The organisers of the Tour de France Femmes announced on Monday that the 2025 edition will start in Vannes, in the Brittany region. The French stage race is also set to expand from eight to nine stages next year. “It is a powerful message we are sending,” said race director Marion Rousse in an interview with several media outlets. “It shows that the race is growing at the same pace as the evolution of women’s cycling, that it works, and we are definitely on the right path.”
However, Rousse calls for patience with the expansion. “We must not move faster than the evolution of women’s cycling, that would be unwise. We are already going from eight to nine days, and we will see about further changes in a few years.”
Next year’s Tour de France Femmes will begin again on home soil. The Grand Départ will take place in Vannes, Brittany. It has been four years since the region last hosted a Tour start. Back then, it was Brest that welcomed the start of the men’s Tour de France. The women’s edition will return to the region in 2025 after starting in Paris (2022), Clermont-Ferrand (2023), and Rotterdam (2024).
In Brittany, the riders will complete two full stages, with the third stage also starting in the region. This makes the Tour de France Femmes the longest grand tour on the women’s calendar, although the Giro has previously featured ten stages and others have been longer in the pre-modern age.
Rousse highlighted that adding just one stage for now makes sense. “Going from eight to nine days is a significant step, and we’ll consider further increases in the future.”
