For the second time in its five-year history, the Tour de France Femmes heads abroad for its Grand Départ, this time to Switzerland. Stage 1, held on the Swiss National Day on 1 August, is a 138km loop starting and finishing in Lausanne atop a 2.6km climb averaging 4.6%, likely to end in the sprint of a reduced group.
Starting on the shores of Lake Geneva, a neutral zone gets the peloton out of Lausanne before the flag is waved. Heading north towards Yverdon, the riders reach Lake Neuchâtel after 30km and follow its shoreline before tackling the fourth-category Côte de Châbles (1.6km at 7.7%), then turning east to Payerne and then south, back towards Lausanne.
The Tour's first intermediate sprint comes in Villeneuve near Surpierre after 73.1km, with the battle for the green jersey set to be launched once the breakaway has passed through.
Two third-category climbs – the Côte de Villars-le-Comte (4km at 5.5%) and Côte de Vulliens (3km at 5.3%) – follow in quick succession. The latter, cresting with 40.9km to go, should thin out the peloton.
Returning to Lake Geneva at 18.8km from the finish, the race then runs along the shore to Lausanne, skirting the UNESCO-listed Lavaux vineyards and reaching the start area just after the 3km mark and turning right onto the finishing climb.
The Côte Saint- François is similar to the first, less steep half of the climb the men’s peloton faced in their 2022 Tour stage to Lausanne. The riders will be climbing through the district of Ouchy up the 2.6km hill at an average of 4.6%.
It's not a steady gradient, however, with the first 500 metres at 6% before another 500 metres at 2.6%. The road then ramps up to 8% for the next 500, and 6.2% after that. The final 600 metres are the gentlest of the hill at 0.9%, though of course riders will already be racing to full speed with the finish line in sight.
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The stage has been classified as a flat stage by ASO, but a true mass sprint is unlikely as many riders will not be able to follow the strongest on that final ramp.
The contenders
A reduced peloton with a few sprinters hanging on could make it, though. In that case, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) has to be the favourite. She has won sprints on shorter uphill finishes before, and if she is in the first group when the finish line comes into sight, she is virtually unbeatable
Despite her peerless sprinting ability, taking victory here will still be a challenge for the Dutchwoman, especially if the strongest puncheurs of the race decide to push full gas from the bottom of the climb.
"I will also try to do my best in tomorrow's stage, of course. I think [yellow] is quite a big goal for the team, but we have to also see how the stage will work out."
Should she take the win, it'll be a major springboard en route to her green jersey defence, especially with few other sprint chances along the way – perhaps only stage 2 is suitable for a mass bunch sprint.
Two years ago, in the opening stage of the Tour de Romandie, which concluded atop the same climb, Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) beat Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime), Liane Lippert (Movistar), and Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly). All four riders are here again and should once again be in the mix.
It's also not out of the question that the Tour could even begin with a GC day right from the off, either. If the stage and final are raced hard, then look out for the likes of Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ), Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal), Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM), Paula Blasi (UAE Team L'IMAD), and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) to be in the mix.
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Profile of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes stage 1
(Image credit: ASO)
Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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