Tour Guide to Le Tour de France Femmes 2024
By Tim Perkin
The third edition of the Tour de France Femmes is different to what has come before. Unlike last year, the race will not start in France but in Rotterdam, Netherlands, for its Grand Départ. This will be the first time the event starts outside of France, as the event organiser Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) aims to bring the race to a new audience.
The 2024 edition will cross three countries, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. The three of eight stages in the race will take place in the Netherlands. The Dutch NOS – news and sports television channel reported an audience share close to 50%, and that reflects how culturally significant cycling is to the nation. Both previous winners, Demi Vollering and Annemiek van Vleuten are Dutch.
The race begins on August 12th, and concludes on Sunday, August 18th, with two stages scheduled on August 13th.
The course
The course will total 946.3km, starting in Rotterdam and finishing atop the legendary Alpe d’Heuz. The mountain-top finish will aim to replicate the excitement of the inaugural Tour de France Femmes which concluded on La Super Planches des Belles Filles.
In total, the race comprises of three flat stages, one short individual time trial, two hilly stages and two mountain stages. In addition to three stages in the Netherlands, stage four will take place in Belgium, finishing in Liege. Stage five will start in Bastogne before crossing over into France. These names will be familiar because of the iconic Liege-Bastogne-Liege Classic.
Undoubtedly, the final stage will be the one which everyone will want to win and will most likely decide the outcome of the entire race. The stages are as follows:
Stage 1 – Rotterdam – La Haye, 123km
Stage 2 – Dordrecht – Rotterdam, 67km
Stage 3 – Rotterdam – Rotterdam, 6.3km
Stage 4 – Valkenburg – Liège, 122km
Stage 5 – Bastogne – Amnéville, 150km
Stage 6 – Remiremont – Morteau, 160km
Stage 7 – Champagnole – Le Grand-Bornand,167km
Stage 8 – Le Grand-Bornand – Alpe d’Huez, 150km
(Stage 1 – Rotterdam – La Haye. Image Credit: ASO)
Brief history
Although the race is new, epic stages featuring climbs like Alpe d’Heuz promises exciting moments. Despite this being only the third edition of the Tour de France Femmes, there have been previous iterations.
From 2014-2021, ASO hosted a one-day race called “La Course.” Winners included Demi Vollering (2021) and Annemiek van Vleuten (2017, 2018), alongside most accomplished riders in the women’s peloton such as Lizzie Deignan and Marianne Vos. In fact, the race was dominated by the Dutch with only British rider Lizzie Deignan (2019) and Australian Chloe Hosking (2016) breaking the monopoly that Dutch riders had over the event.
The history of the early editions of the Le Tour de France Femmes is complex. The first ever one-off event was held in 1955 and won by Millie Robinson. Unfortunately, there were no subsequent events until 1984, where the race went through multiple name changes and was beset with challenges.
From1984 to1989, it was called the Tour de France Féminin. It then became the Tour Cycliste Féminin from 1992 before becoming the Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale (1998-2009).
Tour de France Femmes previous winners
Annemiek van Vleuten was the winner of the first ever Tour de France Femmes. She won two stages along the way, with a 3 minute 48 second lead over Demi Vollering, who placed second. Van Vleuten announced her retirement from professional cycling at the end of 2023 and will not be competing in the upcoming race.
The second edition was won by Demi Vollering. She finished second in 2022 but won the Mountains Classification. The following year, Vollering put her climbing skills to good use and won stage 7 which finished with the Col du Tourmalet. This victory put her in the yellow jersey. She then went on to win the race with a lead of approximately 3 minutes, ahead of her SD Worx teammate, Lotte Kopecky.
This year, Vollering is in top shape and will want to repeat her success. She recently won the 2024 La Vuelta Femenina, which included two stage victories and the Mountain Classification. With her confidence riding high this season, one can expect a strong performance from her and anticipate that she will win the race by conquering the final stage on Alpe d’Huez.
Contenders
In this year’s race, SD Worx will bring a strong team. Could 2023 runner-up, Lotte Kopecky, challenge her teammate for the overall victory and claim the most coveted prize in cycling – the yellow jersey? This year Kopecky has already won Paris–Roubaix Femmes and proved her capabilities in stage races, recently finishing runner up in the Giro d’Italia Women by only 21 seconds.
Elisa Longo Borghini, who finished third in La Vuelta Femenina, is having a strong season with a victory in the Tour of Flanders, a runner-up position in Liège–Bastogne–Liège and recently won the Giro d’Italia Women.
Then there is Marianne Vos, racing on home roads for several stages of the tour. She will sure to be inspired and deliver a strong performance, as she always does. Although winning the yellow jersey might be a stretch, she has had several stage victories for which one cannot discount her performance. But this year, her focus is likely to be on claiming stage wins, on home soil.
As for Polish rider, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, who finished third in both editions, could she finally make it to the top step of the podium this year? She recently finished forth in the Tour de Suisse Women behind Demi Vollering and Elisa Longo Borghini.
Conclusion
This year’s race will be fascinating to watch, as it is clear that through the Tour de France Femmes, Women’s cycling is being introduced to a new generation. The average television audience for the 8 stages of the 2022 edition on France’s channels 2 and 3 had 2.25 million viewers, peaking to 5.1 million. Eurosport also reported strong coverage, reaching 15 million viewers with a 7.14% increase in 2022.
The winner of Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition (2022), Marta Cavalli, and La Flèche Wallonne Féminine (2022) stated “We are riding the new history of cycling.” Who will write their name in this new era of cycling history?
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About the Author
Tim has a passion for cycling and it was integral to regaining fitness after an arduous battle with cancer. Tim is the founder of Mountain Massif, who host esports cycling events. Over the years, Tim has written about a range of cycling topics, including testing and reviewing the major smart trainers. In addition, he has been fortunate to ride and interview some of the sports leading figures such as Tour de France winner Andy Schleck and sprint legend André Greipel.