Tour de France Femmes 2023 – Analysing the contenders

The course for the 2023 Tour de France Femmes has something for everyone and with the race set to kick off in Clermont-Ferrand on Sunday, attention turns to just which riders are likely to fare best in the eight-day race with a route that winds its way from the Massif Central, south to the Col du Tourmalet and onto a finishing time trial in Pau.

The 2022 event, which signalled the return of women's Tour de France after decades of absence, was to an extent treading into unknown territory. The challenging mountainous stage race of the Giro d'Italia Donne may have long been on the calendar but a stage race for yellow brought a whole different level of attention, prestige and – with that – pressure to perform. 

It became the clear focal point of so many top riders' seasons and that intensity of competition isn't likely to change one bit in the year ahead.

In 2023, the performances of 2022 are there to serve as a guide but of course, the different new season, team circumstances and course – particularly with the introduction of the lofty heights of the legendary Pyrenean climb of the Tourmalet as well as a time trial – will all have an influence.

Cyclingnews takes a look at the riders in serious pursuit of the yellow jersey in 2023 now that they know what awaits them on the road from Clermont-Ferrand to Pau from July 23 to 30.

Cyclingnews will have live coverage of all eight stages of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, along with race reports, galleries, results, and exclusive features and news.

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Annemiek van Vleuten

Annemiek van Vleuten lived up to every expectation as the favourite for the 2022 Tour de France Femmes, winning the overall title after two remarkable back-to-back stages in the Vosges atop Le Markstein and La Super Planche des Belles Filles. 

The new route of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes gives the impression that the race could be a more open affair, for other riders to contest the yellow jersey. The addition of a summit finish at Col du Tourmalet and an individual time trial, however, means that the final two stages will, once again, be well-suited to the defending champion.

It was a sparkling 2022 season, Van Vleuten also won the Giro d'Italia Donne, Challenge by La Vuelta and the World Championships, and she has wanted to make the most of the final year ahead of a pending retirement at the end of 2023, where she has already won La Vuelta Femenina and the Giro d'Italia Donne.

Van Vleuten's Movistar team is all-in to support her targets, with the likes of Liane Lippert starting this event, too. Movistar has shown that they support Van Vleuten's decision to reduce the number of races during the year in order to focus on a selection of big targets, and although it did not yield a win in the spring classics this year, that has paid off for both Van Vleuten and Movistar with the two big overall wins.

This year's route offers plenty of opportunity for the sprinters, and more for the puncheurs, and so the race into the Pyrénées might be more open to a range of riders in the hunt for stage wins and the yellow jersey.

However, all Van Vleuten needs is one big climb to separate herself from the rest. Stage 7's back-to-back ascents of the Col d'Aspin and Col du Tourmalet will be the deciding moment of the Tour de France Femmes – perfectly suited to Van Vleuten. 

The race will end in a time trial, a discipline where she has won world titles on two occasions, making her the outright favourite for a second consecutive overall title at the Tour de France Femmes. 

Demi Vollering

Demi Vollering was the closest rival to Annemiek van Vleuten on the ascents of Le Markstein and La Super Planche des Belles Filles in the 2022 Tour de France Femmes. On both ascents, she crossed the line and appeared bewildered by Van Vleuten's strength, after all, she had trained harder than she ever had before in preparation for the race and surpassed all her previous power numbers. 

She said her legs exploded trying to match Van Vleuten, telling her compatriot 'it's not normal what you did.' Van Vleuten explained to Vollering that by virtue of being older she has been racing longer and progressively more each year, and has more experience. She told Vollering 'it will come' too for her in the future. 

Vollering has had an outstanding season and has appeared to have closed the gap to Van Vleuten, at least so far in the earlier season races; Strade Bianche, the three Ardennes Classics, second overall at La Vuelta Feminine, Itzulia Women and the Tour de Suisse, plus won Vuelta a Burgos and the Dutch Championships.

She opted to skip the Giro Donne this year so that she could focus 100% on the Tour de France Femmes and has undoubtedly been meticulously planning her training and preparation at altitude camps. 

There is only one big climbing day, as opposed to two, which will shift the odds closer to her favour. She too is a powerful time triallist, so the final day in Pau could be a decisive one. The majority of the route is also well-suited to the sprinters and puncheurs, which Vollering will capitalise on in the first six stages, to gain as much of an advantage as possible before the mountainous stage 7.

SD Worx is always one of the most powerful teams, so Vollering will certainly have strong support, perhaps more powerful than Movistar. However, the team might opt to divide the roster to back both Vollering, sprinter Lorena Wiebes and wildcard Lotte Kopecky.

Kasia Niewiadoma

So close to a stage win at the 2022 Tour de France Femmes, yet so far. Kasia Niewiadoma had high expectations for winning stage 3 on the short but steep climb into Epernay, an ascent that some compared to the Mur de Huy. Her disappointment at finishing sixth was palpable.

It wasn't meant to be that day but her chances of a stage win at the 2023 Tour de France Femmes have exponentially increased with more mid-mountain routes and the possibility for small selections.

She says that she's spent a lot of time training in Andorra, particularly based on her experience from last year's event. She aims to be less predictable in the field, while her team will aim to be aggressive to make the most of what the race has to offer in stage wins and overall.

"After doing the course recon, both GC contenders and riders targeting only stage victories, are going to go all out every day. Every day, there is an opportunity to impact GC, which will be exciting for fans to follow. I'm aiming to be more invisible and less predictable in the peloton. I aim to defend my podium spot on GC and win a stage. As a team, I believe we can achieve a GC podium and team classification like in 2022, and I want that we can add a stage win to our success."

The Polish all-rounder is best suited to routes that include relentless steep pitches. It is when other riders are having difficulty recovering from a succession of efforts that she seems to excel. So, stage 2 into Mauriac and stage 4 into Rodez, look particularly well-suited to Niewiadoma's strengths. 

The Canyon-SRAM rider also trained specifically for 20 minutes plus efforts last year to prepare for Le Markstein and La Super Planche des Belles, and while she did not win on these stages, she pleasantly surprised herself with strong and consistent performances she hadn't thought possible.

Continuing to work on the longer, high-mountain ascents in preparation for the Tour de France Femmes' focal points on the Col d'Aspin and Col du Tourmalet on stage 7 could leave her moving a step closer to the yellow jersey.

Elisa Longo Borghini

Elisa Longo Borghini and Niewiadoma have many similarities as riders, both excel on mid-mountain stages and show consistency and determination on the longer ascents. Longo Borghini's asset, however, is her mentality. The Italian is prepared to create race situations that suit her best. 

She has a history of racing aggressively and forming the selections at the biggest races. Not willing to sit back and wait for the race to happen, the Lidl-Trek rider often takes the race by the reins.

There is a certain air of impatience to her racing style. But it is this quality combined with her tenacity that has more often than not resulted in some of her biggest victories – Paris-Roubaix Femmes, Tour of Flanders and even the Women's Tour.

She is one of the most well-rounded and versatile riders in the peloton, and it is not often that we see riders winning Paris-Roubaix who are also contesting the high mountains of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. 

Longo Borghini was on her way to an outstanding Giro d'Italia Donne, winning stage 4 and was positioned second overall behind eventual winner Annemiek van Vleuten, when she crashed on the final descent of stage 5 and was forced to abandon the race.

She is listed as a starter for Lidl-Trek at the Tour de France Femmes, however, despite being one of the favourites, her health will be the priority and so she is somewhat of an unknown.

If she is fully recovered, it wouldn't surprise anyone to see Longo Borghini winning the mid-mountain stages at the 2023 Tour de France Femmes, perhaps even wearing the yellow jersey for a day or two, while also holding her own, unwilling to give up, on the Tourmalet.

Potentially supported by riders like Lizzie Deignan and Lucinda Brand, watch for Longo Borghini to improve on her sixth place overall.

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig

It was a delight to watch Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig win stage 3 on the steep slopes into Epernay at the 2022 Tour de France Femmes, and there was no forgetting her authentic emotions in the post-race interview that captured how much that victory meant to her.

It wasn't the best season for the Danish rider up until that point. Forced out of the Ardennes due to COVID-19, she made a major comeback racing through the Giro d'Italia and into a stage win at the Tour de France Femmes and then took overall victory at Tour of Scandinavia.

FDJ-SUEZ, however, also realised the winning potential in Marta Cavalli who won the Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne but was forced out of the Tour de France Femmes after a horrific crash, and Évita Muzic on the podium in a stage and eighth overall at Tour de France Femmes.

The team now has a selection of cards to play with Uttrup Ludwig and Cavalli, and Grace Brown, Loes Adegeest, Evita Muzic, Vittoria Guazzini, while sprinter Clara Copponi will have plenty of opportunity early in the race, for a full complement of possibilities at the Tour de France Femmes. 

The route is such that this team can capitalise on its versatility through the stages, with Uttrup Ludwig and Cavalli at the centre for the overall classification.

Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio

Moving from SD Worx to AG Insurance-NXTG Team this year meant that Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio has the opportunity to lead the team at the Tour de France Femmes.

She was a rising talent during her time with the former Bigla programme, where it seemed like the sky was the limit for her in pro cycling. Landing a contract with top-tier teams CCC-Liv and SD Worx, however, meant that she was placed in an important support role, with riders like Marianne Vos and Anna van der Breggen taking centre stage. 

In the 2022 Tour de France Femmes, it was Demi Vollering her team was backing for GC and Moolman Pasio stepped into a support role for a new generation in what was expected to be her final season before retiring. 

She had reconsidered leaving the sport when a new opportunity presented itself at the three-tier development programme AG Insurance-NXTG Team.

Here it appears Moolman-Pasio has that opportunity to shine as a full-fledged team leader. She already created sparks, at the end of last year, winning the queen stage atop the Thyon 2000 and the overall title at Tour de Romandie. She also won the queen stage of the 2021 Giro d'Italia Donne atop Monte Matajur. 

It's been a successful season with her new outfit this year, punctuated by extending her contract through 2024, after she won stages at Setmana Ciclista Valenciana and CIC-Tour Féminin Pyrénées, as well as another victory in the UCI 1.1 level Durango–Durango race in Spain.

They are results that bode well for the Tour de France Femmes 2023, which has a crowning feature on the Col du Tourmalet, so watch for Moolman-Pasio to excel in both her stage and GC goals.

It will be a relatively inexperienced group compared to SD Worx or Lidl-Trek, so will need to focus their efforts at the 2023 Tour de France Femmes and not spread the team too thin. Moolman-Pasio has shown that she can race with the best if given the chance and so why not put all their efforts into one big GC goal?

Mavi Garcia

Mavi Garcia's experience at the 2022 Tour de France Femmes was horrendous, particularly during the stage 4 gravel route where she flatted twice and was hit by her own team car. 

Needless to say, her ambitions for a top-three placing in the eight-day race went up in smoke, although she managed to stay in the top ten, which was a remarkable performance all considered.

In recent years, Garcia has transformed from a professional duathlete into a contender at challenging one-day races, and now into one of the best stage racers in the world. If she hadn't had so much bad luck at the Tour de France Femmes in 2022, we would likely have seen her pushing toward the overall podium, and that frustration just might add fuel to the fire in 2023.

She has shown her ability to climb in one-day races like Strade Bianche, and the Ardennes, and then really flourished at the Giro d'Italia Donne in 2022 where she challenged Annemiek van Vleuten in the higher mountains and finished third overall. More recently, she finished seventh overall at the Giro Donne at the beginning of July, but her form is continually improving.

Garcia is with a new team this year having signed a contract with Liv Racing TeqFind. The team's title sponsor, Liv, financially backs the event, so the team has every reason to go all out in supporting Garcia in her dreams of finishing on the podium at the Tour de France Femmes.

Silvia Persico

The revelation of the Tour de France Femmes, Silvia Persico finished seven of the eight stages inside the top 10 and was fifth overall while racing for the development team Valcar Travel & Service. 

The Italian all-rounder now has a team to support even bigger ambitions in 2023, having moved up to the Women's WorldTour with UAE Team ADQ.

A rider who can contest the high mountain passes and the sprint finishes is bound to do well in the overall classification. Racing for a top-tier team marked a steep learning curve for Persico, but she had support from incoming director Davide Arzeni, who had been her coach for six years and was also the director at Valcar.

Persico has an almost untapped potential that, if the team nurtures wisely, has the capacity to result in stage wins and possibly even a podium at the Tour de France Femmes in 2023.

UAE Team ADQ will also have a selection of cards to play in both a support role for Persico and in the mountains. Incoming riders like Olivia Baril and Alena Amialiusik, combined with Erica Magnaldi, mean that UAE Team ADQ has a real shot at a high overall place at the Tour de France Femmes.

Her year, to date, is moving in an upward trajectory with top-10s at Trofeo Alfredo Binda, Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne, and she won Brabantse Pijl. She was 12th at la Vuelta Femenina, 9th at Vuelta a Burgos, runner-up at the Italian Road Championships, behind Elisa Longo Borghini, and 8th at the Giro Donne. It all shows that she is coming into top form just in time for this key period of racing.

Juliette Labous

Juliette Labous has come into her own as a general classification rider for Team dsm-firmenich. Joining the team under Sunweb in 2017, she has developed with the programme for six seasons and has extended her contract through 2024. 

She had a breakout year in 2021 with top-10 overall performances at Tour of Norway, Women's Tour and one-day races Flèche Wallonne and at the World Championships. In 2022 she made another big step forward with an overall victory at the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas, a stage win at the Giro d'Italia and fifth overall at Itzulia Women.

By the time she reached the Tour de France Femmes, the French media were lining up to speak with the rising star at the nation's marquee home event. A consistent performance on the undulating stages and in the higher mountains saw her finish fourth overall.

She has taken another step in her career, recently, with a second overall at the Giro Donne earlier this month and will take that top form up a notch at her home race.

One can't help but wonder what such a strong performance could do for her confidence heading into the 2023 Tour de France Femmes. She will certainly remain a contender for the mountainous stage 7, and she has been working on her time trial in recent years, which will keep her in GC contention through the finale in Pau.

Veronica Ewers

Another rider who shot to prominence at the 2022 Tour de France Femmes, Veronica Ewers came into the race with EF Education-TIBCO-SVB as a dark horse with little experience on the WorldTour. 

She joined the team as a trainee in August 2021 and signed her first full-season contract to race on the WorldTour for the 2022 season. She did not disappoint with victories at Festival Elsy Jacobs and Navarra Women's Elite Classics, along with podiums at Emakumeen Nafarroako Women's Elite Classics, Durango - Durango Emakumeen Saria, Giro dell'Emilia Internazionale Donne Elite and Tre Valli Varesine Women's Race. 

Among her numerous top-10 performances, she finished fourth in a stage and ninth overall at the Tour de France Femmes.

Having a full-year experience in the top tier of racing could allow Ewers to make that next step up, and she will have the support of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB to continue that progress into a dedicated team leader.

Ewers recently competed in the Giro d'Italia Donne where she finished fourth overall behind Van Vleuten, Labous, and Gaia Realini, showing that she is one of the most powerful climbers in the world and a likely contender for stage 7 at Tourmalet.