The place to watch the Tour de France Femmes is right here on SBS. Replays, mini stage recaps, extended highlights, winning moments and live streaming can be found on the and the SBS Skoda Tour Tracker,available for download on and from August 12 to 18.
What is the Tour de France Femmes?
The Tour de France Femmes is an annual stage race primarily held in France and, in some cases, parts of other nations over an eight-day period.
Unlike the men’s event, originally founded in 1903, a one-off event in 1955 was the first taste women would receive of the Tour, before several iterations followed between 1984 and 2009.
Financial difficulties, limited media coverage and issues with race organisers were just some of the roadblocks preventing the women’s equivalent from growing, which drew increased criticism from campaigners and the professional women’s peloton.
By 2014, a one to two-day event known as La Course by Le Tour de France was founded, with the week-long Tour de France Femmes then coming into effect in 2022.
The Tour is known as a ‘Grand Tour’, a term used to describe the most difficult events on the UCI Women’s World Tour calendar.
There are three Grand Tours in total; the other two being La Vuelta Femenina and the Giro d’Italia Women, and winning one instantly elevates the status of a rider and her team.
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How long is the Tour de France Femmes?
The 2024 route will be run over 949 kilometres and includes 10,700 metres of vertical gain over the eight stages.
Racing will take place in three countries, with the Grand Depart in Rotterdam, Netherlands, before the peloton journeys to Belgium and France.
Four mountain ranges are set to feature, with the Ardennes, Vosges, Jura, and Alps set to deliver spectacular scenery and renowned difficulty associated with the Tour de France.
The winner of the Tour de France Femmes generally takes about 25-27 hours to complete the route, with victory margins more often in minutes despite the length of the event.
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Tour De France Femmes 2023
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How many teams and riders are involved in the Tour de France Femmes 2024?
A total of 22 teams, each with seven riders, will participate in the 2024 edition, with all 15 Women’s WorldTeams automatically invited alongside Continental Teams Cofidis Women Team and Tashkent City Women Professional Cycling Team. The remaining five Continental Teams were selected by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO).
Teams:
- AG Insurance – Soudal Team
- Arkea – B&B Hotels Women
- Canyon-SRAM Racing
- Ceratizit – WNT Pro Cycling Team
- Cofidis Women Team
- EF-Oatly-Cannondale
- FDJ-Suez
- Fenix-Deceuninck
- Human Powered Health
- Laboral Kutxa – Fundacion Euskadi
- Lidl – Trek
- Liv AlUla Jayco
- Lotto Dstny Ladies
- Movistar Team
- Roland
- St Michel – Mavic-Auber93
- Tashkent City Women Professional Cycling Team
- Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL
- Team SD Worx – Protime
- Team Visma – Lease a Bike
- UAE Team ADQ
- Uno-X Mobility
How do you win the Tour de France Femmes?
The rider with the lowest aggregate time across all eight stages will be crowned the winner of the general classification.
The general classification is the most sought-after and is rewarded with the famous yellow jersey, however, there are three other classifications on offer for the peloton: points, mountains, and best young rider.
The winner of each individual stage is the rider first across the finish line, and each stage win is a prestigious honour.
How the general classification works (What is the yellow jersey?):
Every stage is timed until the finish, with the rider with the lowest cumulative time to that point declared the overall leader and awarded a yellow jersey – the maillot jaune – that must be worn by the rider. The jersey is yellow in honour of the paper L’Auto would print its content on.
Wearing the yellow jersey gives one’s team and sponsors more publicity and motivates the individual to keep a hold of it for as long as possible.
Demi Vollering of Team SD Worx - Protime celebrates as yellow jersey winner during the 2023 Tour de France Femmes. Source: Getty / Alex Broadway/Getty Images
During mountain stages, points are awarded to the rider who is first to reach the top of each significant climb on offer, with points also awarded to the next nine riders to complete the ascent.
The number of points awarded depends on the category of the climb, which can range from one, the hardest; to four, the easiest. In the case of the Tour, there are also the hors categories climbs, which are worth more points for being beyond categorisation and at high altitude.
A rider with the most points at the end of a stage will have the honour of wearing the polka dot jersey the next day, one first introduced at the men's Tour in 1975 despite the classification’s presence in the race since 1933.
How the points classification works (What is the green jersey?):
This classification is generally won by the sprinters and sees points awarded based on a rider’s position at the end of a stage.
Stages are categorised into types and are awarded more points depending on their climbing difficulty; flatter stages are awarded more points to keep the competition for the jersey primarily among the sprinters.
Stages can also have one or more intermediate sprints scattered along its route, whereby points are awarded to the first 15 cyclists across its marked lines.
A rider with the most points at the end of a stage will don the green jersey the next day, with the hope of preserving their advantage until the final podium.
Lotte Kopecky of SD Worx - Protime won the green jersey at the 2023 edition of the Tour de France Femmes. Source: Getty / Tim de Waele/Getty Images
This classification only applies to riders that will stay under the age of 23 in the calendar year, with the leader determined in the same way as the general classification.
First introduced for the men in 1975, the white jersey has been available to eligible members of the peloton in every edition of the Tour aside from a 10-year hiatus between 1989 and 1999.
Who won the GC title at the Tour de France Femmes last year?
Demi Vollering won the second-ever edition of the women’s race in its current guise, defeating rival and defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten who ultimately finished in fourth position behind Kasia Niewiadoma and runner-up, Lotte Kopecky.
The SD Worx - Protime star took out the penultimate stage with a phenomenal performance on the Col du Tourmalet – enough to earn her the yellow jersey for the first time.
When does 2024 Tour de France Femmes start?
The 2024 edition of the Tour will commence on August 12 and conclude on August 18.
Who are the favourites for the 2024 Tour de France Femmes?
A star-studded line-up of general classification contenders will contest this year’s French Grand Tour, with Demi Vollering determined to defend her overall title against the likes of Kasia Niewiadoma, Elisa Longo Borghini and Juliette Labous.
Neve Bradbury, Sarah Gigante, Amanda Spratt and Grace Brown will be out to impact proceedings from an Australian perspective, with more riders still to be confirmed.
Is every stage at the Tour de France Femmes the same?
features three flat stages, two hilly, one individual time trial and two mountain stages – the latter of which will conclude atop the famous Alpe d’Huez.
Stages:
- Stage 1 on August 12: Rotterdam – La Haye = 123km – Flat
- Stage 2 on August 13: Dordrecht – Rotterdam = 69.7km – Flat
- Stage 3 on August 13: Rotterdam – Rotterdam = 6.3km – ITT
- Stage 4 on August 14: Valkenburg – Liege = 122.7km – Hilly
- Stage 5 on August 15: Bastogne – Amneville = 152.5km – Flat
- Stage 6 on August 16: Remiremont – Morteau = 159.2km – Hilly
- Stage 7 on August 17: Champagnole – Le Grand-Bornand – Mountain
- Stage 8 on August 18: Le Grand Bornand – Alpe d’Huez – Mountain
How can Australians watch the 2024 Tour de France Femmes?
All eight stages of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes will be live-streamed on SBS On Demand, with live television coverage available on SBS at the same time each night.
With catch-up replays as well as extended highlights and analysis available throughout the week, SBS and are the perfect places to keep up to date.
Watch the Tour de France Femmes LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE on SBS VICELAND, SBS On Demand and on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker from August 12 to 18.
