The third edition new version of the women's Tour de France - 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift - will host eight stages across seven days between August 12 and August 18. The race is set to start in the Netherlands and then travel south into France and finish atop the fabled Alpe d'Huez.
The date of the event has shifted compared to previous years from late July to mid-August to accommodate the Olympic Games that will be held from July 26-August 11 in Paris.
The field will complete a total of 946.3km of racing that includes three flat stages, one individual time trial, two hilly stages, two mountain stages and a crowning conclusion atop Alpe d'Huez, where the overall winner will be crowned.
The route was officially presented in Paris on October 25 by race director Marion Rousse.
The Grand Départ will be held in the Netherlands with host cities in Rotterdam, The Hague, Dordrecht and Valkenburg.
The route will then cross into Belgium and take the peloton to Liège and Bastogne, iconic locations of the Ardennes Classics, before reaching France on the fourth day of racing.
The last three stages will be held in France, and travel southward toward the Alps for two back-to-back mountain stages that finish at Le Grand-Bornand and the final destination atop Alpe d'Huez.
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.
Tour de France Femmes 2024 stages
Watch the official 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift route presentation.
Stage 1: Rotterdam to The Hague, 124km
Type: Flat
Favourites: Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx), Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma), Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)
Organisers of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes, ASO, had already confirmed that the event would begin in the Netherlands, entering host cities Rotterdam, The Hague, Dordrecht and Valkenburg.
The Grand Départ will begin on August 12, with the opening stage held from Rotterdam to The Hague on a flat 124km route well-suited to the sprinters.
"The stage begins with a 40km loop that features two trips through a long and newly built tunnel beneath the waters of the River Scheur – the tunnel will be formally opened on this great occasion," Rousse said.
"The riders will then find themselves in flat and wind-exposed terrain, the route running between tulip fields and through urban areas. The last five kilometres, which are wide and free of significant difficulties, will lead to a final straight on an avenue that’s perfect for a bunch sprint."
Stage 2: Dordrecht to Rotterdam, 67km
Type: Flat
Favourites: Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ), Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco), Charlotte Kool (Team dsm-firmenich)
The peloton will face a double day of racing on August 13, where the stage 2 road race will bring the riders from Dordrecht back into Rotterdam for a flat 67km stage and another opportunity for the sprinters. However, it won't be completely simple as strong winds could play a role in the outcome of the stage.
"With two stages on the menu in a single day, the riders will be reviving a tradition abandoned by the Tour de France in 1991," Rousse said.
"The morning brings this short but intense road stage, which will be subject to the vagaries of the wind and constant changes of direction. For a probable sprint finish on Boompjes, a wide avenue lined with skyscrapers."
Stage 3: Rotterdam to Rotterdam, 6.3km (ITT)
Type: Flat
Favourites: Marlen Reusser (SD Worx), Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek), Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM), Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx)
The racing will continue in the afternoon on August 13 for stage 3, which will showcase a short 6.3km individual time trial that starts and finishes in Rotterdam.
There was no time trial in the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes in 2022, but after many requests and feedback, ASO introduced a time trial to the second edition in 2023. The race against the clock, won by Marlen Reusser (SD Worx), closed out the 2023 event in Pau, while her teammate Demi Vollering won the overall title.
"This short and intense time trial should suit the most powerful of the riders. The only slight rises on the course will be the two major bridges, Érasme and Guillaume. There are a few right-hand bends as the course passes the town hall and the maritime museum, but it’s mainly on big boulevards, and the winner could average close to 50km/h," Rousse said of the time trial route.
Stage 4: Valkenburg to Liège, 122km
Type: Hilly
Favourites: Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), Demi Vollering (SD Worx), Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek), Elise Chabbey (Canyon-SRAM), Liane Lippert (Movistar)
On August 14, stage 4 will start in Valkenburg and bring the peloton into the Belgian city of Liège for a 122km hilly race that includes eight categorised ascents.
The route is reminiscent of the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, part of the famed Ardennes Classics.
On this course, the peloton will take on the Geulhemmerberg and Bemelerberg (twice) and the Cauberg before battling the four ascents: Mont-Theux, Côte de la Redoute, Côte des Forges, and the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, before finishing in Liège.
"Combining the difficulties of the Amstel Gold Race (Geulhemmerberg and Bemelerberg twice, plus the Cauberg) with those of Liège-Bastogne-Liège will make this stage very challenging," Rousse said.
"At the finish on the Quai des Ardennes, the finale, tackled via Mont-Theux (2.8km at 5.6%), will have put the peloton to the test following the climbs of the Côte de la Redoute, Côte des Forges and Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons."
Stage 5: Bastogne to Amnéville, 150km
Type: Flat
Favourites: Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx), Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma), Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek), Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM), Alexandra Manly (Liv AlUla Jayco), Emma Norsgaard (Movistar)
Another iconic Belgian location of professional cycling, Bastogne, will host the start of stage 5 on August 15, where the peloton will race 150km along a flat route and then cross into France for the finish in Amnéville.
The peloton will tackle five categorised ascents, but the stage is still considered 'flat' and so could be one for either the sprinters or puncheurs with an uphill finish ramp into Amnéville.
"The very undulating route (featuring more than 2,000m of vertical gain) and regular changes of direction should produce a dynamic stage," Rousse said.
"Punchy riders will relish this test, and especially the finish, which will be located in front of the Amnéville thermal baths, at the top of a challenging final kilometre (a 6% gradient to start with, then between 3 and 4% up to the line)."
Stage 6: Remiremont to Morteau, 160km
Type: Hilly
Favourites: Liane Lippert (Movistar), Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Human Powered Health), Mavi García (Liv Racing TeqFind), Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ), Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek)
Stage 6 will begin in Remiremont on August 16 and take the peloton on a 160km hilly route into Morteau.
The peloton will tackle five categorised ascents, each more demanding as the stage progresses; Col du Mont de Fourche (3.2km at 5.9%), Col de Ferriere (2.6km at 4.7%), Côte de Laviron (5.7km at 4.1%), La Roche du Prêtre (5.5km at 5.6%), Côte des Fines (1.8km at 7%) before a descent into Morteau.
"After leaving the picturesque setting of Remiremont and heading up the Moselle valley, the peloton will pass through Thibaut Pinot’s hometown, Melisey, and then his birthplace, Lure," Rousse said.
"Beyond the magnificent Cirque de Consolation, the first test in the Jura massif, the route features two significant ramps heading into the finish (5.5km at 5.6% and 1.8km at 6.9%)."
Stage 7: Champagnole to Le Grand-Bornand, 167km
Type: Mountain
Favourites: Demi Vollering (SD Worx), Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM), Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), Juliette Labous (Team dsm-firmenich), Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ SUEZ)
The race then heads into the Alps with stage 7, the longest of the eight stages at 167km and the first mountain stage, which will start in Champagnole and finish at Le Grand-Bornand on August 17.
The stage includes five categorised climbs: Col de la Croix de la Serra (12km at 5.1%), Côte de Bois d'Ariod (2.4km at 4.6%), Côte de Cercier (4km at 4.9%), Col de Saint-Jean-de-Sixt (5.4km at 5.1%) that leads into the final ascent Montée du Chinaillon (7km at 5.1%) into Le Grand-Bornand.
"The longest stage of this 2024 edition will begin with a number of smallish hurdles, plus the long haul up the Col de la Croix de la Serra (12km at 5.1%), from the Saint-Claude side," Rousse said.
"It concludes with a new and steep finish at Chinaillon (7km, 5.1%), an authentic hamlet with traditional chalets on the flanks of the Col de la Colombière."
Stage 8: Le Grand-Bornand to Alpe d'Huez, 150km
Type: Mountain
Favourites: Demi Vollering (SD Worx), Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek), Marta Cavalli (FDJ-SUEZ), Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM), Juliette Labous (Team dsm-firmenich), Ashleigh Moolman (AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep), Veronica Ewers (EF Education-Cannondale)
The 2024 Tour de France Femmes will finish on Alpe d'Huez.
The concluding stage 8 will take the peloton on a 150km mountain stage that begins at Le Grand-Bornand and finishes atop the fabled Alpe d'Huez, with the similarly brutal Col du Glandon acting as the warm-up for the showpiece finish.
The finale will include three major ascents beginning with the Col de Tamié (9.5km at 4%), and then crest the Col du Glandon (19.7km at 7.2%) before reaching Alpe d'Huez (13.8km at 8.1%) where the overall champion will be crowned.
"A truly beautiful mountain stage with two big climbs: the highest point of this third edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift comes on the Col du Glandon (1,924m), which will be tackled via its hardest side (19.7km at 7.2%); then, for the grand finale, we have the mythical 21 hairpins Alpe d’Huez, where the 2024 champion is destined to emerge," Rousse said.
