Photos: ASO/Charly Lopez & Thomas Maheux
The come down after three weeks of Tour de France action (plus the Olympics this year!) has always been tough. Now I have no excuse for my lack of productivity in the mornings! Fortunately, the Tour organizers created the perfect solution to both the post-Tour withdrawals and the egregious lack of a true pro women’s stage race to match the Tour: Tour de France Femmes.
This is the 3rd edition of the Tour de France Femmes, which has already become the biggest women’s stage race on the calendar. It’s also one of the most exciting! It has brought women’s cycling to a broader audience and is a sign of the strides women’s professional cycling has made in recent years. Here’s a quick and easy guide to help you follow along.
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Tour de France Femmes Explained: Infographic
What Is the Tour de France Femmes?
- The Tour de France Femmes is the current women’s version of the legendary Tour de France.
- TdFF began in 2022 and is organized by the same people behind the Tour de France.
- The Race Director is former French pro, Marion Rousse
- The race consists of 8 stages.
- The race begins the day after the 2024 Paris Olympics
- The Grand Départ will be in the Netherlands, starting in Rotterdam.
- The final stage will conclude with the iconic Alpe d’Huez climb.
The 2024 Tour de France Femmes Route
Photo: ASO
The start of the third edition of Tour de France Femmes has been altered to accommodate the 2024 Paris Olympics. Instead of starting on the final day of the men’s Tour de France, it will start on August 12th, after the Olympics conclude.
There will be eight stages contested over seven days. riders will cover a total of 949.7 kilometers (just over 590 miles). The second day (August 13) will feature two stages, a shorter road stage followed by an individual time trial.
For the first time, the Grand Départ will be outside of France, starting in Rotterdam. The first three stages will take place in the Netherlands and then the race will head south towards Belgium, using many of the same roads used in legendary Classics races like Amstel Gold and Liège–Bastogne–Liège.
Alpe d'Huez
The race will enter France on stage 5 and head south towards the two final stages in the Alps. The queen stage will be the finale, stage 8, which finishes with a climb to the summit of the iconic Alpe d'Huez.
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How Do Riders Win at the Tour de France Femmes?
The Tour de France Femmes essentially works the same way as the men’s Tour de France. The race is split into 8 stages and each stage will have an individual winner, the rider who crosses the finish line first. Winning a stage is a big deal, but for the top riders, the biggest goal is winning the overall — a.k.a. the General Classification. The General Classification winner is the rider with the fastest combined time from all 8 stages.
There are also ways for riders who are not contending for the overall win to still “win.” They can compete for the points classification, mountains classification, and more.
Who Are the Favorites for the 2024 Tour de France Femmes?
General Classification - Yellow Jersey
Last year’s winner: Demi Vollering
The overall winner of the Tour de France Femmes is the rider who has the fastest time after all 8 stages. Every stage is timed from start to finish, and every second counts toward the race's General Classification (GC). Every day, the current leader of the race will wear the Yellow Jersey so they are easy to spot. The rider with the lowest overall time after the last stage finishes is the winner.
2024 General Classification Favorites
- Demi Vollering
Elisa Longo Borghini- Katarzyna “Kasia” Niewiadoma
Looking at the route this year, it seems like it was tailor-made for the defending champ, Demi Vollering. It starts in her home country of The Netherlands and the final two mountain stages should give her the opportunity to stamp her authority on the race. She's also said before that she's always wanted to race (and win) on the legendary Alpe d'Huez. Her form looks good, she's won multiple stage races this year, and her motivation will be very high to defend her title. She's the clear favorite.
Vollering (center) held off Niewiadoma (left) and 2022 TdFF winner Annemiek van Vleuten in 2023. I think she can do it again.
Vollering’s two biggest challengers will be Elisa Longo Borghini and Kasia Niewiadoma. Elisa Longo Borghini is having a great year, having won the 2024 Giro d'Italia Women's race in July. She has tons of experience and is a threat in every race she enters. Update 8/10/24: Longo Borghini has been forced to withdraw after a crash. I'm bummed because I was really hoping for a Demi vs. Elisa duel this year. I'd say it's all up to Kasia to dethrone the champ now! Or maybe another surprise contender?
Kasia Niewiadoma has finished 3rd in the last two editions of the Tour de France Femmes and is very capable of beating Vollering in the mountains. She's definitely hungry and chasing after the top spot.
Points Classification - Green Jersey
Last year’s winner: Lotte Kopecky
Also known as the sprinter’s jersey, this award goes to the rider who scores the most points throughout the race. Winning a stage earns the most points, but riders can earn points by finishing in the top 15 in a stage. This favors “pure” sprinters (riders who don't compete on mountain stages). Riders can also earn points in mid-stage sprints that are usually stationed in towns to please the fans.
2024 Points Classification Favorites
- Lorena Wiebes
- Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio
- Marianne Vos
Lotte Kopecky is skipping the TdFF this year, so the competition is wide open. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio was the only other rider who came close to her last year, but she’s likely focusing more on the General Classification.
Lorena Wiebes won stage 1 and stage 5 (pictured) in 2022 and stage 3 in 2023 (plus a 2nd place on stage 1). She might be the fastest finisher in the peloton.
I'd put money on Kopecky’s teammate, Lorena Wiebes, a very fast sprinter who has won multiple stages. After falling short of expectations at the Olympic Road Race this year, she could be targeting the points competition for redemption. There's also Marianne Vos, who won Green in 2022 and is the greatest female road cyclist of all time, so don't count her out either.
Mountains Classification - Polka-Dot Jersey
Last year’s winner: Kasia Niewiadoma
The polka-dot “Queen of the Mountains” jersey goes to the rider who collects the most points over the course of the race by reaching the summit of categorized climbs first. Riders get more points on harder climbs. Riders also get more points by winning stages with mountain top finishes.
2024 Mountains Classification Favorites
- Katarzyna “Kasia” Niewiadoma
- Demi Vollering
Elisa Longo Borghini
Kasia Niewiadoma dropping a group of GC favorites on stage 7 last year.
Since the overall is going to come down to the final two mountain stages, it’s very likely that the Mountains Classification winner will be one of the three favorites for the overall win. Last year, Kasia Niewiadoma won it, so I’ll just bet on her doing it again. She’ll probably attack Vollering and reach some mid-stage summits first in her bid to win the overall.
Young Rider Classification - White Jersey
Last year’s winner: Cédrine Kerbaol
This classification works the same way as the yellow jersey but is awarded to the highest-placed rider under 23 years of age. This is slightly different from the men’s version, which is awarded to the highest-placed rider under 26 years of age.
2024 Young Rider Classification Favorites
- Shirin van Anrooij
- Gaia Realini
- Blanka Vas
- Puck Pieterse
This one is really hard to pick. Last year's winner, Cédrine Kerbaol, has aged out of contention, so I’d say Shirin van Anrooij and Gaia Realini are the favorites since they're probably the best GC riders still under the age of 23. They're also teammates, so there's a chance one will work for the other after things shake out over the first few stages.
Shirin van Anrooij in white on the final stage in 2022.
Shirin van Anrooij won the White Jersey in 2022 when she was only 20 so she has experience on her side. This is going to be Gaia Realini's debut Tour de France Femmes, so we really don’t know how she’s going to fare against van Anrooij.
Here's some outside picks too. Blanka Vas seriously impressed me at the Olympics this year. Maybe she can keep the momentum going? I’m going to toss Puck Pieterse in there too because she’s already a proven winner in mountain biking and cyclocross. Can she keep it together over 8 stages though?
Team Classification - Yellow Helmets
Last year’s winner: SD Worx (Wiebes and Kopecky pictured)
The team with the lowest overall time wins this prize. The finish times of the three best riders on each team are counted, and the team leading this classification usually wears yellow helmets, helping them stand out in the bunch.
SD Worx is the strongest team in the peloton right with Vollering, Kopecky, and Weibes. I don’t think anyone can challenge them right now. Other big teams with GC favorites like Lidl-Trek, Canyon//SRAM Racing, and Team dsm-firmenich PostNL will put up a fight though.
Combativity Award - Red Number
Last year’s winner: Yara Kastelijn
Also known as the “Most Aggressive Rider” award. A jury decides which rider in the race was most aggressive — usually, that means attacking a lot or gambling on a breakaway. The rider with a red number on their jersey was named most aggressive the stage prior. At the end of the Tour, one rider gets the Super Combativity award.
This one isn't really something we can guess right now. Let's just hope we see some crazy attacks!
Why Did It Take So Long To Get a Women’s Tour de France?
There have been many attempts in the past to establish a women’s equivalent to the Tour de France. Women’s versions of the Tour de France for women have been held under different names between 1984 and 2009, but these races struggled with financial difficulties, limited media coverage, and trademark issues with the organizers of the men’s Tour de France.
More recently, the organizers of the men’s Tour de France responded to campaigns from Le Tour Entier, an activist group to improve women's racing, as well as general criticism from fans, by creating “La Course by Le Tour de France.” La Course was held between 2014 and 2021, but since it was only a one-day (sometimes two-day) race, it paled in comparison to the men’s version.
Finally, a true stage race was created, and the Tour de France Femmes had its first edition in 2022. Thanks to the prestige of the Tour de France, the Tour de France Femmes is already one of the biggest races on the women’s pro cycling calendar. Teams and media have referred to it as a women’s “Grand Tour,” but since it’s only 8 stages long (versus the Tour’s 21 stages), it doesn’t actually meet the UCI definition of such an event. However, as it grows and matures over the years, we may finally get a real Grand Tour equivalent for the women’s peloton.
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