(left),
Annemiek van Vleuten (centre) and
Marianne Vos (right) at the
2022 Tour de France Femmes In June 2021, ASO announced that they would launch a new women's stage race,
Tour de France Femmes. The first edition The men's tour director,
Christian Prudhomme stated that lessons must be learned from the failure of previous events like the Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale, and the goal of ASO is to have a financially sustainable event, one "that will still exist in 100 years". The reaction to the launch of the event from the professional women's peloton was overwhelmingly positive, with
Anna van der Breggen stating that it has "long been a dream for many of us to compete in a women's Tour de France" and
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig stating that "this is a day that we’ve waited for, for a long time". The race has identical classifications to the Tour de France, with the yellow jersey for the general classification, the green jersey for the points classification, the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification, and the white jersey for the young rider (under 23) classification. The jerseys are made by
Santini. with other major Tour de France sponsors like
LCL,
E.Leclerc and
Škoda also supporting the event. The race has a prize fund of €250,000, making it the richest race in women's cycling. A report commissioned by Zwift stated that the race has "the biggest audience in women’s professional cycling".
Inaugural edition The route of the
2022 edition was announced in October 2021 by race director
Marion Rousse. The race started in Paris, with a stage finishing the
Champs-Élysées on the morning of the final day of the men's race. The 8 day race culminated in a summit finish at
La Planche des Belles Filles.
Marianne Vos took the green jersey of the points classification and
Demi Vollering took the polka dot jersey of the mountain classification, as well as finishing second overall. As the first official women's Tour de France since 1989, the race enjoyed substantial media coverage around the world. Race director Marion Rousse did note that there was room for improvement in future editions, and in women's cycling more generally. riding the stage 8 time trial at the
2023 Tour de France Femmes Subsequent editions The route of the
2023 edition was announced in October 2022 to praise from riders. The race started in
Clermont-Ferrand on the day that the
2023 Tour de France finished, before heading south across the
Massif Central towards the
Pyrenees. The final stage was an
individual time trial in
Pau. As with the 2022 edition, the race took place over 8 stages. For the second year in succession, the race was praised by the public, media, teams and riders. Race director Marion Rousse stated that the 2023 edition "was the year of confirmation: we had to prove that the first edition was not just curiosity". The route of the
2024 edition was announced in October 2023. Due to the
Paris 2024 Summer Olympics taking place immediately after the
2024 Tour de France, the 2024 edition did not take place immediately after the men's tour. Instead, it took place in the short gap between the Olympic Games and the
2024 Summer Paralympics. The route headed south towards the
Alps, with the final stage having a summit finish at the iconic
Alpe d'Huez. Again, the race was praised by the public, media, teams and riders, with
Cycling Weekly noting that the "razor-thin" margin of victory demonstrated the "extraordinary level of competition in women's cycling and the depth of talent in the field". The route of the
2025 edition was announced in October 2024. The race had a
Grand Départ in
Brittany in north-west France, and was extended to nine days in length. The race was won by French rider
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot by over three and a half minutes, after two stage wins in the Alps. Vollering finished second overall, with Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney in third. Ferrand-Prévot became the first French winner of the Tour de France Femmes, and the first French win at the Tour de France since
Bernard Hinault at the
1985 Tour de France and
Jeannie Longo at the
1989 Tour de France Féminin. Lorena Wiebes won the green jersey of the points classification, and Elise Chabbey took the polka-dot jersey as the winner of the mountains classification. The race was widely praised, with large crowds attending the
Grand Départ in Brittany, record television audiences in France, and accolades for winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot – with ''
L'Équipe'' stating that her victory had led to "unprecedented enthusiasm in women's cycling".
Future editions In June 2025, it was announced that the
2026 edition of the race would have a
Grand Départ in
Switzerland, with stage starts in
Lausanne,
Aigle and
Geneva. The race will start a week after the men's race, with ASO choosing to avoid an overlap with the men's race to allow for resources to be shared between the two races.
The Guardian noted that the "new stand-alone date for the Femmes reveals how quickly the race has established itself and how popular it has become, particularly after the win of France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prévot". The route of the 2026 edition was announced in October 2025, with a summit finish on
Mont Ventoux. Zwift announced that they had extended their title sponsorship of the race to 2029. From 2026, the UCI will award more ranking points to Giro d'Italia Women, Tour de France Femmes and the Vuelta Femenina compared to other races in the UCI Women's World Tour – elevating the three races in status. In March 2025, it was announced that the 2027 edition of the race would start in the
United Kingdom. In January 2026, more details were announced: the 2027 edition will start in
Leeds, with the first three stages all in the United Kingdom. The
2027 Tour de France will also start in the UK, the first time that both the men's and women's races have started in the same nation outside France. == Winners ==