2025 Tour de France Femmes
| 2025 UCI Women's World Tour, race 22 of 30 | |
|---|---|
| Race details | |
| Dates | 26 July–3 August |
| Stages | 9 |
| Distance | 1,165 km (723.9 mi) |
The 2025 Tour de France Femmes (officially Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift) will be the fourth edition of the Tour de France Femmes. The race will take place from 26 July to 3 August 2025 and will be the 22nd race in the 2025 UCI Women's World Tour calendar. The race is organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), which also organises the men's Tour de France. The race has been extended to nine days, which will make it the longest Tour de France Femmes.
Route
[edit]The race will take place immediately after the men's tour, returning to its late-July spot in the calendar.[1] In June 2024, it was announced that the Tour de France Femmes would have a Grand Départ in Brittany in northwestern France — with three stages in the region.[2][3] Furthermore, the length of the race would be extended to nine days, with nine stages.[2][3]
Prior to the route announcement, it was rumoured that the race will again visit the Alps.[4][5] In October 2024, the full route was announced by race director Marion Rousse.[6][7] It will comprise nine days of racing with nine stages, covering a total of 1,165 kilometres (724 mi) with 17,240 metres (56,560 ft) of elevation gain. The first three stages will take place in Brittany, before heading east across France towards the Alps via the Massif Central.[6][7] The final two stages will take place in the Alps, with the queen stage on stage 8 culminating with a summit finish at the Col de la Madeleine at an elevation of 2,000 m (6,600 ft).[6][7] The Col de la Madeleine has previously been tackled by the women's professional peloton, including twice during the 2002 Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale.[8] The final stage will feature Col de Joux Plane, with a finish at the ski resort of Châtel – Les Porte des Soleil.[6][7]
The route does not feature a time trial, unlike the previous two editions.[9][10] Rousse noted that the course was harder and longer, stating that "from the Thursday to the Sunday it's either medium- or high-mountain stages".[11]
Reacting to the route, Cyclist considered that it has a "punchy start and a very tough final few stages",[12] with Rouleur stating that "it's likely that these parcours could provide some extremely fiery racing"[10] and that the lack of a time trial was the "only glaring omission from the route".[10] L'Équipe noted that the "demanding course" and longer length "reinforces the idea that the event has grown".[13] Defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma stated that she liked the route, but noted disappointment regarding the lack of a time-trial.[14]
Both Marion Rousse and Rouleur noted that the changes in the women's peloton for 2025 could lead to competitive racing,[15] with the return of four-time Giro d'Italia Women winner Anna van der Breggen and French multi-discipline world champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to the peloton, as well as the moves of Demi Vollering to FDJ–Suez and Elisa Longo Borghini to UAE Team ADQ.[15][10]
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 July | Vannes to Plumelec | 79 km (49 mi) | 
|
Hilly stage | |
| 2 | 27 July | Brest to Quimper | 110 km (68 mi) | 
|
Flat stage | |
| 3 | 28 July | La Gacilly to Angers | 162 km (101 mi) |
|
Flat stage | |
| 4 | 29 July | Saumur to Poitiers | 128 km (80 mi) |
|
Flat stage | |
| 5 | 30 July | Jaunay-Marigny (Futuroscope) to Guéret | 166 km (103 mi) | 
|
Medium-mountain stage | |
| 6 | 31 July | Clermont-Ferrand to Ambert | 124 km (77 mi) | 
|
Mountain stage | |
| 7 | 1 August | Bourg-en-Bresse to Chambéry | 160 km (99 mi) |
|
Hilly stage | |
| 8 | 2 August | Chambéry to Saint-François-Longchamp (Col de la Madeleine) | 112 km (70 mi) |
|
Mountain stage | |
| 9 | 3 August | Praz-sur-Arly to Châtel – Les Porte des Soleil | 124 km (77 mi) |
|
Mountain stage | |
| Total | 1,165 km (724 mi) | |||||
References
[edit]- ^ Weislo, Laura (4 October 2024). "UCI rolls out 2025 road calendar with Copenhagen Sprint added to men's and women's WorldTour". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ a b Moultrie, James (10 June 2024). "2025 Tour de France Femmes to be longest yet with nine stages". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
- ^ a b Becket, Adam (10 June 2024). "Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift to extend to nine stages in 2025". cyclingweekly.com. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
- ^ Wilson, Ewan (3 October 2024). "Grand Tour 2025 route rumours: What we know so far". Cyclist. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
Although route details rightfully remain very secret, the general direction of the race looks to be southeasterly towards the Alps ... there is some reason to believe that the Col du Galibier could be on the 2025 parcours.
- ^ Trivero, Julien (28 September 2024). "Cyclisme - Tour de France femmes. Une arrivée finale à Châtel, un départ à Chambéry ?" [A final arrival in Châtel, a departure in Chambéry?]. Le Dauphiné Libéré (in French). Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Official route of Tour de France Femmes 2025". Tour de France Femmes. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d Frattini, Kirsten (29 October 2024). "Tour de France Femmes 2025 route revealed featuring Col de Madeleine, Col de Joux Plane, mountaintop finale at Châtel". Cycling News. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ^ Jones, Jeff (August 2002). "Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale - 2.9.1 France, August 4-18, 2002". Cycling News. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
Then there is the relatively hard Stage 6 from Lyon to Villard de Lans, with an uphill finish, followed by the much tougher 134 km leg from Aix les Bains to Courchevel, containing the Col de la Madeleine with another uphill finish in Courchevel. Stage 8 from Courchevel to Vaujany is shorter, at 113.6 km, but takes the riders back over the Madeleine, then up the very tough Col du Glandon, before finishing at the ski station of Vaujany.
- ^ Paine, India (29 October 2024). "Tour de France Femmes 2025 route: A diagonal route to a grand finale in the Alps". Rouleur. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d Jary, Rachel (30 October 2024). "Opinion: The 2025 Tour de France Femmes will be the hardest yet". Rouleur. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
- ^ Tyson, Jackie (29 October 2024). "Cavendish, Girmay, Cordon-Ragot add glitz for Tour de France, Tour de France Femmes 2024 route presentation". Cycling News. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
"What you see is that the Tour as a whole is harder than previous years - we've made a step up. So we've designed the route with the idea of wanting to put on something more difficult. From the Thursday to the Sunday it's either medium- or high-mountain stages," Rousse said.
- ^ Davidson, Robyn (29 October 2024). "Climb-heavy Tour de France Femmes 2025 route revealed". Cyclist. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ^ Le Gars, Philippe (29 October 2024). "Plus long, plus montagneux, plus de stars : en 2025, le Tour de France femmes continue de grandir" [Longer, more mountainous, more stars: in 2025, the women's Tour de France continues to grow]. L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 31 October 2024.
- ^ Frattini, Kirsten (30 October 2024). "Kasia Niewiadoma approves of 'balanced' route despite no time trialling at Tour de France Femmes 2025". Cycling News. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
- ^ a b Azé, Maria (18 August 2024). "Marion Rousse fait le bilan du Tour de France femmes et annonce déjà une prochaine édition incroyable". RMC Sport (in French). Retrieved 20 August 2024.
