‘The hardest edition yet’ - A sense that anything can happen at this year’s Tour de France Femmes reigns as Vannes Grand Départ nears

Walking into Vannes the splendour of this location for Le Grand Départ of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift reveals itself with every step through its winding streets lined with tightly-packed mediaeval timber buildings. The spires of the grand cathedrals punctuate the skyline when you peer up but there is no forgetting amid the grandeur of the setting that a bike race is about to unfold, not when a giant yellow jersey stands out on the elegant town hall, a huge yellow banner is affixed to the ramparts constructed around the town and the harbourside hosts the prominent countdown clock, which will soon hit zero.

This is no ordinary location to start a race, but one fit to set the scene for a fairytale, which is perhaps fitting for an edition of the race that also looks set to deliver an extraordinary battle that, for one rider, will lead to a dream outcome.

“I do believe that this year's edition will be the hardest yet," said defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma in the pre-race media conference. "Yes, it's going to be hard because of the course, but also there are a lot of teams that are able to … make everything hard for others.”

Last year the racing was tight, with just four seconds between Niewiadoma and second-placed Demi Vollering and only another six to Pauliena Rooijakkers. They are all back to try and once again find the podium, but it is not just the teams of Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, FDJ-SUEZ and Fenix-Deceuninck that are expected to be well capable of battling for the top step.

The deck has been shuffled with rider transfers – Vollering and Movistar’s Marlen Reusser most prominent among the riders who have departed SD Worx-Protime while Elisa Longo Borghini’s shift to UAE Team ADQ has left room open for one of the rising young protagonists in the GC stakes, Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek). Then, of course, there is the return of two powerhouses of the sport in Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), who, along with teammate and world champion Lotte Kopecky will form part of the team’s ‘day by day’ approach after an all-out GC assault was curtailed by the Belgian’s back pain.

Increasing the count

Still, even if one of two overall prospects are struck out of the race before it even begins, there are no shortage of challengers to take their place.

“I think there are more riders now also, compared to Marlen and Demi, from other teams that really can challenge and are aiming to win GC,” said Van der Breggen at a pre-race media event. "It's not like we have three riders and then, then there's a big gap; you can say there are six or seven riders, so it's going to be quite interesting in this GC fight."

While it can’t be easy for riders like Van der Breggen to watch the team’s dominance slip, the loss of the sense that more often than not everyone else was racing for second has added to the suspense and excitement. The returning Dutch rider freely admits she "liked that period were we were winning a lot" but also happily acknowledges the benefit to the sport of the close and open battles – "this is making cycling really attractive".

What’s more even though the big climbing days that are likely to be crucial in the battle for the overall are not till later in the race, that doesn’t mean the pressure will not be applied far earlier. There are plenty of challenges on the road throughout the nine days of racing from July 26.

"I think it will be difficult to win the Tour over the first two stages, but we could lose it, so we'll have to stay vigilant,” said Ferrand-Prévot on the eve of the race start.

The intensity looks set to be particularly high on the first day, with racing starting in the evening with a short, but what is bound to be fast, hilly 78.8km from Vannes to Plumelec. It should keep both the stage hunters and teams of the overall contenders on their toes right from the beginning of the 1,168.6km race.

“It’s going to be really, really tough” FDJ SUEZ’s Ally Wollaston told Cyclingnews ahead of her return to the Tour de France Femmes after skipping the last two editions. “Every day presents a new challenge, even the first day as maybe it look like an easy course on paper but it’s only two hours. It’s going to be full on chaos from the start, right till the end I think. I’m preparing for it to be the hardest week on the bike that I’ve ever had.”

Meanwhile, based on the buzz that is building among the race in Vannes, viewers should perhaps also be preparing for it to be among the most entertaining nine days of racing they have ever seen.

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