Riding on the coattails of a memorable Tour de France Femmes that saw French victory and record TV ratings, the route for the race’s fifth edition has been revealed, starting in Switzerland next summer.
Indeed, the 2026 Tour de France Femmes starts abroad once again, with an opening stage pencilled in for Lausanne on 1st August 2026. From there, the riders will brush past Lake Geneva en route to the French border, which they cross after the flag drop to Stage 3. An individual time-trial awaits on French soil, where 21km of rolling terrain through Burgundy could reshuffle the GC. A pair of breakaway-friendly profiles takes the riders southward to Provence, where Mont Ventoux will face the peloton on Stage 7. The final weekend in Nice tables one last GC showdown, with four ascents of the Col d’Èze to round things off on Stage 9.
Now we know where the next Tour de France Femmes is going, let’s drum up some wildly early predictions and guess who will win the nine stages and four distinctive jerseys next August.
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A.S.O./Pauline Ballet
As the biggest race in women’s cycling, the Tour de France Femmes will have a stacked startlist. The race’s dates have also moved, giving riders more time to rest after the Giro. In theory, this should help garner some extra star names.
Demi Vollering’s Tour entry is almost guaranteed. The 2023 winner will be backed up by a star-studded FDJ-Suez squad, which will be extra motivated to win on French soil. Speaking of which, reigning champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is likely to return to the race she won last August. Kasia Niewidoma appeared at the route presentation on Thursday, so her presence is also expected.
Elsewhere, sprinters should include Lorena Wiebes, Elisa Balsamo and Lotte Kopecky – who will be hoping to overturn her annus horribilis in 2025. Puck Pieterse should be in attendance, joining an expected list of stage hunters that includes Kim Le Court-Pienaar and last year’s breakout rider Maëva Squiban.
Predicting every stage of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes
A.S.O./Emma Delorme
Stage 1: Saturday 1st August, Lausanne – Lausanne, 137km
The Tour de France starts in Lausanne, with a 137km-long punchy stage around the Olympics’ home city.
The Côte de Saint-François (2.5km at 4.6%) is a fair test to throw into the final phase. It’s not too dissimilar to 2025’s Breton opener, which was won by the evergreen Marianne Vos. To be honest, the same could happen here. The gentle gradient is tough enough to eliminate Balsamo and Wiebes, leaving the 39-year-old Vos to fight against the GC favourites and Le Court-Pienaar for the win.
Cyclist’s prediction: Kim Le Court-Pienaar
Stage 2: Sunday 2nd August, Aigle – Geneva, 150km
We roll along the bonnie banks of Lake Geneva during Stage 2’s voyage into Geneva, the largest city in Switzerland’s French-speaking quarter.
As we’ll soon discover, this is perhaps the most sprinter-friendly profile in next year’s race. That’s hard to digest, since there are a few chunks to bite off here. Nevertheless, the flat approach along the riverside should allow the pack to come back together for a sprint. With that in mind, there’s only one name that comes to mind.
Cyclist’s prediction: Lorena Wiebes
Stage 3: Monday 3rd August, Geneva – Poligny, 157km
Right as they cross the French border, there’s a hefty ol’ climb to get over. That, the Col de la Faucille (11.4km at 6.3%), could weed out any of the thoroughbred sprinters. Wiebes, that could be you.
With that warning issued, the stage could regroup later on, but that depends on how hard the remnants of the peloton push on. With a TT the following day, many could be incentivised to lay the hammer down and reduce the group even further later into the stage as they approach the finishing town of Poligny.
Expect some strange appearances in the top ten. For now, I back Vos for the stage, which could take her into yellow on time bonuses.
Cyclist’s prediction: Marianne Vos
Stage 4: Tuesday 4th August, Gevrey Chambertin – Dijon, 21km (ITT)
Finally, we get a proper time-trial in the Tour de France Femmes. After a TT closer in 2023 and a short prologue in 2024, the organisers have dished up a decisive 21km race against the clock in wine-making Burgundy.
Opening with 6km of flat roads, the riders will be on their lonesome among the grands crus as they slog up the Lacets de Marsannay (1.8km at 6.9%). This lump comes at the halfway point, which leaves a fast final half as they dive onto a descent into Dijon.
There are a handful of TT specialists who should seize the chance to prove their worth here. Chloé Dygert has improved her climbing in recent years, while teammate Zoe Bäckstedt could have her eyes set on becoming the youngest ever Tour de France Femmes stage winner. Vollering and Anna van der Breggen are both strong against the clock, however Marlen Reusser ticks all the boxes needed to win this stage. She’s the World Champion after all, but that’ll be covered up by the maillot jaune on the podium.
Cyclist’s prediction: Marlen Reusser
Stage 5: Wednesday 5th August, Mâcon – Belleville-en-Beaujolais, 140km
With Reusser in yellow after the TT, Movistar jump in and offer to control Stage 5 in its entirety. No break will be able to succeed, and it’ll come down to the final pair of climbs in Beaujolais.
Mont Brouilly (3km at 7.7%) is tough enough on paper to entice some attacks. This should whittle the group down to around 10 to 15 names, similar to the stage we had to Guéret at this year’s race. In that vein, it’ll see the first real GC selection on the road, but Le Court-Pienaar will be there to sweep up another piece of silverware.
Cyclist’s prediction: Kim Le Court-Pienaar
Stage 6: Thursday 6th August, Montbrison – Tournon-sur-Rhône, 153km
As the riders wind down the Rhône valley into the Ardèche, the pack will encounter one of the most open profiles of the 2026 race. On paper, it looks suited to the breakaway. The early climb allows for some break formation, while the undulating middle third should give some leeway towards the break as they way up a bid for victory.
This is the kind of stage Maëva Squiban would have swept up in her 2025 Tour form. Can she repeat that? I’m sceptical.
Instead, Riejanne Markus gets a well-earned victory from the break.
Cyclist’s prediction: Riejanne Markus
Stage 7: Friday 7th August, La Voulte-sur-Rhône – Mont Ventoux, 144km
After years of waiting, Mont Ventoux will finally make its debut at the Tour de France Femmes. For the occasion, it feels fairly obvious that the GC riders will fight for what will be an iconic victory. Since it’s the only summit finish of this year’s race, it should be the most influential day at the 2026 race.
Without any serious downhills to brave, Sarah Gigante will be licking her lips at the prospect of a pure Ventoux finish. She will start as one of the favourites for stage glory, but she’d have to overcome the clear GC favourites in the form of Vollering and Ferrand-Prévot. The two were the best at the 2025 race, and Vollering can’t play a pragmatic game like this year. She’d have to let all her cards down.
Backed up by Juliette Labous and Elise Chabbey, the FDJ-Suez train will be cold-blooded in the face of a lone Ferrand-Prévot on Ventoux’s exposed slopes. Unfortunately for the French, the reigning champ just falls short and misses out on the stage victory, as well as the yellow jersey, which changes hands from Reusser to Vollering.
Cyclist’s prediction: Demi Vollering
Stage 8: Saturday 8th August, Sisteron – Nice, 175km
If you subtract the final 20km, this looks ideal for the sprinters. However, the closing kilometres throw up two spanners in the works: the Côte de Colomars (1.4km at 5.4%) and the Côte de la Ginestière (2.5km at 4.4%).
The second kicker, the Côte de la Ginestière, crests within the final 10km, right in view of the Allianz Riviera Stadium. From the peak, it’s a fast run onto the Promenade des Anglais, the traditional finish line for the men’s Paris-Nice.
The proximity of that final climb hands a healthy advantage to the puncheurs and hardy sprinters. Since the arrival is flat though, that turn of pace will be beneficial.
Cyclist’s prediction: Mischa Bredewold
Stage 9: Sunday 9th August, Nice – Nice, 99km
This stage is going to unleash absolute chaos. At 99km, it’s short. With around 2,000m of climbing packed into that short space, you better believe riders are going to go all-in for the GC title. And you better believe FDJ-Suez and Visma-Lease a Bike will go blow-for-blow on each lap, hoping to unshackle the other from the yellow jersey.
While Vollering and Ferrand-Prévot isolate the bulk of their rivals, they can’t dislodge Niewiadoma, who is fixed on gaining time on podium contenders Niamh Fisher-Black and Sarah Gigante – who is minutes behind, burning her brake pads on each descent of the Col d’Èze. Ending up in a GC stalemate on the final climb, Vollering and Ferrand-Prévot call it quits and accept their final fate in the overall standings.
As such, Niewiadoma slips away on the final descent and claws back some of the time lost on Mont Ventoux, securing her place on the final podium. It won’t be enough to win overall, but she’s done that before. What her palmarès is in need of, however, is a stage victory.
Cyclist’s prediction: Kasia Niewiadoma
The GC podium and jersey predictions
A.S.O./Pauline Ballet
This feels like quite a tough Tour de France to call. There’s a chance for Ventoux and the time-trial to shape the final result, but the string of hilly profiles also opens up the GC fight throughout the week.
While I’m not 100% convinced of my call, I have to go with my gut instinct and say that Demi Vollering wins the yellow jersey. After crashing once again at this year’s Tour, the Dutch rider will have a clean run at next year’s edition, backed up with a neat advantage from Stage 4’s time-trial. As for Ferrand-Prévot, she slips down to second place. At this point in time, I don’t think we’ve seen enough consistency in her GC results to declare her as the best climber in the world outright.
As I outlined in my earlier prediction for Stage 9, I believe Niewiadoma will rise onto the podium on the final day. Reusser, Gigante and the like fall at the final hurdle, meaning Niewiadoma utilises her experience to gain a fifth consecutive Tour podium.
As for the green jersey, look to Marianne Vos, who benefits from an anti-Wiebes parcours. The climbs haven’t been classified yet, but I think the polka-dot jersey will go to Yara Kastelijn and the best young rider will be Nienke Vinke, who claims the title for the second consecutive year.
