Tour de France Femmes 2025: The Route

The Tour de France Femmes starts on Saturday, 26 July, in the Breton town of Vannes, and finishes nine stages later, on Sunday, 3 August, in the ski area of Portes du Soleil in the Alps. Two stages are tailored for the sprinters, two stages for the climbers, and the remaing stages are hilly, sometimes with some mountainous tweaks.

The 1st stage is a hilly race of 79 kilometres. The finish is located at Côte de Cadoudal, a climb of 1.7 kilometres with an average gradient of 6.2%.

The 2nd stage is another hilly test. The 110-kilometre course includes an elevation gain of 1,800 metres. The final kilometre rises at 7.5% in the first half before flattening out.

Sprinters are expected to battle it out at the end of stage 3, and the same goes for stage 4.

Amounting to 166 kilometres, stage 5 is the longest of the Tour de France Femmes. The route takes in 1,800 metres of elevation gain, most of which is concentrated inside the final 40 kilometres.

The 6th stage is similar, but far more challenging. The total elevation gain for the day adds up to 2,500 metres, while the route is significantly shorter: 124 kilometres. Again, most of the climbing comes in the final 40 kilometres, and the finale is downhill.

The riders face over 2,000 metres of elevation gain in the 7th stage of the Tour de Femmes. The finale is a 17.7-kilometer downhill plunge from a climb that’s effectually 20 kilometres long.

Serving up 3,600 metres of climbing over 112 kilometres, stage 8 is the toughest of the Tour de France Femmes. Following two KOM climbs en route, the final showdown takes place on the Col de la Madeleine, an alpine giant of 18.6 kilometres with an average gradient of 8.1%.

The last stage includes climbs at Côte d’Arâches-la-Frasse (6.2-kilometre at 7.1%), Joux Plane (11.6-kilometre at 8.5%), and Col du Corbier (5.9-kilometre at 8.5%), before a seemingly endless false flat stretches a siginificant portion of the final 30 kilometres. Two sections stand out in that part: firstly, an 1.4-kilometre ramp at 7.5% with 6 kilometres to go; and secondly, the 2.2-kilometre rise to the line at 5.6%.