Now that the course for the 2024 Tour de France Femmes has been announced, with the Alpe d’Huez as its crowning climb, the time has come to examine which riders are likely to rise to the top in this third edition of the race, which takes place from August 12-18.
The first four stages and three days of the 946km race play out in the Netherlands and Belgium, with the flat terrain playing to the sprinters’ hands for the first two, then a short time trial that could start to pull out some gaps in the overall before the race heads into the undulating terrain for stage 4 and stage 5, where it finally reaches France. Then the categorised climbs will start to make their presence felt on stage 6, but it is a downhill run to the finish at Morteau. Though after that, there is no reprieve, with stage 7 finishing atop Le Grand-Bornand and stage 8 on the iconic climb of Alpe d’Huez.
With just a few time trial kilometres, 6.3 to be exact, and two climb-heavy summit-finish stages to provide the finale, there is no doubt it is the riders who thrive on the long steep slopes that will be in prime position as the third edition of the Tour de France Femmes heads towards the Alps for the first time.
Particularly after her powerful performance on the Col du Tourmalet in 2023, defending champion Demi Vollering (SD Worx) has to remain firmly at the top of the favourites list. Still, given there is no concluding time trial this year where the powerful time trialist can claw back any missteps in the mountains there is opportunity for challengers to turn up the pressure cooker on those final two brutal days.
The course has set the scene for a build toward an exciting but unpredictable finale so it’s time to take a closer look at the riders that are likely to be the star players as the drama unfolds.
Cyclingnews will have live coverage of all eight stages of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, along with race reports, galleries, results, and exclusive features and news.
- Team: SD Worx
- Age: 26
- Tour de France results: 1st overall in 2023, 1x stage win in 2023, 2nd overall in 2022, mountain classification in 2022
Demi Vollering lines up as the defending champion at the 2024 Tour de France Femmes after showing her strength and consistency across the early stages of last year’s event, dominating the decisive Col du Tourmalet and then finishing second in the closing time trial to win the overall title.
She is backed by the world’s no. 1 team SD Worx,…
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