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 to 9 August 2026.
Overview +Stage characteristicsStageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinner11 AugustLausanne (Switzerland) to Lausanne (Switzerland)Flat stage22 AugustAigle (Switzerland) to Geneva (Switzerland)Flat stage33 AugustGeneva (Switzerland) to PolignyHilly stage44 AugustGevrey-Chambertin to DijonIndividual time trial55 AugustMâcon to Belleville-en-BeaujolaisHilly stage66 AugustMontbrison to Tournon-sur-RhôneHilly stage77 AugustLa Voulte-sur-Rhône to Mont VentouxMountain stage88 AugustSisteron to NiceFlat stage99 AugustNice to NiceMountain stageTotal
Classification standings LegendDenotes the leader of the General classificationDenotes the leader of the Mountains classificationDenotes the leader of the Points classificationDenotes the leader of the Young rider classificationDenotes the leader of the Team classificationDenotes the winner of the Combativity award
Stage 1 1 August 2026 – Lausanne (Switzerland) to Lausanne (Switzerland), The first stage of the race took place in Switzerland (the host of the Grand Départ), with a course that started and finished in Lausanne. The stage featured four categorised climbs, including the fourth-category Côte Saint-Francois climb to the finish in Lausanne (2.6 km with an average gradient of 4.6%).
On the stage, a four-rider breakaway was soon established, including (). They opened up a 4 minute gap to the peloton, with Alison Jackson () attempting but failing to bridge across. Crashes occurred in the peloton, with Laura Tomasi () having to abandon the race after a crash with to go. At the intermediate sprint, Charlotte Kool () took the remaining points behind the breakaway. With remaining, the peloton picked up speed and the gap to the break fell on the climbs. 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. With to the finish, the gap to the break fell to under a minute, and they were caught with to go as the race entered Lausanne.
On the Côte Saint-Francois climb to the finish, Kimberley Le Court-Pineaar () attacked on the steepest section, but was unable to escape. As the peloton rapidly reduced in size on the climb, several attacks were made, with Demi Vollering () attempting an attack with to go. However, Lorena Wiebes () had been able to follow the riders up the climb, and on the flat to the finish pushed on to take her sixth Tour stage win and second yellow jersey of her career.
Wiebes took the yellow jersey of the general classification (GC), with bonus seconds at the finish line giving her a lead of 4 seconds over Le Court-Pineaar and 6 seconds over Vollering. Wiebes also took the lead in the points classification with her stage win. Mahé took the polka dot jersey of the Queen of the Mountains (QoM) classification, following her day in the breakaway. Paula Blasi () took the white jersey of the young rider classification, albeit with the same time as Isabella Holmgren () and Antonia Niedermaier ().
Stage 2 2 August 2026 – Aigle (Switzerland) to Geneva (Switzerland), The second stage of the race also took place in Switzerland, taking riders on a course from Aigle to Geneva. The stage featured five categorised climbs, including three at third-category.
It took some time for the breakaway to be established, with the peloton passing over the first two categorised climbs uneventfully. A five-rider break was established with to go in the stage. By the intermediate sprint, the gap was nearly 3 minutes, with Wiebes taking the remaining points following the breakaway. On the remaining climbs, the breakaway fell apart and the gap to the peloton fell to 40 seconds. Eight riders attempted another break, but were unable to pull away from the peloton.
With under remaining in the stage, Riejanne Markus () bridged across to the remnants of the break, and built up a lead of around a minute. Behind Markus, there was some confusion in the peloton when Nienke Vinke () took a wrong turn while at the front. At to go, Markus had a lead of 40 seconds as the peloton gave chase. Markus limited her losses, with 30 seconds 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 remaining in the yellow jersey of the , and extending her lead in the points classification to 81 points ahead of Le Court-Pineaar. Mahé and Blasi remained in the polka dot and white jerseys of the mountains and young rider classifications, respectively.
Stage 3 3 August 2026 – Geneva (Switzerland) to Poligny, The third stage of the race took the riders northwards into France, with a hilly stage in the Jura Mountains from Geneva to Poligny. The stage featured four categorised climbs, including the first-category climb of the Col de la Faucille (11.4 km with an average gradient of 6.3%) after the start of the stage. The fourth-category climb of Côte de Chaux-Champagny – located from the finish – had bonus seconds available on the summit.
The stage started with the first-category climb of the Col de la Faucille, with several riders including Wiebes and Mahé dropped by the peloton. At the summit, Puck Pieterse () took maximum mountain points, before taking the lead in the mountains classification later in the stage after gaining further points on the Côte de Lajoux.
A breakaway group of 10 formed after the Col de la Faucille, having a gap of around 30 seconds with to go. Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset () attacked from the peloton, bridging the gap to the break and then attacking solo on the Col de la Savine. At the summit, Haugset had a 35 second lead over the peloton, who had caught the break. With remaining, Haugset had a lead of 90 seconds, as Kopecky attacked from the peloton to chase Haugset.
By the intermediate sprint with remaining, the gap from Haugset to the peloton was over 5 minutes, with Kopecky riding solo unable to reduce the gap to Haugset. On the final climb of Côte de Chaux-Champagny, Kopecky cut the gap to Haugset to around 30 seconds, with the peloton still nearly 4 minutes behind. contenders including Le Court-Pineaar and Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney () attempted attacks on the climb, reducing the gap to Haugset to 2 minutes 20 seconds. Le Court-Pineaar took the remaining bonus seconds, as the group realised they would not catch Kopecky or Haugset before the finish.
In the run to the finish, Kopecky pushed on, reducing the gap to Haugset to 12 seconds with to go. However she suffered cramps in the heat, and was unable to catch Haugset before the line. Haugset therefore took the stage win by 1 minute 24 seconds over Kopecky, taking the yellow jersey thanks to her solo attack. A group of 38 riders including the contenders finished 2 minutes 48 seconds behind Haugset, with Marianne Vos () outsprinting Le Court-Pineaar to deny her the remaining bonus seconds on the line.
Haugset had a lead of 2 minutes 2 seconds on ahead of Le Court-Pineaar, with Vollering third overall 4 seconds further back. Wiebes remained in the green jersey of the points classification, with her lead cut to 56 points. Pieterse took the polka dot jersey of the mountains classification, with a lead of 4 points. Blasi remained in the lead of the young rider classification, with Holmgren and Niedermaier still equal on time.
Stage 4 4 August 2026 – Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon, (ITT) The fourth stage of the race was an individual time trial from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon, over a course. Before the halfway point, the course featured a steep climb – Lacets de Marsannay (1.8 km with an average gradient of 6.9%).
Lotte Claes () was the first rider to set a time under 28 min 30 s, before Lieke Nooijen () beat her time by 51 seconds after a fast descent. One of the favourites for the time trial – Zoe Bäckstedt () – set similar times to Nooijen on the first half of the course, but lost time on the descent, finishing 16 seconds slower.
contenders then tackled the course, with both Blasi and Anna van der Breggen () setting times over a minute behind Nooijen. Time trial specialist Reusser was initially 20 seconds faster than Nooijen at the intermediate split, but lost time on the descent. Despite this, Reusser beat Nooijen by 4 seconds, setting a time of 27 min 30 s. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot () set a time 2 min 13 s slower than Reusser, with French media calling the performance "catastrophic".
Acknowledging that the time trial wasn't their speciality, Niewiadoma-Phinney nevertheless set a time 1 min 9 s slower than Reusser to secure 6th overall. Elisa Longo Borghini () was on track to set a fast time, but had a mechanical and needed to change her bike – eventually finishing 1 min 3 s slower than Reusser, placing 5th overall. Both Cédrine Kerbaol () and Vollering gained time on the descent, finishing 18 seconds and 54 seconds behind Reusser respectively. Riding last on the stage as the yellow jersey holder, Haugset set a time over 3 minutes slower than Reusser, losing her lead and falling to 4th overall.
Reusser therefore took the lead in , with Vollering in 2nd place overall 14 seconds behind and Kerbaol 3rd overall, 54 s behind. Ferrand-Prévot was the biggest contender to lose time, falling to 14th overall, 2 min 13 seconds behind Reusser. Reusser was delighted with her win and the yellow jersey, calling it "Project Dijon" and expressing desire to win the Tour. Wiebes and Pieterse remained in the green and polka dot jerseys of the points and mountains classifications, and Blasi's performance gave her a 31 second lead in the young rider classification ahead of Niedermaier.
Stage 5 5 August 2026 – Mâcon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais, The fifth stage of the race headed south from Mâcon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais, with a hilly route in the Massif Central. The stage featured eight categorised climbs (including three at second-category) with a total of of elevation gain. The second-category climb of Mont Brouilly (3 km with an average gradient of 7.7%) was located around from the finish. Bonus seconds were available at the base of the climb.
Pieterse took the mountain points over the first 3 climbs as the peloton stayed together despite attempts at a breakaway. Wiebes took the remaining points at the intermediate sprint behind a solo break attempt by (). Pieterse again took the mountain points at the summit of the next climb after the peloton reformed, before joining the 19-rider break that formed on the descent, with several riders who hoped for a breakaway victory.
On the next two climbs, Pieterse again took the mountain points to consolidate her lead in the classification as the gap from the peloton to the break grew to nearly 2 minutes with remaining in the stage. then increased the pace, with Évita Muzic and Célia Gery working to cut the gap to the breakaway. On the third-category Col de Durbize climb, the peloton began to fell apart as Vollering put in several accelerations. With remaining, Vollering attacked again on the steepest section of the climb, with Ferrand-Prévot, van der Breggen, Longo Borghini, Blasi and Kerbaol all dropped.