The 2026 edition of the Tour de France Femmes is set to get underway this Saturday in Lausanne, Switzerland, and all eyes are on defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot as she chases a historic repeat victory. The French rider, who claimed the 2025 title to end a 36-year drought for home-grown winners of the race, has built her entire 2026 campaign around this nine-stage showdown, and says she is ready to fight for the yellow jersey.
Ferrand-Prevot, an Olympic champion in mountain biking, made the deliberate choice to return to full-time road racing just two years ago, with the Tour de France Femmes as her sole top priority. That gamble paid off 12 months ago, when she crossed the line in Paris to become the first French rider to win the women’s Tour since 1989. This year, she has stuck to a carefully planned racing schedule tailored to peak in August: she notched up strong results at the spring classics, taking second at the Tour of Flanders and third at Paris-Roubaix, before stepping back from competition after finishing 35th overall at the Vuelta Femenina in May.
In an online media briefing with reporters this week, the 34-year-old laid out her season-long strategy, emphasizing that her focus has never wavered from the Tour. “My goal, since the beginning, is to be able to be 100% for the Tour de France, so I never really had in mind to win other races,” she said. “I know that I need a specific preparation to be able to win races, so I just pick my battle, and I choose the Tour de France as the battle. I’m not the kind of rider who can and who wants to perform all season long; I just want to have a big goal in the season and to commit to it.”
Ferrand-Prevot will have strong support from her Team Visma-Lease a Bike squad, which has been constructed specifically to support her bid for a second yellow jersey. The roster includes one of the most decorated riders in women’s cycling, triple Tour stage winner Marianne Vos, adding depth and tactical flexibility to the team’s campaign.
But the defending champion will face one of the strongest fields in the young race’s history, with bookmakers and pundits marking in-form Dutch rider Demi Vollering as the pre-race favorite. Vollering has enjoyed a stellar 2026 season, claiming overall victory at the Giro d’Italia Women and winning multiple top-tier one-day races, bringing the best current form into the race among all contenders.
A host of other top riders are also expected to challenge for the overall title: Swiss time trial specialist Marlen Reusser, reigning Vuelta Femenina winner Paula Blasi, and 2024 champion Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney are all considered legitimate podium contenders, while veteran contenders Elisa Longo Borghini and Anna van der Breggen cannot be counted out of a top result.
This year’s route, which wraps up with a finish in Nice on August 9, has already been labeled the most difficult edition of the women’s Tour since the race’s modern revival. Riders will tackle nearly 19,000 meters of total climbing over the nine days, including an individual time trial in Dijon and the first-ever appearance of the iconic Mont Ventoux climb in the women’s race. The legendary mountain is set to host a potentially decisive summit finish that could shake up the general classification before the race’s final day. If Mont Ventoux does not sort out the battle for yellow, the demanding hilly final stage around the French Riviera will provide one last opportunity for contenders to attack.
Race director Marion Rousse highlighted the challenges of the new route when it was unveiled last October, noting that the increasing depth of the women’s peloton called for a tougher, more dynamic course. “This is the toughest women’s Tour so far,” she said. “We’ve made it a little harder because the peloton is stronger. It’s a clever route – every stage has a potential trap.”