The TOUR Tech briefing on stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes 2025

Robert Kühnen

 · 27.07.2025

The TOUR Tech briefing on stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes 2025Photo: Getty Images/Szymon Gruchalski
From 26 July to 3 August, the best female cyclists in the world will compete in the Tour de France Femmes. Victory or defeat on the roads of France will be decided not only by the legs, but also by the equipment. The TOUR Tech-Briefing for the 3rd stage.

Topics in this article

Tour de France Femmes 2025 - Stage 3: La Gacilly - Angers | 163.5 kilometres | 1320 vertical metres

The elevation profile of the 3rd stagePhoto: A.S.O.The elevation profile of the 3rd stage

The third stage is likely to be one that the sprinters have marked out for themselves. Apart from a fourth category climb after 34 kilometres, there are no significant topographical obstacles to overcome. The approach to Angers is flat.

The sprinters' teams will therefore do everything they can to ensure that it comes down to a sprint decision. The favourites are the top sprinters Lorena Wiebes and Charlotte Kool, but Marianne Vos and Elisa Balsamo are also candidates for a sprint success.

What role does the bike play? Does one of the favourites have a superior bike? We explore this question in our simulation of the finish.

The number of the day: five hundredths of a second

In the simulated sprint over 200 metres, with 1400 W peak power and 1250 W over five seconds - these are Lorena Wiebes' astonishing power data - our avatar on the Cervélo S5 is the fastest, one hundredth of a second ahead of the second-placed Canyon Aeroad. The bike of top favourite Wiebes is five hundredths of a second slower. Marianne Vos therefore has a small technical advantage with her bike over Lorena Wiebes.

The (almost) complete field at a glance

tour/stage-3-tdff-2025_bdfabf1dcbac5c8f4623d99816e18aabPhoto: Robert Kühnen

The table shows the ranking after 250 metres of virtual sprint. The field is sorted according to aero performance.

Our expert

                               Photo: Robert Kühnen

Robert Kühnen studied mechanical engineering, writes about technical and training topics for TOUR and develops test methods. Robert has been refining the simulation calculations for years and they are also used by professional teams.



Share article:

Robert wurde 1964 in Düsseldorf geboren und fuhr seine ersten Straßenrennen mit 17 Jahren. Zum Spitzenrennfahrer reichte es nicht, aber zu späten Nischenerfolgen. 2011 gelang es Robert, Zeitfahrweltmeister der Journalisten zu werden. Nach seinem Maschinenbaustudium in Essen führte ihn sein Weg bereits 1993 zur TOUR, wo er anfangs mit der Legende Hans Christian Smolik zusammenarbeitete. Heute ist Robert freiberuflich für TOUR und BIKE unterwegs, mit den Schwerpunktthemen Aerodynamik, Messtechnik und Entwicklung neuer Prüfmethoden. Motto: Geht nicht? Gibt‘s nicht. Robert berät auch die Radindustrie und Profiteams, coacht Athleten und kümmert sich um den Radsportnachwuchs. Als Radsportler mag es Robert kurz und schnell, auf schmalen wie auf breiten Reifen.

Most read in category Professional - Cycling