With an emotional solo victory on the final stage to Châtel Pauline Ferrand-Prévot She had already outclassed the competition on the legendary Col de la Madeleine the day before, taking a big step towards overall victory on the queen stage. She confidently secured the yellow jersey ahead of her rivals Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma.
Marianne Vos dominates the start of the Tour de France Femmes 2025
The first two stages of the Tour de France Femmes had a classic character and were characterised by numerous tough climbs - but had two different finishes: The opening stage to Plumelec brought the first setback from a German perspective in the neutral phase: Clara Koppenburg (Cofidis) crashed. Liane Lippert (Movistar) was also hit during the stage - but both riders were able to continue the tour with abrasions. For Swiss rider Marlen Reusser, captain of Team Movistar, and sprint hopeful Charlotte Kool (Team Picnic PostNL), however, the Tour ended early - both dropped out after the first stage. Kool's German team-mate Franziska Koch used her new-found freedom to attack in the finale - but without success. On the steep finishing straight, two Visma-Lease a Bike team-mates fought a thrilling duel: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot opened up a gap to the rest of the sprinters first, but Marianne Vos came close again, passed her at the last moment and took the first yellow jersey of this Tour.
On the second stage, Franziska Koch also proved her willingness to attack on similar terrain. Together with Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez), who impressively defended the mountain jersey she had won on day one, the German went into a breakaway group, which was always kept on a short leash by the peloton and swallowed up early on. Ten kilometres before the finish, it was Mavi García (Liv-AlUla Jayco) who made a more successful escape attempt: the Spaniard defended her lead over the renowned competition around Marianne Vos and Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx - Protime) with equal strength and tenderness.
Sprint double pack for Lorena Wiebes
The third stage - a flat section to Angers - ended in the expected bunch sprint. Despite a breakaway group with Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly) and Sara Martín (Movistar), the sprinters didn't let anything get in their way. SD Worx - Protime easily controlled the entire race for top favourite Lorena Wiebes. A heavy crash shortly before the finish, in which Tour co-favourite Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) were also involved, decimated the field. Wiebes then lived up to her role as favourite and took a commanding win ahead of Vos.
The fourth stage also ended in a bunch sprint. During the flat stage, Franziska Koch once again broke away and earned the title of the most combative rider for the second time in four days. However, the German champion was unable to prevent the bunch sprint and was caught four kilometres from the finish. Wiebes once again triumphed clearly ahead of Vos - both riders were leading the classifications at this point: Vos was the overall leader, Wiebes led the points classification.
Kimberley Le Court Pienaar takes yellow jersey
At just under 166 kilometres, the fifth stage was the longest of the tour and heralded the transition to the more challenging terrain. A five-strong breakaway group led by Alison Jackson was able to break away early on, but in the end the escape attempt was not crowned with success: on the final Maupuy climb, only seven of the best riders in the classification were still at the front. Kasia Niewiadoma (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto) attacked on a descent, but was unable to break away decisively. Kimberley Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) then had the best legs in the group sprint. She won ahead of Vollering and also took the yellow jersey with the stage win.
Maeva Squiban also with a double strike
The first mountain stage was on the agenda for day six. On the stage through the Massif Central, Liane Lippert made it into the day's leading group, but was unable to keep up in the mountainous finale. Just as the breakaway group was caught on the last climb 33 kilometres before the finish, Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) attacked out of the peloton. The Frenchwoman quickly extended her lead to over one and a half minutes - also because there was disagreement in the peloton about the chase. Thanks to a strong descent, Squiban secured the day's victory unchallenged.
The seventh stage led the peloton towards the Alps, was similar in character to the previous day - and saw the same stage winner: a large breakaway group broke away after about a third of the race, including Chloé Dygert (CANYON//SRAM-zondacrypto), Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx - Protime) and Maeva Squiban. The peloton made no attempt to control the leading group and let them go. On the Col du Granier, it was once again Squiban who shook off her rivals at the front and once again took the stage win with aplomb. In the peloton, Le Court Pienaar in yellow had problems on the same climb, but she caught up with the peloton on the subsequent descent and once again defended the overall lead.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot: Outstanding at the Col de la Madeleine
The penultimate stage of the Tour de France Femmes 2025 was also the queen stage. The infamous Col de la Madeleine was the finish - a touchstone for every overall contender. A large breakaway group broke away early on, including Elise Chabbey, who continued to dominate the mountain classifications, the double stage winner Squiban and the two German riders Hannah Ludwig (Cofidis) and once again Franziska Koch. The group then fell apart at the Col de la Madeleine. Only two riders were able to hold on at the front: Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl - Trek).
But the difficult climb also caused damage in the peloton: While the yellow jersey in the person of Le Court Pienaar herself set the pace for teammate Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance - Soudal Team), Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx - Protime) was the first rider of the favourites to break away 15 kilometres before the finish. Three kilometres later, Gigante launched an attack that only Ferrand-Prévot was able to follow - the top favourites around last year's winner Niewiadoma and Vollering both had to let the gap open up.
Ferrand-Prévot then attacked with 8.5 kilometres to go. The Frenchwoman distanced Gigante with her attack and caught up with the breakaway duo of Fisher-Black and Kastelijn, who she was also able to distance a little later. At the finish, Ferrand-Prévot was able to celebrate not only the stage win but also the lead in the overall standings with an outstanding performance. She won by almost two minutes ahead of Gigante. Vollering and Niewiadoma were even distanced by the 2024 Olympic mountain bike champion by over three minutes. It was a demonstration of power from the local heroine and a preliminary decision in the battle for the overall standings.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's coronation in Châtel
The previous day's winner was unable to rest on the final stage. In the Alps, the peloton faced two climbs of the first and one of the extraordinary category. After attacks from the SD Worx - Protime team, the peloton split in two early on - and the yellow jersey found itself at the back of the peloton. A brief moment of shock for Ferrand-Prévot. However, the situation calmed down again on the first climb and the peloton came together. Anna van der Breggen tried to tackle the final stage with a crowbar and went solo in pursuit of the stage win.
The Dutchwoman rode ahead for a long time, but 33 kilometres before the finish her escape attempt came to an end. The demanding descents had already caused problems for two riders in the classification: Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), who was fifth overall, slipped in a bend, crashed and lost contact with the group of classification riders. The previous overall runner-up Sarah Gigante also revealed technical weaknesses on a descent and also lost touch with the competition. Both riders were to lose places in the classification on the final stage.
Prophecy of Tour boss fulfilled
After van der Breggen had been distanced by the group of favourites, only six riders remained at the front of the race: Ferrand-Prévot, Niewiadoma, Vollering, Fisher-Black, Juliette Labous (FDJ - Suez) and Dominika Wlodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ). In the finale, Vollering attacked out of the sextet seven kilometres before the finish and decimated it to a quartet - the last two riders were no longer able to keep up. Then the yellow jersey attacked in the person of Ferrand-Prévot herself and clearly pulled away as a soloist. The Frenchwoman was celebrated by the fans in the final metres and won the Tour de France Femmes 2025.
Tour boss Marion Rousse, who a few weeks ago in a TOUR interview had predicted that "the next French Tour winner would be a woman" was surprisingly quickly vindicated. The outstanding female cyclist of recent years added the Tour victory to her impressive list of titles and medals in cyclo-cross and mountain biking. Vollering and Niewiadoma finished behind her, completing the podium not only in the daily classification but also in the overall classification.
