Tour de France Femmes: A Statement for Women’s Cycling

Lausanne was the stage for the first finish of this tour of France, the Tour de France Femmes, which has been operating under this label for the fifth time since Saturday. Tens of thousands gathered in the last few kilometers through the city where the Olympic Committee has its headquarters. They saw co-favorite Demi Vollering attacking 700 meters from the finish, it got loud, but the Dutchwoman was chased and stopped. And so it happened that another Dutch woman sprinted to victory.

Lorena Wiebes prevailed and was allowed to put on the first yellow jersey of this tour, Kim Le Court Pienaar, at the finish from Mauritius and Vollering remained second and third. The German time trial champion Antonia Niedermaier, most recently third at the Giro d’Italia, came in 17th place (+8 seconds) at the finish of this opening stage over 138 kilometers with start and finish in Lausanne. It was loud, wild and exciting, that was the setting of this first stage, which gave an idea of the status the women’s Tour de France has now achieved.

The Grand Départ in Switzerland, the queen stage on the iconic Mont Ventoux, a finale on the Côte d’Azur: The Tour de France Femmes offers 1,175 kilometers and 18,795 meters of altitude on nine stages, both of which are historical records for the women’s race. Compared to the men’s 21 sections, 3,200 kilometers and more than 54,000 meters in altitude, that may seem like little. Nevertheless, this Tour de France Femmes can be seen as a statement for their emancipation. Not least because of the scheduling.

In its fifth edition, the women’s tour gets its own stage for the first time. Until now, the women had always started parallel to the men’s final weekend. This overlap, explained tour director Marion Rousse, was necessary to ensure that “people continue to follow us.” The hope was to capture parts of the men’s race’s following. In the meantime, however, the race has grown so much that the fans perceive the women’s tour as an “independent event”, as Rousse recently explained to the Spanish newspaper Marca: “Yes, we can afford the luxury of starting a week later.”

If you will, the organizers of the ASO are the ones The men’s tour was also organized, a further step towards the autonomy of women’s cycling – after the world association UCI had previously pushed for several reforms. In recent years, a second professional league has been introduced, the racing calendar has been increased, and a minimum salary has long been in place. The level of performance among the world’s best has grown noticeably – but so have the costs for the teams.

“Women’s cycling has developed too quickly in the last four years,” says Claude Sun. The Frenchman was managing director of the German team Ceratizit Pro Cycling, which was dissolved in September 2025 for financial reasons. “I think the UCI wanted to achieve the same level for women as for men: teams, culture, budget. But they forgot one thing: the sponsors,” he told the Cyclingnews portal: “The sponsors give the money.”

“Like fireworks”: four times in the final sprint of the tour Col d’Eze

SeveralTeams recently withdrew for economic reasons. According to Sun, running a World Tour team now costs around five million euros, more than twice as much as in 2022. The result: only 14 teams applied for the 15 available places on this tour. However, that doesn’t seem to stop the increasing popularity. The Tour Femmes is broadcast in around 190 countries and is watched by an audience of millions. In Germany, ARD and Eurosport show the stages on TV and in the stream.

The fans are likely to have excitement on each of the nine stages until August 9th. From Switzerland to Nice, after the first stops in Switzerland, the program includes, among other things, the ascent to Mont Ventoux in southern France. The riders can expect 15.7 kilometers with an 8.8 percent gradient on the so-called “Giant of Provence”. On the Côte d’Azur, the tour ends in a strenuous climb: you go over the Col d’Eze four times. “It’s a bit like fireworks,” says Rousse.

Leaded by defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot from France, former Tour winner Demi Vollering and Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney from Poland, there is once again a top-class field at the start. “Since the start of the season we have had a different winner practically every weekend and that creates a lot of excitement,” said Rousse. The German audience will have Franziska Koch on their list; the winner of Paris-Roubaix in mid-April is suspected of aiming for stage victories. Antonia Niedermaier impressed as second overall in the Giro d’Italia at the beginning of June, but will probably primarily fulfill her role as a so-called noble helper to her team captain Niewiadoma-Phinney.

The winner of the overall ranking receives 50,000 euros. This makes the Tour de France Femmes one of the best-paid races in women’s cycling. The figures show that the men’s Tour de France, with its 123-year history, still has a financial chasm: the overall winner there collects 500,000 euros – ten times as much.