The 2023 Tour de France Femmes (officially 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift) was the second edition of the Tour de France Femmes. The race took place from 23 to 30 July 2023, and was the 21st race in the 2023 UCI Women's World Tour calendar. The race was organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), which also organises the men's Tour de France.
The race was won by Demi Vollering of , beating her rival Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) with a dominant stage win on the Col du Tourmalet. Second place went to Vollering's teammate Lotte Kopecky, who wore the yellow jersey for six stages after winning the first stage. The podium was rounded out by Katarzyna Niewiadoma of for the second year in a row.
In the race's other classifications, Kopecky won the points classification. Apart from finishing third in the general classification (GC), Niewiadoma also took the polka-dot jersey as winner of the Queen of the Mountains (QoM) classification. Cédrine Kerbaol of took the white jersey as the winner of the young riders classification, which was awarded to the best-placed rider under the age of 23. Yara Kastelijn took the super-combativity award to add to her win on stage 4. SD Worx won the team classification as the team with the lowest aggregate time among their three best-placed riders.
Overall, the race was highly praised by the public, media, teams and riders – with large crowds and high TV viewership. Race director Marion Rousse stated that the 2023 edition "was the year of confirmation: we had to prove that the first edition was not just curiosity".
Teams
The 22 teams which participated in the race were announced on 14 April 2023. Each team had seven riders, one more than the 2022 edition. All 15 UCI Women's WorldTeams were automatically invited. They were joined by seven UCI Women's Continental Teams – the two best 2022 UCI Women's Continental Teams (Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling and Lifeplus–Wahoo) received an automatic invitation, and the other five teams were selected by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the organisers of the Tour. A total of 154 riders from 27 nationalities started the race, with the Netherlands having the largest contingent (29 riders).
UCI Women's WorldTeams
UCI Women's Continental Teams
Route and stages
In October 2022, the route was announced by race director Marion Rousse. It comprised eight consecutive days of racing, covering a total of . The race started in Clermont-Ferrand on the same day that the men's tour finished in Paris, before heading south across the Massif Central (including the longest, stage 4) towards the Pyrenees mountains. The penultimate stage was the queen stage of the Tour, with a summit finish at the Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees at an elevation of . The final stage was an individual time trial in Pau, using a similar course to the 2019 edition of La Course by Le Tour de France. 2022 winner Annemiek van Vleuten called the route "an upgrade", with other riders welcoming the inclusion of bigger climbs and a time trial.
As with the 2022 edition, the route required a waiver from the Union Cycliste Internationale, as 2023 Women's WorldTour races have a maximum stage length of and a maximum race length of six days. +Stage characteristicsStageDateCourseDistanceElevation gainTypeWinner 123 JulyClermont-Ferrand to Clermont-FerrandFlat stage 224 JulyClermont-Ferrand to MauriacHilly stage 325 JulyCollonges-la-Rouge to Montignac-LascauxFlat stage 426 JulyCahors to RodezHilly stage 527 JulyOnet-le-Château to AlbiFlat stage 628 JulyAlbi to BlagnacFlat stage 729 JulyLannemezan to Tourmalet Bagnères-de-BigorreMountain stage 830 JulyPauIndividual time trialTotal
Race overview
Ahead of the race, Annemiek van Vleuten and Demi Vollering were considered pre-race favourites for the general classification (GC), following Van Vleuten's wins earlier in the season at and Giro Donne, and Vollering's second places at La Vuelta Femenina and the 2022 Tour de France Femmes. Other contenders tipped for the general classification (GC) included Elisa Longo Borghini, Juliette Labous, Ashleigh Moolman Pasio and Veronica Ewers.
Lorena Wiebes, Charlotte Kool, and Silvia Persico were considered favourites for the points classification, with Van Vleuten and Vollering tipped for the mountains classification. Eleonora Gasparrini, Cédrine Kerbaol and Alice Towers were considered favourites for the young rider classification, and SD Worx were considered favourites for the team classification.
Overall, the field of 154 riders was described as "stacked", with the top 13 finishers from the 2022 edition all taking part. Media coverage prior to the event was very positive, with anticipation of the summit finish at the Col du Tourmalet and the time trial in Pau. The start in Clermont-Ferrand was also welcomed, with Rouleur stating it "breaks the shackles that tie it to the men's race". The prize fund remained at €250,000 (compared to €2.3 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.
Early stages Taking place earlier on the same day of the final stage of the men's Tour, stage 1 of the race looped around Clermont-Ferrand. On the final climb, Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) attacked, accelerating further in the final . She took a solo stage win by 41 seconds, taking the first maillot jaune (yellow jersey) of the race, as well as the points classification and the Queen of the Mountains (QoM) classification. Cédrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling) took the lead in the young rider classification.
The second stage took the riders south from Clermont-Ferrand to Mauriac, over a hilly course with six categorised climbs. The second half of the stage was affected by heavy rain, with several riders crashing in the last , including Eva van Agt (Jumbo–Visma) who was taken to hospital with a concussion. In the uphill sprint towards the finish line, Demi Vollering (SD Worx) led out her teammate Kopecky, however Liane Lippert (Movistar Team) overtook Kopecky in the final 100 metres to win the stage. After the stage, Kopecky realised she had a slow puncture that had dampened her sprint. Kopecky retained the yellow jersey of the general classification (GC), with Yara Kastelijn (Fenix–Deceuninck) taking the lead of the classification.
Stage 3 to Montignac-Lascaux took the riders westwards over a flat course, with a bunch sprint expected. Julie Van de Velde (Fenix–Deceuninck) escaped with around 60 km (37 mi) of the stage remaining. Taking points over the final two climbs, she took the lead of the mountains classification while building up a lead of around a minute. In the final sprint, Van de Velde was caught by the peloton with 300 metres to go, with Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) winning the bunch sprint for the stage.
The fourth stage to Rodez was a hilly course, with five categorised climbs, another climb with bonus seconds at the top and a steep finish into Rodez. It was also the longest stage of the race at in length. A breakaway gained 10 minutes over the peloton, before Yara Kastelijn attacked from the break on the final climb. Behind her, rivals Demi Vollering (SD Worx) and Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar Team) attacked each other, overtaking remains of the breakaway approaching the finish. Kastelijn's solo attack won her the stage by 1 min 11 s, her first major stage win in the UCI Women's World Tour. Behind Kastelijn, Vollering attacked in the steep final kilometre to take second place on , eight seconds ahead of her main rival Van Vleuten thanks to six bonus seconds at the finish line. Kopecky retained her yellow jersey of the , with Anouska Koster (Jumbo–Visma) talking the polka dot jersey of the classification thanks to the points collected while in the breakaway.
Stage 5 to Albi took the riders south over a flat course, heading towards the Pyrenees. Prior to the start, stage 3 winner Wiebes withdrew due to illness. Kastelijn took the points over the first two climbs, taking the lead in the mountains classification. Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon–SRAM), an experienced time trialist, attacked from the peloton, eventually building up a lead of around 1 min 30 s. The peloton gave chase, however the gap did not fall fast enough to catch her. In the closing kilometres, Lippert and Marlen Reusser (SD Worx) attempted to catch her. Bauernfeind was too strong, and crossed the finish line 22 seconds ahead of the pair. During the stage, Vollering suffered a puncture, before drafting her team car to get back to the main bunch, drawing the ire of commissaires. She was subsequently penalised 20 seconds in the general classification, dropping her to seventh place in the , 12 seconds behind her rival Van Vleuten. The following day, SD Worx directeur sportif Danny Stam was removed from the race due to "inappropriate comments" made to the commissaires, as well as his "dangerous overtaking ... of cars and riders" while Vollering was drafting his car.
Stage 6 to Blagnac was the final chance for sprinters to win, given the parcours of the remaining stages. A breakaway including Emma Norsgaard (Movistar Team) was formed with around to go, establishing a two-minute lead. During the stage, contender Veronica Ewers (EF Education–Tibco–SVB) crashed heavily. She finished the stage, albeit in pain – it later transpired that Ewers had a broken collarbone and would not start stage 7. In the closing kilometres of the stage, the gap to the breakaway steadily fell as the sprinters teams gave chase. In the final , a tight chicane over the Toulouse tramway caused a small crash, distracting the peloton and delaying some riders as they gave chase. With 600 metres to the finish, Norsgaard launched an attack, as the gap collapsed behind her. Norsgaard held on to win the stage by a second. Charlotte Kool (Team DSM–Firmenich) finished second, with third placed Kopecky in the yellow jersey visibly annoyed not to have caught Norsgaard before the finish line. Riders subsequently criticised the chicane that was located close to the finish, with Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance–Soudal–Quick-Step) calling it "super, super dangerous".
Mountain stage to Col du Tourmalet
The seventh stage of the race took the riders over two major climbs in the Pyrenees mountains, and was considered as the queen stage of the race. Starting with the first category Col d'Aspin (12 km with an average gradient of 6.5 percent), riders then ascended the hors catégorie (English: beyond category) Col du Tourmalet (17.1 km with an average gradient of 7.5 percent), finishing at the summit at an elevation of . The climbs were last tackled by the peloton at the 2007 Grande Boucle, with a summit finish last occurring in the 2000 edition of the race.
Prior to the start of the stage, Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl–Trek) who was fourth on , withdrew from the race due to a skin infection. After initial skirmishes, the peloton hit the Col d'Aspin with contenders immediately powering away from the rest of the field. Van Vleuten launched an attack from the top, followed by her rival Vollering as well as Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon–SRAM). Niewiadoma took the at the top of the climb. On the descent, Niewiadoma was substantially faster than both Vollering and Van Vleuten. The two rivals did not wish to work together to chase her, deciding to wait for teammates behind. This allowed Niewiadoma's lead to balloon to nearly 45 seconds.