The 2026 Tour de France Femmes (officially Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift) was the fifth edition of the Tour de France Femmes. The race took place from 1 August to 9 August 2026, part of the 2026 UCI Women's World Tour. The race was organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), which also organises the men's Tour de France. From 2026, more ranking points were awarded at the Tour, the Giro d'Italia Women and the Vuelta Femenina – elevating the races in status compared to other races in the UCI Women's World Tour.
The race was won by Dutch rider Demi Vollering () for the second time. Her margin of victory was over a minute, after she performed strongly in the individual time trial on stage 4, won the hilly stage 5, limited her time losses on the climb to Mont Ventoux before winning the final two stages. Second place overall was 2024 winner Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (), who also took the combativity award, after she won stage 7 on Mont Ventoux, and fighting for the overall victory on the final two stages. Elisa Longo Borghini () finished third overall, after the winner of the individual time trial Marlen Reusser () fell to 14th overall after a crash on the final stage.
In the race's other classifications, Lorena Wiebes () won the green jersey of the points classification for the second year in succession. Puck Pieterse () took the polka-dot jersey as the winner of the Queen of the Mountains classification. Antonia Niedermaier () took the white jersey as the winner of the young riders classification after finishing 4th overall, which was awarded to the best-placed rider under the age of 24. won the team classification as the team with the lowest aggregate time among their three best-placed riders.
The race was praised by the media, who considered it to be one of the most exciting and competitive editions of the race, praising the rivalry between Vollering and Niewiadoma-Phinney. The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal argued that the race offered more compelling racing than the men's Tour, and there were calls for a longer race in future, as well as greater live television coverage.
Teams
Twenty-one teams took part in the race, one fewer than in previous editions. The teams were announced on 18 February 2026. All 14 UCI Women's WorldTeams were automatically invited. They were joined by seven UCI Women's ProTeams selected by ASO, the organisers of the Tour. A total of 147 riders from 27 nationalities started the race, with the Netherlands having the largest contingent (30 riders).
UCI Women's WorldTeams
UCI Women's ProTeams
Route and stages
In June 2025, it was announced that 2026 edition would have a Grand Départ in Switzerland. The race started in August – a week after the men's race, with ASO choosing to avoid an overlap with the men's race to allow for resources to be shared between the two races. The Guardian noted that the "new stand-alone date for the Femmes reveals how quickly the race has established itself and how popular it has become, particularly after the win of France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prévot". Prior to the route announcement, Le Dauphiné libéré reported rumours that the race would visit Mont Ventoux for the first time, with Ici reporting that Dijon would host a time trial.
In October 2025, the full route was announced by race director Marion Rousse. The route has nine days of racing with nine stages, covering a total of with of elevation gain – the longest distance and most elevation gain of any Tour de France Femmes. The first three stages will take place in Switzerland, before heading north for an individual time trial finishing in Dijon. The route then heads south towards the Mediterranean, with the queen stage on stage 7 having a summit finish at Mont Ventoux, at an elevation of . Mont Ventoux has previously been tackled by the women's professional peloton at the 2006 Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale, 2022 Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge and the 2016 Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche. The final stage will be a circuit around Nice, with four ascents of the Col d'Èze before a finish on the Promenade des Anglais. Climbs were categorised from category 4 (the easiest) to hors catégorie (the most difficult), with Mont Ventoux the only hors catégorie climb on the route.
Reacting to the route, L'Équipe considered that the route was the toughest so far, Velo stated that the route offered "something for each type of rider", whereas Escape Collective thought that there was "no real opportunities for the sprinters". The Athletic stated that the race "reaches new heights on Ventoux", with L'Équipe considered that "the women's Tour continues its momentum of discovering legendary climbs" with the inclusion on Mont Ventoux. Sporza considered that the final stage in Nice would be "incredibly tough" and that the Tour would remain exciting "until the very end". Rousse called the route "mischievous", noting that there were difficulties on every single stage. Rousse hoped the time trial on stage 4 would allow riders like Marlen Reusser to gain time, enhancing the battle for the general classification.
Defending champion Ferrand-Prévot stated that the route was "super nice" and "beautiful", adding that she was "ready to put in the work on the time trial". 2024 winner Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney stated that she “definitely [likes] the course", and that " the time trial [...] stood out to me the most". French rider Marion Bunel stated she thought the "route [was] made for Pauline". +Stage characteristicsStageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinner 1 1 August Lausanne (Switzerland) to Lausanne (Switzerland) Flat stage 2 2 August Aigle (Switzerland) to Geneva (Switzerland) Flat stage 3 3 August Geneva (Switzerland) to Poligny Hilly stage 4 4 August Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon Individual time trial 5 5 August Mâcon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais Hilly stage 6 6 August Montbrison to Tournon-sur-Rhône Hilly stage 7 7 August La Voulte-sur-Rhône to Mont Ventoux Mountain stage 8 8 August Sisteron to Nice Flat stage 9 9 August Nice to Nice Mountain stage Total
Race overview
Ahead of the race, a large number of riders were considered to be contenders for the general classification (GC), with no clear favourite. Contenders included defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, 2023 winner Demi Vollering (following her victory at the Giro d'Italia Women), Paula Blasi (following her victory at La Vuelta Femenina), Marlen Reusser (following her victory at Tour de Suisse Women) and 2024 winner Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (following strong performances in the spring classics and at the Tour de Suisse Women). Other contenders for included Elisa Longo Borghini, Anna van der Breggen, Kimberley Le Court-Pienaar and Niamh Fisher-Black.
Lorena Wiebes and Marianne Vos were considered favourites for the points classification for best sprinter; Blasi, Marion Bunel, Antonia Niedermaier and Isabella Holmgren were considered favourites for the young rider classification for best rider under the age of 24.
Media considered that the race would be "uncontrollable", with a large number of contenders and stages where different riders could lose or gain time. It was considered that the key stages would be the individual time trial in Dijon on stage 4, the summit finish to Mont Ventoux on stage 7 and the multiple ascents of the Col d'Èze on the final stage to Nice. noted that Longo Borghini and Dominika Włodarczyk (who finished 4th overall at the 2025 edition) would be leading their team, rather than La Vuelta Femenina winner Blasi. Media noted that this was likely due to Blasi's rumoured move to for 2027. The prize fund was €265,000 (compared to €2.5 million for the men's tour), with €50,000 for the winner of the general classification – making it one of the richest races in women's cycling.
Grand Départ in Switzerland Stage 1 took place in Switzerland (the host of the Grand Départ), starting and finishing in Lausanne with a final climb to the finish in length with an average gradient of 4.6%. A four-rider breakaway including () took the majority of the points in the Queen of the Mountains (QoM) classification, with Mahé securing the jersey at the end of the day. On the descent to Lake Geneva, Marlen Reusser () crashed after her teammate Arlenis Sierra overshot a corner. Both remounted their bike and chased back onto the peloton. The break was caught with remaining as the race entered Lausanne. On the Côte Saint-Francois climb to the finish, Kimberley Le Court-Pienaar () attacked on the steepest section, but was unable to escape. As the peloton rapidly reduced in size on the climb, several attacks were made, including by Demi Vollering (). However, Lorena Wiebes () had been able to follow, and pushed on the final flat to the line to take her sixth Tour stage win and second yellow jersey of her career. Bonus seconds at the finish line gave Wiebes a lead of 4 seconds over Le Court-Pienaar and 6 seconds over Vollering. Wiebes also took the lead in the points classification. Paula Blasi () took the white jersey of the young rider classification.
Stage 2 was a flat course from Aigle to Geneva. With under remaining, Riejanne Markus () bridged across to the remnants of a breakaway, and built up a lead of around a minute. Markus limited her losses, with a 30 second lead with to go. The peloton chased furiously, realising that Markus had the potential to make it to the line. Wiebes' teammate Lotte Kopecky () led the chase, with the gap falling to under 15 seconds and then to just five seconds at the flamme rouge with to go as Markus was caught. In the final sprint, no one could compete with the speed of Wiebes, who took her second stage win of the Tour. There were no changes to the classifications, with Wiebes extending her lead in the points classification to 81 points ahead of Le Court-Pienaar.
Jura, individual time trial in Dijon and the Massif Central Stage 3 took the riders northwards into France, with a hilly stage in the Jura Mountains to Poligny. Puck Pieterse () took maximum mountain points on the first-category climb of the Col de la Faucille, taking the lead in the mountains classification later in the stage. Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset () attacked solo from the peloton with remaining, building a lead of 5 minutes as Kopecky attacked to chase Haugset. On the climb of Côte de Chaux-Champagny, the gap between Kopecky and Haugset was around 30 seconds, with the peloton nearly 4 minutes behind. contenders attempted attacks on the climb, reducing the gap to Haugset to 2 minutes 20 seconds, before they realised they would not catch the pair. In the run to the finish, Kopecky reduced the gap to Haugset to 12 seconds with to go. However she suffered cramps in the heat, and was unable to catch her before the line. Haugset therefore took the stage win by 1 min 24 s over Kopecky, taking the yellow jersey, giving her a lead of just over 2 minutes on ahead of Le Court-Pienaar. A group of 38 riders including the contenders finished 2 min 48 s behind Haugset, with Marianne Vos () outsprinting Le Court-Pienaar to deny her the remaining bonus seconds. In the other classifications, Pieterse took the polka dot jersey of the mountains classification and Wiebes and Blasi remained in the lead of the points and young rider classifications respectively.