Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2024 route revealed

Alpe d’Huez hosts showpiece finale in alpine double header after Rotterdam start and Liège stage

10:09, Wednesday 25th October 2023

Matilda Price

Racing News Editor

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The 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift route map

The route for the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift has been revealed, with a challenging parcours culminating on Alpe d’Huez for what is set to be the biggest edition of the race yet next August.

Building on the first two editions, which saw climactic stages on the Planche des Belles Filles and Col du Tourmalet - won by overall winners Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) and Demi Vollering (SD Worx) respectively - the 2024 route is ramping it up again, with the famous Alpe d’Huez hosting what will be a decisive stage 8.

The Alpe forms part of a double-header of alpine stages on the final weekend, a far throw away from the race’s start, which will see three stages in the Netherlands and a trip across Belgium before heading south through France.

Like previous editions, and like any good Grand Tour, this year’s race has something for everyone, from sprint days and time trialling, to Classics finales and alpine ascents for the purest of climbers. Whilst all eyes will be on the finale and a title defence for Vollering, there’s plenty to aim at in this race, from the home sprints for Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) and Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich) and punchy days for Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) and Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma), to long, climb-filled days for the rest of the GC contenders.

It may be more than nine months away still, but as the biggest race on the calendar, the Tour de France Femmes will already be at the forefront of many riders’ minds, with Wednesday’s route reveal only helping to form their plans and ambitions. Now we know what all eight stages will look like, here’s a closer look at the race.

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A Dutch and Belgian start

Though it’s officially a tour of France, only three stages of next year’s Tour de France Femmes will be wholly in France, with the Rotterdam Grand Départ and a trip through Belgium kicking off the first half of the race.

The race will get underway with stage 1, starting in Rotterdam and finishing in the Hague, for what will likely be a sprint day on the flat, fast terrain of the western Netherlands. The stage doesn’t even feature a token Queen of the Mountains point, so it will be all about the finale and the sprinters, with the first yellow jersey up for grabs at the end of the day. The chance for crosswinds as the race approaches the coast could make things interesting, however, and the opportunists may try to make it difficult here, with much of the second half of the stage exposed.

The second day in the Netherlands will be a split stage, meaning the riders will take on a stage 2 road race in the morning, followed by a stage 3 time trial in the afternoon. Stage 2 runs from Dordrecht back to Rotterdam, and is a short, flat 67km. Although we should see another sprint, its length could lend itself to more aggressive racing, as the team in yellow tries to defend whilst opportunists try to seize their moment.

With sprinting stages on offer in her home country, Dutchwoman Lorena Wiebes will surely fancy her chances

The afternoon will see the return of a time trial to the Tour de France Femmes, though in a much different role from 2023’s race-deciding final day TT.

This time trial is 6.3km long, making it just a touch longer than a prologue. It’s totally flat, and largely on wide, non-technical roads, with only a few straightforward turns to contend with, so this will be a test for the specialists. The GC contenders will have to ride well to not lose time, but the distance is short enough that the time gaps won’t be big.

Liège stage brings the Classics terrain

From Rotterdam, the race has to head back to France, and there’s just one way of doing that: through Belgium. This need to visit the heartland of the Classics has given the organisers a chance to insert a one-day-style stage into the race, in the form of stage 4’s 122km traverse from Valkenburg to Liège. There’s history tied into both the start and finish of this stage, with Valkenburg home to the Cauberg and the memorable 2012 World Championships, whilst Liège is, of course, the start and finish town of Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Tour de France Femmes 2024 stage 4 profile

Continuing the organisers’ preference for including a Classics-style day in the Tour de France Femmes, this stage is something of a hybrid between the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Starting in Valkenburg, the early part of the day features the Cauberg, Geulhemmerberg and two ascents of the Bemelerberg within the first 25km. This will be an exciting start, though so far from the finish, perhaps not decisive.

Heading towards Liège, the race heads onto roads for the oldest Spring Classic, and of course its climbs: Mont-Theux, the Côte de la Redoute, the Côte des Forges and the Côte de la Roche aux Faucons. The finish in Liège will be at the end of a downhill, so not a typical LBL uphill battle, but this will be a tough and aggressive day where the Classics specialists will try to make things as hard as possible.

Tour de France Femmes reigning champion Demi Vollering knows a thing or two about performing well at Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Stage 5 sees the race visit another familiar town, starting in Bastogne in Belgium as the race finally heads towards France. This stage skirts along the Luxembourg border and will finish in Amnéville. There are five categorised climbs along the way, but this is more of a rolling day than a climbers’ day, and it’s the finish that will make the difference: it’s an uphill kick into Amnéville, which should suit the puncheurs.

The mountains call for a big final weekend

What all of these stages are really building towards, though, is the final three stages which feature increasing amounts and difficulties of climbing, culminating atop the Alpe d’Huez on stage 8. The trio of climbing days eases in gently with stage 6 from Remiremont to Morteau, which visits the race’s old haunts of the Vosges, before finishing in the Doubs. Featuring a medium amount of climbing, this is definitely more a ‘hilly’ day than a ‘mountains’ day, and also serves to move the race south.

Tour de France Femmes 2024 stage 7 profile

The result of that long stage to Morteau is that the race will arrive on Saturday in the Alps. Stage 7 sets off from Champagnole, in the Jura, and heads to Haute-Savoie for a climb-packed day and a finale in Le Grand-Bornand. The Col de la Croix de la Serra kicks off the categorised climbing with a long 12km slog, and the race only gets harder from here with five categorised climbs and the mountaintop finish to contend with.

The finale features a double-header of categorised climbs: first the Col de Saint-Jean-de-Sixt, and then straight into the Montée de Chinaillon. This 7km climb will drag up to the finish line, with a 5.1% gradient. Whilst previously Le Grand-Bornand has hosted flat finishes, this is very much a mountain stage, which should draw out a very select number of riders still eligible for yellow before the final stage.

The Tour de France Femmes sent FDJ-SUEZ on a recon of Alpe d'Huez in anticipation of the route announcement

Then Sunday comes, and it’s the big one: a summit finish atop Alpe d’Huez. Starting out from Le Grand-Bornand once again, this is a long and challenging stage, combining a punishing duo of the Col du Glandon and the Alpe d’Huez finale. The Col du Glandon is only a precursor to the Alpe, but is a big climb in its own right, topping out at above 1,900m. With the Glandon already in the legs, a decisive and explosive visit to the Alpe awaits.

The ascent, with its famous hairpins, is 13.8km in length with an average gradient of 8.5%, but with several ramps tipping over the 9% mark. It’s a spectacular and difficult climb, and whilst it may be perhaps slightly less gruelling than the Tourmalet in 2023, it’s a bigger showpiece and comes at the end of a harder two days of racing.

Tour de France Femmes 2024 stage 8 profile

With the race finishing atop the Alpe, there is no place to hide, no stage to recover: what happens on this stage will decide the Tour, and the third yellow jersey will be awarded at the top of the climb. However, it’s not only about the final day, and the eventual winner will have to survive some tricky days, whether that’s crosswinds and time trialling in the Netherlands, a punchy day in Belgium, or the hilly day in the Vosges. This course has something for everyone, which also means the winner has to be able to do everything.