Tour de l’Ardeche 2024 Race Preview

Mathew Mitchell

Published on August 31, 2024
in Women's Cycling

Tour de l’Ardeche 2024 History

The Tour de l’Ardeche, first established in 2003, has grown to become one of the longest-running non-Women’s WorldTour stage races in women’s cycling. Nestled in the stunning French region of Ardèche, this race has carved out a solid place in the late-season cycling calendar, offering a challenging and diverse terrain that tests the endurance and versatility of the riders. The Tour de l’Ardeche frequently attracts a mix of non-WorldTour teams with a few from the highest level, providing an invaluable platform for emerging talent to showcase their abilities against some of the best riders in the sport.

Table of Contents

Over the years, the race has seen a number of notable winners who have also achieved significant success in their careers. Among these are cycling legends like Marianne Vos (2019) and Kasia Niewiadoma (2018), the winner of the recent Tour de France Femmes. The race’s demanding courses, which include everything from gruelling mountain ascents to technical descents, have also been conquered by the likes of Emma Pooley (2011 & 2012) and Kristen Armstrong (2009), both renowned for their climbing and time trial abilities.

More recently, Antonia Niedermaier’s victory in 2022 marked a significant moment in her rising career, underlining the race’s role in shaping future champions. The Tour de l’Ardeche, with its blend of historical significance and challenging routes, continues to be a key event for those looking to make their mark in the world of women’s cycling.

Previous Winners

2023
Marta Cavalli
2022
Antonia Niedermaier
2021
Leah Thomas

Tour de l’Ardeche 2024 Stage Profiles

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4 (TT)

Stage 5

Stage 6

TV Coverage

Tuesday 3rd September – Sunday 8th September 2024

Unfortunately, no live coverage of this race – should be post-stage highlights here

Twitter: #TCFIA

Startlist: FirstCycling

Tour de l’Ardeche 2024 Contenders

I’m quite high on the chances of Léa Curinier at this year’s Tour de l’Ardeche. The French rider gets a rare chance to lead the team’s GC efforts whilst being supported by a strong cast around her too. She was 19th in the Tour de France Femmes whilst supporting Evita Muzic and should be one of the stronger climbers and all-rounders in this race. FDJ-Suez will also be in the hunt for stage wins with the sprint of Gladys Verhulst-Wild (2nd in the French nationals again this year), the ‘tweener’ Jade Wiel (3rd at nationals and La Classique Morbihan, and 4th at GO de Plumelec-Morbihan this year) and also Nina Buijsman, who is more than capable of going on the attack and getting a result like her 3rd place at La Périgord Ladies. It’s also a race that Coralie Demay traditionally does well in GC. She’s been 7th and 8th in the last 2 seasons at the Tour de l’Ardeche, including a stage win in 2022 on the final day. Her best results this year have come in time trials, so maybe Stage 4 will suit her.

UAE Team ADQ will pin their hopes on Dominika Wlodarczyk to pick up a stage win and maybe more here. She was 13th in the WWT level race at Classic Lorient Agglomération, a race which finishes in a sprint after plenty of climbing. On home roads, she was 4th in GC at the Princess Anna Vasa Tour and became Polish champion too. Teammate Alena Ivanchenko would be a good shout for the time trial but the Russian has had a mediocre season results-wise. She’s still young and there will be other chances but she hasn’t built on her 2023 season. Usually strong against the clock, there’s a chance. It’s also worth keeping an eye on the pair of Francesca Pellegrini and Carlotta Cipressi. Pellegrini was 4th in GC at the Tour de Pologne at the end of June and Cipressi has had a number of consistent finishes in the teens at the Tour de l’Avenir and Vuelta a Andalucia.

Kristen Faulkner has a strong shout for GC here if she can connect it all across the stages and not flash in small doses. The TT should suit, even if it is uphill and we’ve seen at the Tour de France Femmes and the Olympics that Faulkner is a threat on almost all terrain. If she can hang on Mont Lozére then the rest should fall into place. EF-Oatly-Cannondale also has other stage-based options in Letizia Borghesi who will have a go in the sprints, especially on the tougher stages. She took 8th at the Classic Lorient Agglomération and a couple of top-10 results seem likely. If the team wants to go on the attack, then they can call on the services of Magdeleine Vallieres Mill and Giro d’Italia Women stage winner Clara Emond. Both are more than handy if they can get themselves into a break and with a bit of luck could take a stage in their own right.

The form peak Usoa Ostolaza had in June where she became Spanish champion and won the Tour des Pyrénées seems to be over but she has been solid across the Giro and Tour this season and there is certainly a chance for more development next year. An uphill TT will see her lose less time than normal but the ascent of Mont Lozère will give her an opportunity for a high GC place. Ane Santesteban hasn’t had the season she planned due to various injuries and illnesses but there’s always a chance she can rediscover the results she was getting in May and June when she was 100%. She may come good here or ride in support again. Nadia Quagliotto made the top-10 at Classic Lorient Agglomération and could be a threat on similar hilly terrain with a sprint finish again here. Debora Silvestri and Jessenia Meneses can climb well and can go on stage hunting duty. Meneses, in particular, may target the Queen of the Mountains jersey.

Marion Bunel was the major favourite for this year’s Tour de l’Avenir, the only U23 race in the women’s calendar now, and she duly delivered. She’s been doing race after race since the end of July with Coupe de France one-dayers running into the Tour de France Femmes (where Bunel finished 17th in GC and 11th on Alpe d’Huez) and then the Tour de l’Avenir. With the prologue there effectively being a hill climb, Bunel didn’t lose much time and then when the chance was there to win the summit finishes, she took it for 2 stage wins and the GC. She should be a serious challenger here.

This has been a big season for Thalita de Jong. She took 10th in GC at the Tour de France Femmes, which probably wasn’t on most people’s cards, but it’s been a steady stream of results all season. It’s a year where the Dutch rider has finished in every spot in the top 10 except for the top step and 4th place. Not only that but there are numerous close calls. 5 2nd places show that it’s not for want of trying for a victory. GC is possible here but hopefully that first win of the 2024 season.

Anastasiya Kolesava was 3rd in GC here last season. That was helped by getting into a break on Stage 4 and never really giving up the time she earned that day. She was a consistent finisher in the low teens throughout the race and took her career-best GC finish. Returning this year, Kolesava has been solid without coming to too much prominence. There is the odd top-10 like at Trofeo Ponente in Rosa, low-teens in one-day races like La Classique Morbihan and an impressive 2nd behind Evy Kuijpers at GP Lucien van Impe only a few days ago.

It’s been a good year for Lauren Stephens, the American focuses on gravel quite a bit now but has still been able to take victories on the road at Clasica de Almeria, Tour de Normandie, the Tour of the Gila (2 stages and a GC win there), plus becoming the PanAmerican champion too. Those results all came in the earlier half of the season and the Tour de l’Ardeche will be her first road race for almost 3 months. If she still has the form she can get results here too. Teammate Mara Roldan will also be in the mix after finishing 18th in GC at the Tour de l’Avenir in support of Isabella Holmgren. She can time trial, climb and be a good threat on the flatter stages. One to watch with a view to future years.

Valentina Cavallar has been one of the revelations of the 2024 season. She’s still very much a pure climber and that was shown at the Tour de France Femmes where some mixed tough results on the flat in the Netherlands were offset by finishing 7th on Alpe d’Huez with the best climbers in the peloton. If she can start to deliver on the small climbs as well here then there will be a good GC place for her after going well on Mont Lozère. Lotte Claes was climbing well in her own right at the Tour de France Femmes too, finishing 16th in GC there. She’s been a threat in the Coupe de France races all year with 6th in GC at the Tour des Pyrénées and 9th at the Alpes Gresivaudan Classic too. Titia Ryo will also be one to watch, she finished 2nd in GC at the Volta a Portugal and had a solid Tour de l’Avenir supporting Bunel too.

Winspace’s Karolina Perekitko has had a career year in 2024. The Pole is starting to deliver on the promise shown way back in 2016 when she was 4th in the Junior Worlds amongst the likes of Elisa Balsamo, Skyler Schneider, Susanne Andersen, Letizia Paternoster and Emma Norsgaard. Her 4th in GC at the Tour des Pyrénées bodes well for this race, and she showed with 5th at the Alpes Gresivaudan Classic that her climbing will be good enough. The uphill TT should help expose that weakness a bit less but that’s where she will lose time.

Eline Jansen is a rider I can see potentially making the GC podium here with a bit of luck. She’s been in some good form recently, taking 10th at the Tour de l’Avenir as she struggled slightly on the pure climb of the Colle delle Finestre to the likes of Bunel (although she still finished 9th in fairness). The hilly terrain stages here will absolutely suit her though as we’ve seen at the the likes of the Tour of Britain this season. Anneke Dijkstra has been strong against the clock this year, although the elevation may work against her here. If she can get a good time in the TT she could pivot that into a top 10 GC position with some luck and a good climb.

Another rider with a strong Coupe de France campaign this year is Team Komugi-Grand Est’s Ségoléne Thomas. She was 5th in GC at the Tour des Pyrénées after a strong climb on the Col d’Aubisque. She’s another for whom the climb offers up the chance to offset some lost time earlier in the race, with the TT an area where she will probably expect to lose some time on GC against this field.

Helena Bieber is in some form at the moment after finishing 5th in GC at the Baloise Ladies Tour. That was helped by a good time trial performance but her consistency across all of the stages meant that she hadn’t lost any time before getting to that point. She’s followed that up with a trio of solid results in Belgian one-day races with 9th at the Egmont Cycling Race the best result. I’m expecting her to go alright on most of the stages but maybe be undone by the major climb with plenty of purer options racing.

Tour de l’Ardeche 2024 Outsiders

Tota Magalhaes picked up a wealth of new fans with her attacks at the Vuelta a Burgos and Giro d’Italia this year. The Brazilian has always been known to animate a break, in more ways than one, and is now coming to wider attention. Riding for BePink-Bongioanni, her best bet is a stage hunting rider on one of the hilly stages.

It’s always tough to parse results in the Americas with how well a rider is likely to do in the European peloton but Diana Penuela has been a Transatlantic rider of note for some time. She was 6th at the Vuelta a Colombia and 4th in both PanAmerican races this year. She’s very experienced and previously raced in Europe for the likes of TIBCO, Alé Cipollini and UnitedHealthcare. She may end up supporting teammate Nadia Gontova here again,. The Canadian was 2nd in the Vuelta a Colombia, with a couple of 2nd places without reaching the top step. She was 2nd again in GC at the Tour de Gila but won the Redlands Classic with a stage to her name too. There is always a chance that these American results turn into a good one over in France.

Eilidh Shaw has been showing this year that she’s probably ready to step up a level. The 19-year-old Scot on the Alba Development Team has notched up wins and high top-10s across the UK scene all year but has also backed that up with some UCI results of note. The Tour de Feminin in Czechia was a great example of that with a pair of 3rd places on stages and 5th place too. She’s just starting to come through in the Belgian one-dayers too with high-teen finishes there. She sprints well and is looking good to develop further.

Liv AlUla Jayco Continental rider Emma Jeffers pipped Shaw to the GB Criterium title back in June but made her breakthrough at UCI level a month or two before at Gracia Orlová. The Brit was able to win 2 days in a row in Czechia for her first pair of UCI victories. What was doubly impressive was how she won them – a sprint on one day and a late attack on the other. It’s been quieter since but there are results in the teens at Grote Prijs Yvonne Reynders, Argenta Classic and Antwerp Port Epic Ladies to add encouragement that a big result is only around the corner.