Tour de France Femmes 2026 Cheat Sheet: Route, Stages, Climbs, Jerseys, Prize Money, and Favorites

The 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift marks a milestone for the race as it celebrates its fifth edition with its deepest field and most demanding route yet.

The biggest stage race of the women’s international calendar starts Saturday in Lausanne and ends August 9 in Nice on the sparkling Cote d’Azur.

In between should be one of the most hotly contested races since the Tour de France Femmes comeback in 2022.

The top stars in the international peloton are back, including Demi Vollering, Kasia Niewiadoma, defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.

Others include sprinter ace Lorena Wiebes, classics specialists like Marianne Vos and Lotte Kopecky, proven champion Anna van der Breggen and rising star Paula Blasi.

Here’s everything you need to know about the route, the stages, the favorites, prize money, and more.

The route: More challenging than ever

The 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift returns for its fifth edition and course designers have come up with perhaps their most balanced and tricky route yet.

Covering a record 1,175 kilometers across nine stages, the race begins in Switzerland before returning to France, with stages across the Jura, Massif Central, and Alps, before ending on the Mediterranean coast in Nice.

Organizers delivered a balanced parcours with something for everyone, but never boring. It features three flat stages, three hilly stages, two mountain stages, and one individual time trial.

But the race ultimately tilts toward the climbers. With a record 18,795 meters of elevation gain — 1,555m more than 2025 — the route packs more vertical climbing than even last year’s whopper high in the French Alps.

The climbing is highlighted by an ascent of the iconic Mont Ventoux before a mountainous rollercoaster around Nice to close out the race.

A peloton of 154 riders from 22 teams will line up for what promises to be the most selective Tour de France Femmes yet.

The stages: Something for everyone

The fifth edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift opens on Saturday, August 1, with a 138km circuit around Lausanne, but a punchy uphill finale means that the yellow jersey will be up for grabs.

Stage 2 stays in Switzerland with a 147.9km flat run from Aigle to Geneva, a day likely to favor the fast finishers before the race heads into France.

The first GC test arrives on Stage 3, a 156.5km hilly stage from Geneva to Poligny that crosses into France and could begin to split the contenders. The next day, the race’s only race against the clock sees riders tackle a 21km individual time trial from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon.

Stage 5 continues through Burgundy with a 140km hilly route from Mâcon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais, followed by another rolling day on Stage 6, a 153.4km ride from Montbrison to Tournon-sur-Rhône. These two will be tug-of-wars between the breakaways and the sprinters.

The queen stage comes on Stage 7, when the peloton faces a 146.8km mountain stage from La Voulte-sur-Rhône to the wind-swept, barren summit of Mont Ventoux. Finishing at 1,910 meters, the climb is the highest point of the race and packs in 3,565m for the toughest stage of the 2026 edition.

The final weekend begins with the race’s longest stage, a 171.9km ride from Sisteron to Nice that should suit sprinters or breakaway specialists, before everything is decided on the closing day.

Stage 9 is a short but explosive 99.2km mountain stage starting and finishing in Nice, with two climbs over the famous Col d’Eze (7.7 km à 5.9%). From the top, it’s straight down to the finish in Nice, meaning the yellow jersey should be in play all the way to the line.

The favorites: All the stars are here

The Tour de France Femmes “bigs” are expected to dominate, with Vollering, Niewiadoma, and defending champion Ferrand-Prévot at the top of the list. There could be some new and old names making a play for yellow in perhaps the deepest field in the race’s five-year history.

Vollering enters as the rider to beat after another dominant 2026 season so far. The Dutch star won Giro d’Italia Women and won or finished on the podium in every race she’s started, except when she was part of a group that went the wrong way at Strade Bianche.

The world No. 1 will be eager to reclaim the Tour title she won in 2023 before narrowly losing it in dramatic fashion in 2024.

Niewiadoma, the 2024 Tour winner, has been steady all spring and will be racing for the podium and more.

Ferrand-Prévot returns as the defending champion after her remarkable victory in 2025, but hasn’t raced since Vuelta España Femenina in May. Mont Ventoux will favor her, but the explosive profile across the entire race will make it tricky to control for her and everyone else.

Van der Breggen should never be counted out, and after finishing second at the Vuelta and third at the Giro, she’ll be racing to complete at least a grand tour sweep, if not the yellow jersey.

Among the next generation, Blasi is emerging as one of the sport’s brightest young talents. She surprised the favorites to win the Vuelta and won two more stage races since then. Keep an eye on her.

Prize money: Still the same

A total of 250,000 euros will be awarded across the different stage, jersey and team competitions, including 50,000 euros going to the winner of the overall classification.

Much like the men’s Tour, the prize pot hasn’t changed since 2022.

At least 5 Americans

The official start list it not yet complete, but at least five U.S. riders looks to start in Lausanne.

Lining up across four teams are Natalie Quinn (Mayenne Monbana My Pie), Caroline Wreszin and Heidi Franz (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93), Lily Williams (Human Powered Health), and Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly).

The jerseys and the 2025 winners

Yellow: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot – there’s never been a repeat winner since 2022
Green: Lorena Wiebes – 2025 runner-up Marianne Vos has won two points jerseys
Polka-dot: Elise Chabbey – like yellow, never a repeat winner
Young: Nienke Vinke – for riders under 23
Team: FDJ-Suez – the only podium for Vollering in 2025

Tour de France Femmes: By the numbers

2 – The 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will take place in two countries: Switzerland and France.

3 – The route will feature passes in three mountain ranges: the Jura, Massif central and Alps.

5 – Fifth edition of the revival of the Tour de France Femmes in 2022.

9 – The number of stages, divided into three flat stages, three hilly stages, two mountain stages and one individual time trial. Same as in 2025.

21 – The distance in kilometers of the individual time trial (stage 4).

154 – The number of riders on the start line, split between 22 teams of 7.

175 – The distance in kilometers of the longest stage, the eighth, between Sisteron and Nice.

1,175 – The total distance in kilometers of this 5th edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, a record.

1,910 – The height in meters of Mont Ventoux, the finish location on stage 7 and the highest point of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

3,565 – The vertical gain in meters during the 7th stage, which will feature the toughest climbs of this 5th edition.

18,795 – The total vertical gain in meters during the race, a record.