Tour de France Femmes 2026: Route

The Tour de France Femmes will start on Saturday, 1 August, in Lausanne, just across the French–Swiss border on the shores of Lake Geneva. The Queen Stage takes the riders to Mont Ventoux on Friday the 7th, while the race finishes in Nice on Sunday, 9 August.

Stage 1 of the Tour de France Femmes both starts and finishes in Lausanne, with the riders heading out on a northern loop that takes them along the shores of Lake Neuchâtel. Along the way they’ll tackle two short climbs before the finish line on Place Saint-François, atop a 2.3-kilometre slog averaging 5.4%.

Stage 2 sees the yellow caravan travel from Aigle to Geneva. The route isn’t completely flat, but with the final climb coming 35 kilometres from the finish, it looks well suited to the sprinters.

Stage 3 begins in Geneva and runs through the Jura Mountains towards Poligny.

The previous edition didn’t feature an individual time trial, but in 2026 we’ll see a chrono race of 21 kilometres in the city of Dijon.

The riders head south on a hilly route from Mâcon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais on the fifth day of action.

The race continues further south as stage 6 enters the Ardèche. Tournon-sur-Rhône is already gearing up to host the finale of a second consecutive hilly stage.

The Queen Stage comes on day seven, finishing atop Mont Ventoux after a brutal 15.6-kilometre climb at an average gradient of 8.7%. It will be the first time the Giant of the Provence features in the women’s Tour. The stage’s approach is no less demanding, adding up to a total of 3,500 metres of climbing.

In the final two stages, Nice takes centre stage. Both the 8th and the 9th stage finish on the Côte d’Azur. Saturday’s stage is relatively flat, while the closing stage is played out on a tough climbing circuit around Nice. The Col d’Èze is set to play a decisive role.