2026 Tour de France Femmes: Preview of Stage 1: A kick-off for everyone between the lakes

​Key information about Stage 1 of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes

• Saturday, 1 August: Lausanne – Lausanne
• 138 kilometres, 1,700 metres of elevation gain (flat)
• Mountain classifications: km 49.1 (Category 3), km 83.5 (Category 3), km 97.1 (Category 3), km 138 (Category 4)
• Intermediate sprint: 73.1 km
• Start: 2.15 pm, Finish: approx. 5.44 pm
• Live updates and results

The route of the first stage of the Tour de France Femmes

The 5th Tour de France Femmes gets underway on Saturday with the Grand Départ in Switzerland – a few kilometres longer than last year’s record-breaking edition, but perhaps a little easier. As in 2025, there will be nine stages.

The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift – to give it its full and official name – is, this year, less of a tour covering the whole of France and more of a race that, apart from a section in Switzerland, takes place exclusively in south-western France. This does at least mean shorter journeys: the transfers between the stages are straightforward.

The opening stage also starts and finishes in Lausanne, Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva. From there, the route heads straight north to Yverdon-les-Bains at the southern tip of Lake Neuchâtel. The 30 kilometres to Yverdon-les-Bains are relatively flat. The route then continues along the lakeshore towards the north-east, where the Côte des Chàbles (3rd category) awaits as the race’s first mountain classification.

There, the route leaves the lakeshore, heads a few more kilometres inland and then begins the return journey to Lausanne. This section is a little more challenging. There are two further Category 3 climbs to tackle before reaching the shores of Lake Geneva. From Chexbres, it’s just under 25 kilometres to the finish, all of which are as flat as a pancake. Except for the final 2,500 metres in Lausanne. Acting as a sort of final climb, the day’s last mountain classification (4th category) awaits here, with an average gradient of 4.6 per cent.

A sporting analysis of Stage 1 of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes

Strictly speaking, the first stage of the Tour de France Femmes would be a classic sprinter’s stage – were it not for the final climb, which stretches over two and a half kilometres at a gradient of 4.5 per cent. The final 600 metres of this are at less than one per cent gradient, but the middle section in particular – with a gradient of over eight per cent over 500 metres – is no walk in the park.

On paper, it sounds as though this could be just the ticket for Elisa Balsamo (Lidl – Trek). At the Giro d’Italia, the Italian proved that this sort of terrain is right up her street. Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx – Protime) has done the same in the past, too. The Dutch rider is certainly in fine form. She won all three stages of the Tour de Pologne, which finished last weekend. If it proves a bit too tough for her, it could be a chance for her team-mate Lotto Kopecky to shine. Liane Lippert (Movistar Team) may also have her sights set on the stage and, should she succeed, could become the first German to wear the Tour’s yellow jersey. However, whatever Lippert can do, Franziska Koch (FDJ United – SUEZ) can now do too, having been crowned German champion for the third time in a row in June.

However, the women’s Grand Tours have also shown time and again recently that a small climb in the final stretch often brings the general classification favourites to the fore, and perhaps Demi Vollering (FDJ United – SUEZ) could also be in with a chance of claiming the opening stage victory. In any case, the list of potential contenders for the stage win is a long one.