The women's race
Tour de France Femmes
Relaunched in 2022 and already producing the closest Grand Tour finish in history. Here is the women's Tour: winners, format, backstory and the riders to watch.
At a glance
The race in numbers
Editions since relaunch
4
Typical stage count
8–9
Total distance
≈ 950 km
Jerseys
Yellow, green, polka dot, white
Closest finish
4 seconds (2024)
Broadcast reach
190+ territories
Women raced a Tour de France Féminin alongside the men from 1984 to 1989, won three times by Marianne Martin's successor Jeannie Longo, and various successor races followed under different names. A.S.O. relaunched a full stage race in 2022, starting on the Champs-Élysées on the day the men finished.
Format: 8–9 stages, late July / early August · Organiser: A.S.O. · Founded: 2022 (as Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift)
Roll of honour
Winners since 2022
| Year | Rider | Nation | Team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Pauline Ferrand-Prévot | France | Visma | Lease a Bike | First French winner of the modern race |
| 2024 | Kasia Niewiadoma | Poland | Canyon//SRAM | Won by four seconds — the closest Grand Tour finish ever |
| 2023 | Demi Vollering | Netherlands | SD Worx | Sealed on the Col du Tourmalet |
| 2022 | Annemiek van Vleuten | Netherlands | Movistar | Won by 3'48" after a solo raid to La Super Planche des Belles Filles |
Backstory
A race with two lifetimes
1955
A one-off five-day women's Tour is held in Normandy, won by Britain's Millie Robinson.
1984
The Tour de France Féminin runs alongside the men's race; American Marianne Martin wins on Alpe d'Huez.
1989–93
Jeannie Longo dominates the French editions before sponsorship collapses.
1992–2009
Successor races — Tour Cycliste Féminin, Grande Boucle Féminine — shrink year on year.
2014–21
La Course by Le Tour keeps a women's race on Tour weekend as a single day.
2022
The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift launches as an eight-stage race.
Who to watch
The stars
Demi Vollering
Netherlands
2023 champion; the most complete climber-time triallist in the bunch.
Kasia Niewiadoma
Poland
2024 champion after a decade of near misses; relentless in the mountains.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot
France
Mountain bike and cyclo-cross world champion turned road Tour winner.
Lotte Kopecky
Belgium
World champion, green-jersey machine and Classics powerhouse.
Marianne Vos
Netherlands
The most decorated rider in the sport's history; wore yellow in 2022.
Elisa Longo Borghini
Italy
Giro winner and a podium threat on any mountain route.