have a chance at the serious climbing like the Alpe d’Huez. Lotta Henttala will have a go in the sprints and whilst not on the same tier as Wiebes and Kool, still managed to take a WWT win at the Vuelta a Burgos this year amongst the crash-filled final. The Finn got a DSQ in last year’s Tour de France Femmes for hanging onto a team car for too long. Noemi Rüegg has the potential to turn up with a strong result during the week too. The Swiss rider was 7th in the Olympics and does well with a fast kick at the end of a tough stage.
Another team with a few bits and pieces options is Fenix-Deceuninck. Yara Kastelijn should be going for GC with climbing support from Pauliena Rooijakkers. Yara was 8th in the Vuelta and has by and large spent the time since prepared for a charge here. She took a famous win on Stage 4 in last year’s Tour de France Femmes as the only remaining member of the day’s break to stay clear ahead of the rest of the peloton. There will be a lot of hype behind Puck Pieterse and the Dutch rider will want to put her unlucky Olympics MTB rider behind her, a puncture scuppered her chances of a near-certain medal in that race. Going back to her last road races in the spring, she finished 7 of the 8 in the top-10 and the only exception saw her finish 13th. There are also the likes of Cristina Schweinberger, Marthe Truyen and Julie de Wilde to call upon. All 3 will fancy their chances in a small group and will be in the hunt for a win from the break again this year.
Thalita de Jong has certainly had a season. She’s racked up top-10s all over the place this year and done everything except take an actual win. In fact, the only top-10 positions she hasn’t finished in this year are 1st and 4th. In this form, a whole host of stages are available for her to take more top-10 finishes but that win may still elude her for a bit more. She was 3rd in GC behind Lorena Wiebes and Pfeiffer Georgi at the recent Baloise Ladies Tour.
Uno-X Mobility has a few good options across all of the stages without one, single stand-out leader to get behind. Anouska Koster just took a popular win to break her winless duck at the Kreiz Breizh Elites and is always game to go on the attack for the team. Anniina Ahtosalo has been having a strong year with a win at Trofee Maarten Wynants and runner-up spots at not less than 4 Belgian one-day races this year. There are opportunities for her in the sprints here to try and make the day’s podium. Maria Giulia Confalonieri might also get the nod to sprint but suits a hillier stage a bit more than Ahtosalo. She was 3rd on the 2nd day of the Thüringen Ladies Tour and had a pair of top-10s at RideLondon too. Simone Boilard is a nice attacking option to have and whilst she doesn’t have a win this year she can take the pressure off others if nothing else. Katrine Aalerud is probably the team’s GC option and whilst the Giro didn’t work out she was good with 3rd at the Volta Catalunya and 9th at the Ruta del Sol this year.
Cédrine Kerbaol has a good chance of being the first French rider to actually win a stage of the rebooted Tour de France Femmes. She took the win at Durango-Durango earlier this year with a well-timed attack in the rain on a tough descent. She was 10th at Kreiz Breizh Elites recently and is a favourite to get into a break at some point. Marta Lach is always a strong finisher on a tough stage and did well at the Thüringen Ladies Tour with a series of top-10 finishes which saw the Pole take 5th in GC there. Kathrin Schweinberger can get top-10s in smaller one-day races and is another candidate to go on the attack for Ceratizit WNT. Mylene de Zoete might get the nod in sprints with the Dutch rider finishing 4th recently at La Picto-Charentaise and 5th on the opening road stage of the Giro d’Italia Women. And there’s also Sandra Alonso who took a stage win with a late move at the Thüringen Ladies Tour, reminiscent of her win at the Tour de Normandie earlier in the season too.
Ane Santesteban has had an up-and-down year but at her best she’s the strongest shout for Laboral Kutxa at this year’s Tour de France Femmes. She grinded her way to 21st in the Giro but a month or two before that she was going well in Spain with top-10s in Itzulia, Durango-Durango and GP Ciudad de Eibar. If she can get back to that form she might be able to reach the top-10 provided everything goes well. Usoa Ostolaza was looking really strong heading into the Giro but suffered in the heat a bit and finished 16th in GC there. Before then she was on a winning run that included becoming Spanish national champion and winning the Tour Féminin des Pyrénées. They will both get support from the GP Ciudad de Eibar winner Yurani Blanco Calbet who has the potential to pick up a break win on the right day.
Human Powered Health will be calling on Daria Pikulik to get them good results in the sprints early on. She was consistently just behind Wiebes at the Baloise Ladies Tour (and ahead on the chaotic finish stage) and takes wins when the top tier isn’t racing like at the Argenta Classic and Ronde de Mouscron. Audrey Cordon-Ragot will be doing a farewell lap around France during this race. She will be up for the time trial stage as the French national champion in one of the few remaining times she will race in the French colours. Ruth Edwards will be in the mix no doubt too on a stage with a breakaway. She won the Thüringen Ladies Tour thanks to a break that was cut loose on the opening day and helped by a train crossing. She was then 2nd on a pair of stages at the Giro as well and could win similar to the Kastelijn victory in last year’s race.
Victoire Berteau won’t be in French colours but no doubt we’ll be able to see her clearly enough off the front of the bunch attacking. She made moves in the Olympics road race that unfortunately didn’t stick but had a strong run of form back in May with 10th at the Bretagne Ladies Tour, GP de Plumelec-Morbihan, La Classique Morbihan and Paris Roubaix before that, before focusing on the track for the Olympics. Sarah Roy had a win at the Bretagne Ladies Tour on her way to 7th in GC there. The Giro was a bit quieter but the Aussie can still pull out some good results, particularly from a small front group. Josie Talbot is sprinting well enough to earn a WWT contract with Liv AlUla Jayco for 2025, which came after wins at the Tour Féminin des Pyrénées and La Périgord Ladies recently. It’s also worth keeping an eye on Martina Alzini for the odd sprint too.
Tour de France Femmes 2024 Outsiders
Marion Bunel hasn’t had the best preparation for this year’s Tour de France Femmes with a trio of DNFs in the Coupe de France races at the end of July. She won the Alpes Gresivaudan Classic earlier in the year and should be a contender on the pure climbs later on and maybe an outsider for the white jersey too. She will get support from Victorie Guilman who has had a consistent and strong season since moving to St Michel-Mavic-Auber93 this year.
Tamara Dronova and Maggies Coles-Lyster will be solid options for Roland in various types of sprint finishes. Canadian rider Maggie Coles-Lyster will be better on the flat sprints in the Dutch part of the race and then as the road starts to head uphill a bit more Dronova will become the better option.
Arkea-B&B Hotels’ Valentina Cavallar has had such a strong start to her debut season that the team signed her up for 3 more years. She was 2nd in GC at the Tour Féminin des Pyrénées and 4th at the Alpes Gresivaudan Classic too. She could be an outsider for the pure climbing later in the race too. Teammate Michaela Drummond might get into the mix in some sprints after 2 stage wins in Portugal and a 7th at Kreiz Breizh Elites recently. You also can’t rule out Maeva Squiban doing something in the time trial as well.
Yanina Kuskova is the best option for the infamous Tashkent team to be racing here. There’s a chance that no one from the team finishes this year’s Tour de France Femmes but Kuskova represents a chance after getting through the heat in the Giro and was 6th in GC at the Tour of the Gila earlier in the year.
Top 3 Prediction
- Demi Vollering
- Kasia Niewiadoma
- Evita Muzic
