As it happened: France take one-two yet again as Le Court salvages yellow at Tour de France Femmes stage 7

Bonjour and welcome to our live updates of the seventh stage at the 2025 Tour de France Femmes.

Today's stage begins in Bourg-en-Bresse and travels over a distance of 159.7km with a finish in Chambéry. There are three categorised climbs on the menu today with one category four and two category two climbs. As well as the usual intermediate sprint which takes place in Groslée-Saint-Benoit.

The first climb of the day tops out with around 40km to go. The second climb at 30km to go and the final climb with just 12km to go. With a rapid descent to the finish. This should be a properly big stage for the GC fight.

All the riders are getting ready for the stage and signing on with the help of some little friends as Alice Maria Arzuffi (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) gets a helping hand at sign on...

Before looking towards today's stage, lets take a dive back into what was a very intriguing day in the GC fight yesterday...

>>> Gigante on the radar, Niewiadoma-Phinney gets an edge, Vollering and Ferrand-Prévot conserve – Revealing movements on first Tour de France Femmes mountain day

Onto today, then. And it could be an integral day in the GC fight with plenty of attack points in the final 40 to 30 kilometres. Especially the last climb of the Col du Granier...

>>> Tour de France Femmes 2025 stage 7 preview – The Col du Granier could bring major GC moves, but on the way down, not up

The riders are due to roll out for the neutral start in roughly half an hour's time.

The GC changed slightly yesterday with Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) extending her lead and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM-ZondaCrypto) among a few others all moving up...

1. Kim Le Court (MAU) AG Insurance-Soudal 18:29'05"
2. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (FRA) Visma-Lease a Bike +26"
3. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (POL) Canyon-SRAM-ZondaCrypto +30"
4. Demi Vollering (NED) FDJ-Suez +31"
5. Anna van der Breggen (NED) SD Worx-Protime +35"
6. Pauliena Rooijakkers (NED) Fenix-Deceuninck +53"
7. Sarah Gigante (AUS) AG Insurance-Soudal +1'03"
8. Puck Pieterse (NED) Fenix-Deceuninck +1'12"
9. Cedrine Kerbaol (FRA) EF Education-Oatly +1'24"
10. Evita Muzic (FRA) FDJ-Suez S.T.

Just 15 minutes until the neutral start.

Will Kim Le Court or Sarah Gigante add another lion or other cuddly toy to the collection on the AG Insurance-Soudal team bus at the end of today?

Its a hot start to the day in Bourg-en-Bresse with 26°c at the start with the heat riding to almost 30°c in Chambéry for the finish.

Neutral start

The riders roll out of the start in Bourg-en-Bresse and set off for stage 7 in the neutralised zone.

The official start is due to be given in 5 minutes.

It has been a real mixed bag of a race for UAE Team ADQ. They're down to 4 riders but have a stage win and are looking very good with aggressive tactics...

>>> 'We have nothing to lose' – Down to four riders, aggressive racing saves UAE Team ADQ's Tour de France Femmes

159.7km to go

The flag is waves and racing begins for stage 7 of the Tour de France Femmes 2025. It has been confirmed that 132 riders started today with no DNSs this morning.

No early break has managed to form just yet.

Still no sign of an early break. The peloton are riding at speed with the average being 47.9kph so far.

150km to go

Almost 10km into the stage and no-one has managed any form of gap on the peloton.

Attack!

Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ)

Yesterday's stage winner is flying on cloud 9 after taking stage 6. Her max gap was 18" but it is now back down to 8". She is alone for the moment.

Counter attack

Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek)

It was a very frustrating day for Lidl-Trek yesterday with Niamh Fisher-Black losing over two minutes to her rivals thanks to a mechanical.

Brand has launched and has quickly joined Squiban at the front of the race.

Brand and Squiban have a gap of 18" over the chasing peloton.

Brand and Squiban have been caught and the fight to form the break begins again.

140km to go

Another 10km tick by and still no sign of a breakaway getting a sniff of a gap on the peloton.

A large group of riders have a gap on the peloton. It quickly stretches to 18" over the peloton.

This new breakaway's gap has shot out to a minute in no time at all. This looks like it could be the break of the day.

The leading group is made up of 17 riders.

The average speed is starting to drop. It is now shown as being 43kph.

130km to go

The kilometres are being rattled through by the peloton as they fly along the flatter terrain on their way to the climbs.

Breakaway:

Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime)
Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM-ZondaCrypto)
Marie Le Net (FDJ-Suez)
Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ)
Eline Jansen (VolkerWessels)
Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal)
Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek)
Megan Jastrab (Picnic-PostNL)
Ruth Edwards (Human Powered Health)
Celia Le Mouel (Ceratizit)
Mareille Meijering (Movistar)
Maud Rijnbeek (VolkerWessels)
Alice Maria Arzuffi (Labora Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi)
Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek)
Alicia Gonzalez (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93)
Fiona Mangan (Winspace-Orange-Seal)
Susanne Andersen (Uno-X Mobility)

Eline Jansen of VolkerWessels is the best placed rider in the break going into today at 5'40", 17th overall. She is followed by Justine Ghekiere of AG Insurance-Soudal at 7'44" with only Squiban being another rider inside 10 minutes.

The peloton appear to be relatively happy with the breakaway as multiple riders are dropping back to the cars to get bottles and food.

The break is made up of some incredible talents and riders who would be perfect as satellite riders when the climbs start. But will anyone use them as that? And will the gap get large enough for the break for that to be a possibility?

The peloton has let the time gap stretch out to over three minutes.

Multiple teams are leading the peloton but they are mainly led by Liv-AlUla-Jayco who have missed the breakaway.

120km to go

The gap is now at 3'05" between the break and the peloton.

The breakaway are flying along but the peloton have reduced the gap to 2'55".

Peloton split into three groups under the pressure of the pace change.

Crash!

Soraya Paladin (Canyon-SRAM-ZondaCrypto)

The Italian rider who was so strong yesterday has come down in a crash.

The first hour's average speed was 47.1kph.

Mechanical

Henrietta Christie (EF Education-Oatly)

110km to go

The peloton are now 2'45" behind the breakaway with a group off the back of the bunch by about 30".

The temperature has gone up to 28.7°c.

The peloton has stitched itself back together again after splitting.

20km to go until the intermediate sprint in Groslée-Saint-Benoit.

It was Visma-Lease a Bike that really upped the tempo in the peloton and split it into three. However, their pacing didn't close in on the break too much and didn't definitively split the peloton.

Visma-Lease a Bike are keen to close this down with Fenix-Deceuninck and Liv-AlUla-Jayco as they have all missed the move. The gap is now at 2'40".

100km to go

The race nears the intermediate sprint with the gap stabilised at 2'40".

Gap is still stable at 2'40".

Just 10km to the intermediate sprint in Groslée-Saint-Benoit.

The gap goes up again for the first time in a while to 2'50" as the break fight back against the pace being set by Visma-Lease a Bike.

Dygert and Kopecky have upped the pace in the breakaway, which explains the time gain.

Attack

Lotte Kopecky and Chloe Dygert go clear of the rest of the breakaway.

Kopecky and Dygert are caught by the rest of the breakaway again. They have a gap of 2'45" over the peloton.

Abandon

Soraya Paladin (Canyon-SRAM-ZondaCrypto)

The Italian has had to leave the race after crashing.

Paladin abandoning leaves 131 riders left in the race.

Mechanical

Gladys Verhulst-Wild (AG Insurance-Soudal)

She quickly got assistance and is now back in the peloton again.

6km to the intermediate sprint for the break who now have a gap of 3'05" to the peloton.

The break extend their advantage to 3'10" on the peloton.

The gap continues to grow to 3'20" between the break and the peloton.

Intermediate sprint (Groslée-Saint-Benoit)

1. Fiona Mangan (IRE) Winspace-Orange-Seal 25pts
2. Alicia Gonzalez (ESP) St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93 20pts
3. Ruth Edwards (USA) Human Powered Health 17pts
4. Lotte Kopecky (BEL) SD Worx-Protime 15pts
5. Marie Le Net (FRA) FDJ-Suez 13pts
6. Eline Jansen (NED) VolkerWessels 11pts
7. Alice Maria Arzuffi (ITA) Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi 10pts
8. Celia Le Mouel (FRA) Ceratizit 9pts
9. Chloe Dygert (USA) Canyon-SRAM-ZondaCrypto 8pts
10. Mareille Meijering (NED) Movistar 7pts
11. Megan Jastrab (USA) Picnic-PostNL 6pts
12. Shirin van Anrooij (NED) Lidl-Trek 5pts
13. Lucinda Brand (NED) Lidl-Trek 4pts
14. Justine Ghekiere (BEL) AG Insurance-Soudal 3pts
15. Maeva Squiban (FRA) UAE Team ADQ 2pts

80km to go

The gap is still extending to 3'33" over the peloton as the pace behind seems to have dropped away.

The gap is now out at four minutes between the breakaway and the peloton.

Olympic and world time trial champion, Grace Brown is at the Tour working for Australian TV also with the Cycling Alliance. She is hoping to get the peloton more united as various issues around rider respect bubble up...

>>> 'We can't sit here and say all the problems are from outside' – Cyclist Alliance's Grace Brown spearheads unity campaign at a Tour de France Femmes where debate over rider respect is bubbling

It has never been so close at this race after 6 stages!

The gap has slightly reduced to just over 4 minutes after being at 4'18".

British national champion, Millie Couzens (Fenix-Deceuninck), leads the peloton for her leaders of Pauliena Rooijakkers and Puck Pieterse.

The gap drops below four minutes again.

Picnic-PostNL and Liv-AlUla-Jayco come to the front of the peloton alongside Fenix-Deceuninck. They are now 3'47" behind the break.

Riders are starting to lose touch at the back of the peloton.

The likes of Valerie Demey (VolkerWessels), Marthe Truyen (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Elyne Roussel (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93) have been dropped by the peloton. Roussel looked absolutely empty.

60km to go

The gap is continuing to fall with the gap now at 3'30" with around 12km to the top of the first QoM of the day.

The peloton is now led by EF Education-Oatly, FDJ-Suez, Lidl-Trek and Fenix-Deceuninck with Visma-Lease a Bike trying to move up on the narrow roads to join them on the front.

The peloton slow up their pace on the narrow roads as EF Education-Oatly, FDJ-Suez, Lidl-Trek and Fenix-Deceuninck control the pacing.

The gap is going back up towards four minutes again.

The riders have started the first climb of the day, the category 2 climb of Côte de Saint-Franc which is 3.8km at 6.9%. Immdiately, Andersen and Gonzalez are dropped from the break.

Brand has also been dropped from the breakaway.

Another rider distanced by the break, Irish rider Mangan.

50km to go

The pace is up as SD Worx-Protime join the teams on the front of the bunch with several riders losing touch.

3km to the top of the climb and a gap of 3'47" between the break and peloton.

Jastrab and Rijnbeek are the next riders to be dropped from the break.

Arzuffi also loses touch with the leaders.

AG Insurance-Soudal lose two riders from the peloton with Isle Pluimers and Shari Bossuyt.

With just over a kilometre from the top Eline Jansen (VolkerWessels) is dropped by the break. The best placed rider in the lead group is distanced.

Van Anrooij is leading the break and setting a very hard tempo leaving just 9 riders in the front.

1km to the top of the first QoM of the day.

QoM (Côte de Saint-Franc)

1. Maeva Squiban (FRA) UAE Team ADQ 5pts
2. Shirin van Anrooij (NED) Lidl-Trek 3pts
3. Lotte Kopecky (BEL) SD Worx-Protime 2pts
1. Mareille Meijring (NED) Movistar 1pt

That puts Squiban on 10 points in 4th overal in the QoM standings as she begins to throw her name into the hat for the polka dots.

Keeping cool and hydrated is key, today more than any other as the temperature goes over 30°c.

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM-ZondaCrypto) is one of the big favourites for today's stage with a rapid descent to the finish.

>>> Bonus seconds launch Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney onto Tour de France Femmes GC podium in first mountain test

Multiple riders dropped from the break have made it back in over the top and have now made the group grow to 13 riders. They have a gap of 4'22" over the peloton.

40km to go

Lorena Wiebes comes to the front of the peloton for her SD Worx-Protime leader, Anna van der Breggen. The gap between the break and peloton is now at 4'10".

The break are about to start the second climb of the day, the category 4 Côte de Berland which is 1.2km long with an average gradient of 7.2%.

The gap between the peloton and break goes over 5 minutes for the first time today.

500 metres to the top of the Côte de Berland climb.

QoM (Côte de Berland)

1. Maeva Squiban (FRA) UAE Team ADQ 2pts
2. Maud Rijnbeeek (NED) VolkerWessels 1pt

Squiban onto 12 points now, just 2 points away from third is the QoM classification.

Fenix-Deceuninck really turning the screw in the peloton and it is seeing yet more riders go out of the back. It is Christina Schweinberger doing the damange. Dropping Lorena Wiebes among others.

Meijering (Movistar) tried to go on the attack from the back of the break after being at the car but the break drifted across and unintentionally blocked the move.

Attack!

Mareille Meijering (Movistar)
Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ)
Maud Rijnbeek (VolkerWessels)

But it was spotted a mile off and it swiftly shut down.

The peloton, led by Fenix-Deceuninck, have cut the break's gap down dramatically. It was over 5 minutes it is now under three minutes.

Attack!

Maud Rijnbeek (VolkerWessels)

The Dutch rider launches clear and gets a small gap.

Rijnbeek has maybe 3" of a gap on the chasers.

Chase group look at each other and Rijnbeek increases her gap with 5km to the bottom of the final climb.

Squiban now tries a move in the chase group to force a split but nothing is going yet.

Rijnbeek gets her gap out to 33" over the chasing group with the peloton a further 1'30" behind them.

Schweinberger swings off the front of the peloton and now it is the turn of Yara Kastelijn who takes over for Fenix-Deceuninck on the front of the peloton potentially setting up an attack by Rooijakkers or Pieterse.

Oddly, after all that work from Schweinberger, Kastelijn sits up and it sees Cecile Uttrup Ludwig (Canyon-SRAM-ZondaCrypto), Riejanne Markue (Lidl-Trek) and Francesca Barale (Picnic-PostNL) come to the front as well.

Attack in chase

Mareille Meijering (Movistar)
Ruth Edwards (Human Powered Health)

They have a 31" gap to bridge to Rijnbeek.

Meijering and Edwards have flown across the gap and are almost with Rijnbeek as they're about to start the Col du Granier.

Onto the final climb of the day, the Col du Granier, 8.9km long with an average gradient of 5.4% as Meijering and Edwards catch Rijnbeek. 30" back to the chasing group and just over 2 minutes to the peloton.

Rijnbeek, Edwards and Meijering have 28" on the chasers with a gap of 2'20" to the peloton.

Rijnbeek has been dropped by Meijering and Edwards. In the chase group, multiple riders are losing touch as Arzuffi, Kopecky, Le Mouel, Jansen and Jastrab are dropped from the chase group.

Squiban, Van Anrooij and Dygert go clear with Ghekiere but the Belgian champion loses touch.

Squiban jumps across to Meijering and Edwards dropping Van Anrooij and Dygert who are trying to pace their way across the gap.

5km from the top of the climb. Van Anrooij and Dygert make it back across to Squiban, Meijering and Edwards.

Kastelijn comes back to the front of the peloton for Rooijakkers and Pieterse as they look to make it hard for their rivals yet again. The peloton are now 2'29" down on the break.

Attack!

Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ)
Mareille Meijering (Movistar)

A superb seated attack by yesterday's stage winner. She is absolutely flying on the climbs. Meijering is on a great day as well as she can follow.

20km to go

Squiban and Meijering continue to push hard with Van Anrooij and Edwards 19" behind. The peloton are 2'19" off the leaders.

The peloton is splitting to pieces with the likes of Marion Bunel (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) dropped.

Kastelijn is really upping the pace.

Yellow jersey dropped!

Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) can't follow the pace! She is dropped with Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) among others due to the pressure put on by Pieterse's own teammate.

Rooijakkers goes to the front of the GC group with Le Court losing a lot of ground.

Attack in break

Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ)

She launches and goes solo after finally dropping Meijering.

Cedrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) and Julie Bego (Cofidis) have also been dropped by the GC group.

GC group:

Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck)
Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez)
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinnney (Canyon-SRAM-ZondaCrypto)
Juliette Labous (FDJ-Suez)
Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek)
Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal)
Anna van der Breggen (NED) SD Worx-Protime)
Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Among some riders being dropped from the break including Kopecky.

Squiban is about to go over the top of the climb and taking 5 points and will go into joint second in the QoM standings.

Vollering goes to the front of the GC group.

QoM (Col du Granier)

1. Maeva Squiban (FRA) UAE Team ADQ 5pts
2. Mareille Meijering (NED) Movistar 3pts
3. Ruth Edwards (USA) Human Powered Health 2pts
4. Shirin van Anrooij (NED) Lidl-Trek 1pt

Vollering is really turning the screw in the GC group but everyone can follow. Labous takes over.

Attack!

Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez)

She goes to the front for the descent as they catch Ghekiere. Everyone can follow and Le Court isn't actually that far away as she closes to 20" from the GC group.

Vollering is really pushing hard with Niewiadoma-Phinney and Ferrand-Prevot following her. This is an extremely fast descent on very technical roads down to Chambéry.

Gigante losing touch with the peloton on the descent but she has Ghekiere with her to try and help her stay in contact.

Vollering sends Labous to the front of the as she wasn't getting any gap on her rivals. Le Court has closed the gap further to 17" now.

10km to go

Maeva Squiban leads by 1'04" over Van Anrooij, Edwards and Meijering. The GC group is at 1'27" and Le Court is at 1'56".

Kopecky makes it back to the GC group with an extremely impressive descent by her.

Kerbaol has got back into the GC group as well with a, perhaps unsurprisingly, amazing descent.

Le Net, on Le Court's wheel, radioing her temmates in the GC group to say that yellow jersey is coming back.

5km to go

This is a superb ride by Maeva Squiban as she is going to take her second Tour de France Femmes stage win in as many days. She just needs to stay on her bike.

Van Anrooij, Edwards and Meijering are closing the gap to Squiban but it is at 57", is it too little too late?

Kim Le Court makes it back to the GC group again! They will not take yellow from her today.

Attack

Cedrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly)

She takes a small gap on the Niewiadoma-Phinney led group.

Niewiadoma-Phinney is trying to join Kerbaol on this descent as they both attack the GC group.

Flamme Rouge

Squiban is riding to yet another stage win at this race. She is flying at this Tour.

Kerbaol is absolutely flying on the descent. She has gapped everyone else and looks like she will finally be taking time on her rivals.

Kerbaol has caught Meijering and is about to catch Van Anrooij and Edwards.

500 metres to go for Squiban.

Maeva Squiban of UAE Team ADQ wins stage 7 of the Tour de France Femmes 2025. Her second win in as many days.

Cedrine Kerbaol of EF Education-Oatly takes second and makes it the second day in a row where France take first and second on the day! Ruth Edwards of Human Powered Health pipped to third.

Stage 7 top 10

1. Maeva Squiban (FRA) UAE Team ADQ 3:58'26"
2. Cedrine Kerbaol (FRA) EF Education-Oatly +51"
3. Ruth Edwards (USA) Human Powered Health S.T.
4. Shirin van Anrooij (NED) Lidl-Trek +53"
5. Dominika Włodarczyk (POL) UAE Team ADQ +1'00"
6. Kim Le Court (MAU) AG Insurance-Soudal
7. Anna van der Breggen (NED) SD Worx-Protime
8. Demi Vollering (NED) FDJ-Suez
9. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (POL) Canyon-SRAM-ZondaCrypto
10. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZL) Lidl-Trek all S.T.

GC after stage 7

1. Kim Le Court (MAU) AG Insurance-Soudal 22:28'31"
2. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (FRA) Visma-Lease a Bike +26"
3. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinnney (POL) Canyon-SRAM-ZondaCrypto +30"
4. Demi Vollering (NED) FDJ-Suez +31"
5. Anna van der Breggen (NED) SD Worx-Protime +35"
6. Pauliena Rooijakkers (NED) Fenix-Deceuninck +1'04"
7. Cedrine Kerbaol (FRA) EF Education-Oatly +1'09"
8. Sarah Gigante (AUS) AG Insurance-Soudal +1'14"
9. Evita Muzic (FRA) FDJ-Suez +1'35"
10. Juliette Labous (FRA) FDJ-Suez S.T.

CyclingNews is the place to be for all the reactions, quotes, analysis and more on the Tour de France Femmes and beyond. The perfect place to start is with our post race report which is linked just below...

>>> Tour de France Femmes stage 7: Maeva Squiban repeats solo victory with dramatic back-to-back long-range attacks

What an incredible two days for Maeva Squiban. She is now up to 16th in GC and join 2nd in the QoM standings with Silke Smulders (Liv-AlUla-Jayco).

Despite some drama on the Col du Granier, Kim Le Court managed to put in what she described as "the descent of my life" to get back into the GC group and to keep yellow going into the Queen Stage tomorrow.

Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) keeps her polka dot jersey for another day but sees a fresh challenge for the jersey by Maeva Squiban as the Bretagne star moves into joint second in the QoM standings.

Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) keeps her 30 point lead over Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the green points jersey classification with Kim Le Court 75 points off her lead.

One jersey does see a change though as Nienke Vinke (Picnic-PostNL) snatches white from Julie Bego (Cofidis).

Vinke finished in 24th place on the day 2'34" down on Squiban. Whereas, Bego finished 40th 3'17" down. Vinke now leads by 21".

And, of course, Maeva Squiban was awardd the most combative rider award for a second day in a row.

Tomorrow's stage starts in today's finishing town of Chambéry with a route of 111.9km on the menu and a summit finish on the Col de la Madeleine, a high category climb 18.6km long with a brutal average gradient of 8.1%. This is likely going to be the race deciding stage.

It isn't all about the Madeleine, though. There are two climbs beforehand including the 13.2km long category 1 Col de Plainpalais which has an average gradient of 6.3% and the category 2 Côte de Saint-Georges-d'Hurtières which is 4.8km long with an average gradient of 5.9%. And the intermediate sprint in Châteauneuf.