The Tour de France Femmes will take place for the second time this year (July 23-30, 2023). Also included this time: a royal stage to the legendary Tourmalet and a time trial at the end of the Tour of France.
The female cycling elite has been looking forward to the biggest race on the competition calendar all year round: the Tour de France Femmes, which leads from the French Massif Central via the legendary Tourmalet to Pau in the south of the country. According to race director Marion Rousse, the track should be balanced and suit the different types of drivers. In fact, flat and hilly stages alternate over the course of eight days before the tour culminates in a mountain finish and a time trial.
The Massif Central: Perfect for puncheurs
The women’s Tour de France will start again on the last day of the men’s tour, but unlike 2022 this time not in Paris. Instead, it starts in Clermont-Ferrand, the start and finish point of the first flat stage. Only shortly before the end, after about 115 kilometers, does a low category climb have to be overcome – perfect for the punchers, i.e. for the sprinters in the peloton with a certain affinity for climbing, to set an attack.
On the second stage from Clermont-Ferrand to Mauriac, the riders can expect six climbs over 148 kilometers, which are quite short with a maximum length of 4.5 kilometers. Here, too, the punchers have an advantage, above all Lorena Wiebes or Lotte Kopecky from Team SD Worx. In this hilly terrain, there could also be the first exchange of blows between the favorites for overall victory.
Longest stage with 2,400 meters in altitude
The fight for the green jersey of the best sprinter could pick up speed on the third stage. Because although the 147 kilometers from Collonges-La-Rouge to Montignac-Lascaux are peppered with a number of climbs, these should be easy for the riders. The peloton reaches the finish line after a flat ten kilometers, the last 650 meters of which on a dead straight finish – as if made for a mass sprint.
There is no rest day in the women’s Tour de France, which is why the next stage follows the next day, which at 177 kilometers is also the longest of the tour. 2,400 vertical meters have to be completed, the first of which right at the beginning of the stage in Cahors. After that, the riders can rest for a while, maybe even try to break away, before the last 50 kilometers to Rodez resemble the Ardennes classics with their ups and downs.
The Pyrenees: last chance for the sprinters
Flat, hilly, flat, hilly, and now? Flat of course. The tour has just made a stone’s throw further, directly to the southwestern foothills of the Massif Central in Onet-Le-Château. From there it is 126 kilometers to Albi. Above all, the short but tough climbs on the Côte de Najac or Côte de Laguépie offer a good opportunity for a breakaway group. However, the sprinters will hope that the peloton will catch the breakaways just before the end, as the finish is great for a bunch sprint.
When the Tour entourage arrives in Blagnac, a suburb of Toulouse, after 122 kilometers, the overall victory could still be hard fought. Unlike the sprint classification, because the sixth stage could be the last chance for the green jersey for the riders before the Tourmalet and the time trial. In particular, the 1,100 meter long home straight invites you to sprint.
The king’s stage leads to the Tourmalet
No mountain pass has been crossed more often in the men’s Tour de France than the Col du Tourmalet in the middle of the Pyrenees. And this year, this historic mountain finish will very likely decide the overall winner of the women’s tour. The king’s stage starts in Lannemezan and leads 90 kilometers over the Col du Aspin to the 2,115 meter high Tourmalet. Last year, cycling star Annemiek van Vleuten dominated the mountain stages of the tour, nothing less is expected of her on the 7th stage. However, the competition with Demi Vollering is great.
Annemiek van Vleuten at the 2022 tour
In 2022, the women’s tour took place without a time trial – much to the displeasure of many female riders. The ASO, organizer of the race, apparently took the criticism to heart, because the last and eighth stage will be raced against the clock. These 22 kilometers through Pau could again lead to shifts in the overall classification, because unlike the men, they can attack again on the final stage.
| stage/date | length | Start and finish location |
|---|---|---|
1st stage – 07/23/2023 | 123.8 km | Clermont Ferrand – Clermont Ferrand |
Stage 2 – 07/24/2023 | 151.7 km | Clermont Ferrand – Mauriac |
Stage 3 – 07/25/2023 | 147.2 km | Collonges La Rouge – Montignac Lascaux |
Stage 4 – 07/26/2023 | 177.1 km | Cahors-Rodez |
Stage 5 – 07/27/2023 | 126.1 km | Onet Le Chateau – Albi |
Stage 6 – 07/28/2023 | 122.1 km | Albi-Bergnac |
Stage 7 – 07/29/2023 | 89.8 km | Lannemezan – Tourmalet Bagnères-de-Bigorre (mountain arrival) |
Stage 8 – 07/30/2023 | 22.6 km | Pau – Pau |