The 2024 Tour de France Femmes (officially 2024 Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift) was the third edition of the Tour de France Femmes. The race took place from 12 to 18 August and was the 22nd event of the 2024 UCI Women's World Tour calendar. The race was organised by the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), which also organises the men's Tour de France.
The race was won by Polish rider Katarzyna Niewiadoma (), beating defending champion Demi Vollering () by just four seconds. As well as taking second place, Vollering took the super-combativity award for the most combative rider. Pauliena Rooijakkers () took third place overall after her strong performance on the final stage.
In the race's other classifications, Marianne Vos () won the green jersey of the points classification for the second time. Justine Ghekiere () took the polka-dot jersey as the winner of the mountains classification. Puck Pieterse () 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. won the team classification as the team with the lowest aggregate time among their three best-placed riders.
Overall, the race was praised by the public, media, teams and riders. Cycling Weekly noted that the "razor-thin" margin of victory demonstrated the "extraordinary level of competition in women's cycling and the depth of talent in the field," while Le Parisien considered that the race had "offered itself some guarantees for the future".
Teams
Twenty-two teams took part in the race. The teams were announced on 24 April 2024. All 15 UCI Women's WorldTeams were automatically invited. They were joined by seven UCI Women's Continental Teams – the two best 2023 UCI Women's Continental Teams (Cofidis Women Team and Tashkent City Women Professional Cycling Team) received an automatic invitation, and the other five teams were selected by ASO, the organisers of the Tour. A total of 154 riders from 30 nationalities started the race, with the Netherlands having the largest contingent (32 riders).
UCI Women's WorldTeams
UCI Women's Continental Teams
Route
Due to the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics taking place immediately after the 2024 Tour de France, the 2024 edition did not take place immediately after the men's tour. Instead, it took place in the short gap between the Olympic Games and the 2024 Summer Paralympics in mid-August.
In July 2023, it was announced that the Tour de France Femmes would have its first Grand Départ outside France—with three stage starts in the Netherlands, starting in Rotterdam. It was rumoured that the race would have a summit finish on Alpe d'Huez, with Cycling News noting that race organisers ASO seemed "keen to include at least one very famous climb" in each edition of the race.
In October 2023, the full route was announced by race director Marion Rousse. It comprised seven days of racing with eight stages, covering a total of . The first three stages took place in the Netherlands, with two stages taking place on 13 August, a shorter stage followed by an individual time trial. The race headed south towards Belgium using roads used by other classic cycling races such as the Amstel Gold Race and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Entering France, the race continued south heading towards the two final stages in the Alps, with the race culminating with a summit finish at Alpe d'Huez at an elevation of . Alpe d'Huez was last featured in a professional women's race in the 1993 Tour Cycliste Féminin.
Global Cycling Network stated that the route seemed "practically tailor-made for the strengths, preferences and origins" of defending champion Demi Vollering. Vollering welcomed the route, noting the stages in her home country of the Netherlands and stating that she "always wanted to ride Alpe d'Huez". L'Équipe considered that the race would be decided on the final stage, with British national champion Pfeiffer Georgi calling the ascent "brutal". +Stage characteristicsStageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinner 112 AugustRotterdam to The Hague (Netherlands)Flat stage 213 AugustDordrecht to Rotterdam (Netherlands)Flat stage 313 AugustRotterdam (Netherlands)Individual time trial 414 AugustValkenburg (Netherlands) to Liège (Belgium)Hilly stage 515 AugustBastogne (Belgium) to AmnévilleFlat stage 616 AugustRemiremont to MorteauHilly stage 717 AugustChampagnole to Le Grand-BornandMountain stage 818 AugustLe Grand-Bornand to Alpe d'HuezMountain stageTotal
Race overview
Ahead of the race, defending champion Demi Vollering was considered to be the pre-race favourite for the general classification (GC), following Vollering's victories at La Vuelta Femenina and other stage races in 2024. Other contenders tipped for the general classification (GC) included Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Juliette Labous, Évita Muzic and Riejanne Markus. Potential contender Elisa Longo Borghini would not take part in the race following a training crash earlier in August.
Lorena Wiebes, Marianne Vos and Charlotte Kool were considered favourites for the points classification for best sprinter, with Vollering and Niewiadoma tipped for the Queen of the Mountains (QoM) classification. Shirin van Anrooij and Neve Bradbury were considered favourites for the young rider classification for best rider under the age of 23, and SD Worx were considered favourites for the team classification.
Overall, the field of 154 riders had 18 of the top 20 riders in the world taking part – with Chiara Consonni and 2023 points classification winner Lotte Kopecky having skipped the Tour to focus on the Olympic Games. Media coverage prior to the event was positive, with anticipation of the summit finish at the Alpe d'Huez and the Grand Départ in the Netherlands. The prize fund remained at €250,000 (compared to €2.5 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.
Grand Départ in the Netherlands
The opening three stages took place in and around Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Stage 1 of the Tour took place on 12 August, with a flat course to The Hague. In a bunch sprint finish, Kool () won the stage, after favourite for the stage win Wiebes () suffered a mechanical issue with her derailleur, meaning that she was unable to sprint for the line. Kool therefore took the first yellow jersey of the race, as well as the green jersey of the points classification. The were criticised for its poor performance, with four of their riders abandoning the race after they were unable to keep with the pace of the peloton on the flat stage.
Stage 2 was a short, flat stage taking place on the morning of 13 August, with stage 3 taking place in the afternoon. After nervous racing throughout the stage, Kool beat Wiebes in a sprint finish – with the bonus seconds available at the finish extending Kool's lead in the to 14 seconds, and maintaining her lead in the points classification.
Stage 3 was a individual time trial in central Rotterdam. Loes Adegeest () set a fast time of 7 min 30 s, with Dutch favourite Ellen van Dijk () and double Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner () both setting times a second slower. Olympic time trial champion Grace Brown () suffered a puncture, losing around 30 seconds as the short course allowed no time to catch up. Chloé Dygert () then set a slightly faster time than Adegeest, with Vollering () then setting a time five seconds quicker. Wearing the yellow jersey, Kool set a time of 7 min 50 s – thereby falling to 33rd overall, but retaining her lead in the points classification. Vollering therefore took the lead in , just three seconds ahead of Wiebes and five ahead of Dygert. Vollering was delighted with her stage win, tearily stating that she "really didn't see this coming".
Heading south into France Stage 4 was a hilly route heading south from Valkenburg in the Netherlands to Liège in Belgium, using climbs that feature in the races of Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes and Amstel Gold Race. With to go, Puck Pieterse () began to pull away from the peloton on the Côte de La Redoute climb, before being chased back by contenders. Justine Ghekiere () attacked on the next climb, gaining a small lead on the descent. The peloton then caught Ghekiere 300 metres from the top of the final climb, with Vollering, Pieterse, Katarzyna Niewiadoma () and Pauliena Rooijakkers () then pulling away from the peloton. Pieterse took the points at the top. Descending towards Liège, the trio of Vollering, Niewiadoma and Pieterse pulled away from Rooijakkers – with Vollering taking bonus seconds on a minor climb located around to go. At the finish, Pieterse outsprinted Vollering to take her first stage win of the Tour. Vollering retained her yellow jersey of the , extending her lead to 22 seconds. Pieterse took second place, the lead of the young rider classification as well as the polka-dot jersey of the mountains classification. Niewiadoma took third place, 34 seconds on behind Vollering. Kool retained her green jersey of the points classification.
Stage 5 took the riders south to Amnéville, entering France for the first time. Pieterse extended her lead in the classification by crossing summits ahead of the peloton. With teams preparing for a sprint finish, a sharp corner out of a roundabout with remaining caught the peloton by surprise, with around 25 riders crashing at high speed. Riders who lost time included the yellow jersey of Vollering, 2nd place overall Pieterse and young rider contenders van Anrooij () and Bradbury (). Vollering took some time to remount her bike, and was visibly in pain as she rode towards the finish. Two riders abandoned the race following their injuries sustained in the crash, with Pfeiffer Georgi () suffering a fractured neck and broken hand. A small group of remaining riders including Niewiadoma, Faulkner, Blanka Vas (), Liane Lippert (), and Cédrine Kerbaol () pushed on towards the finish, fighting amongst themselves in the final kilometre. Finally, Lippert went in the final steep section, however Vas was strong enough to overtake her and take her first stage win in the Tour. Niewiadoma took the lead, 19 seconds ahead of Faulkner and 22 seconds ahead of Pieterse. She expressed her delight in taking the yellow jersey, stating that "It feels very special". Despite her crash, Pieterse retained her lead in the and young rider classifications. Vollering had crossed the line 1 min 47 s behind Vas, and fell to 9th place overall, 1 min 19 s behind Niewiadoma. Following the stage, Vollering noted that she was glad not to "suffer any broken bones" given the speed of the crash, however following the race she subsequently admitted that her tailbone had been broken in the crash. There was criticism of for not sending riders to support Vollering to the finish line, with Vas noting that her radio was not working.
Stage 6 took the riders further south on a hilly course to Morteau. Ghekiere rode with two separate breakaways to take maximum points on the first four climbs, with Marianne Vos () winning the intermediate sprint, to reduce the margin between her and Kool. After the final climb, Kerbaol attacked from the peloton, descending at high speed – gaining a 30-second lead with remaining. Despite a final steep climb towards the finish, Kerbaol took France's first ever stage win at the Tour. She moved up to 2nd place overall, 16 seconds behind Niewiadoma. Behind Kerbaol, Vos won the group sprint for second place, thereby taking the lead in the points classification from Kool. Ghekiere took the polka-dot jersey of the classification, with Pieterse maintaining her lead in the young rider classification. 16 riders remained within two minutes of the overall lead, with 9 different teams in the top 10.
Mountain stages in the Alps
Stage 7 was the first of two stages in the French Alps, with five categorised climbs on the longest stage of the Tour from Champagnole to Le Grand-Bornand, in length.