Eight days of racing, worldwide TV coverage, a €250,000 prize purse and dynamic, mixed-terrain courses. The 2022Tour de France Femmes avec Zwiftis shaping up to be a great showcasing of women’s cycling, and one we’ve been waiting for since the last official women’s Tour de France was discontinued after 1989.
Here's all you need to know about the 2022 Tour de France Femmes.
Women at the Tour de France: a history
Marianne Martin at the 1984 Tour de France
(Image credit: Getty Images)
While you may see a lot of references to the “inaugural” Tour de France Femmes, there have been several versions of a women’s Tour de France throughout history, dating back to 1955 with the Leulliot race. This, however, was just a one-off five-day race organised by journalist and race director Jean Leulliot. A starting list of 41 women contested the race and was won by Manx cyclist Millie Robinson. The race failed to receive financial backing and did not return for a second year.
An official women’s Tour de France was launched in 1984. Organised by the Société du Tour de France in conjunction with the men’s event, the women raced on the same day and same, albeit shortened, routes as the men’s race. The women raced for 18 stages for a total length of 991 kilometres. By winning that race, American Marianne Martin is widely recognized as the first official women’s Tour de France winner.
After two years of a full-length tour, organisers cut the Tour de France Féminin down to two weeks before scrapping the women’s race altogether, citing lack of commercial and media interest. During the six years the race was held, it was very much a battle between the Italian Maria Canins and iconic French racer Jeannie Longo. Canins won the 1985 and 1986 editions while Longo made do with second place. The roles reversed for the next three editions with Longo taking the yellow jersey and Canins in second.
Over the years, several other formations of a women’s Tour de France formed, though none were held in conjunction with the men’s event nor held the same prestige. There was the Tour de la C.E.E. Féminin, which ran from 1990 until 1992, and the Tour Cycliste Féminin which later was renamed La Grande Boucle Féminin Internationale after organisers of the Tour de France, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), claimed trademark infringement. This event featured somewhere between 9 and 13 stages and saw familiar names like Leontien van Moorsel, Nicole Cooke and Emma Pooley victorious. The event decreased in the number of stages and competitors as the years went on, and was discontinued after the 2009 edition.
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There was also the Tour de l’Aude Féminin and the Route de France Féminine, both held in Southern France but, again, without affiliation to the Tour de France organisations.
In 2014, a large lobbying effort spearheaded by cyclists Kathryn Bertine, Marianne Vos, Emma Pooley and former world triathlon champion Chrissie Wellington, resulted into the A.S.O organising a single-day La Course by le Tour de France women’s race, held on the cobbles of Champs-Élysées on the same day at the men’s final stage of the Tour de France. La Course continued to be held in various (at times, experimental) formats and locations until the ASO announced its inaugural Tour de France Femmes, the closest thing to an actual women’s Tour de France since 1989.
Prize money: There is a total of €250,000 in prize money, including €50,000 for the overall winner. While among the biggest prize purses on the women's calendar, this pales to the men’s Tour de France prize money which sees the winner takes home €500,000 and the prize purse totals a whopping €2,288,450.
Tour de France Femmes 2022 Preview Video
Tour de France Femmes 2022 Route
(Image credit: ASO)
The eight-day race will start at the Eiffel Tower, and the Tour de France Femmes route will then consist of seven further stages before finishing atop the La Planche des Belles Filles ski resort. There will be flat sprint and mountain top finishes, cobbles and gravel sectors, city streets and country lanes.
July 24: Eiffel Tower > Champs-Élysées Flat, cobbles, 82 kilometres
Home to the first three editions of La Course, this flat circuit stage that’s almost destined to be won by a sprinter. The peloton will ride 12 laps of the 6.8km circuit before finishing on the famed cobbled stretch in front of the Arc de Triomphe.
July 25: Meaux > Provins Flat, 136.5 kilometres
From the city into the country roads of the Brie region. Stage 2 features some familiar roads for those who’ve ridden Tour L’Avenir. Plenty of riders will leave their mark on TdFF before the roads turn up. The course gets a little bumpy toward the end so whoever wants to claim the stage win, and the jersey, will need a decent punch.
July 26: Reims > Épernay Hilly, 133 kilometres
Now in the Champagne region, the roads are starting to turn up and the bumpy course profile suggests plenty of breakaway potential. It’s likely we’ll see the yellow jersey changing backs on this day.
July 27: Troyes > Bar-Sur-Aube Gravel day! 126 kilometres
Hills and gravel. If the gravelly stage 5 of the men’s Tour de France is anything to go by, then we’re in for a treat. With four unpaved sectors and an undulating course profile, you won’t want to miss the action on this stage.
July 28: Bar-le-Duc > Saint-Dié-des-Vosges Flat, looong 175 kilometres
One last flat stage before we head toward the mountains. This is the longest stage of the Tour as well as the longest professional women's road race stage in modern history, surpassing the 170km stage that the peloton undertook at the 2020 Giro Rosa. With the GC taking shape and the legs tired from the first four days, the race may be a defensive one and is likely to end in a bunch sprint.
July 29: Saint-Dié-des-Vosges > Rosheim Hilly rollercoaster, 128 kilometres
A rollercoaster stage with four categorised climbs scattered along the route, stage six is one for the puncheurs. The final climb comes just nine kilometres from the finish, which if timed right could favour a daring soloist with time trialling prowess.
July 30: Sélestat > Le Markstein Mountainous, 127 kilometres
The Tour now becomes a climber’s competition. After a gentle start, the peloton will tackle three of the toughest mountain passes in the Vosges. And upon reaching the top of the third pass, the Grand Ballon, the route will follow the ridge line towards the Markstein. Perhaps the most challenging stage on paper, only the strongest climbers will contest the jersey.
July 31: Lure > Super Planche des Belles Filles A grande, mountainous finale, 123 kilometres
For the grande finale, the inaugural Tour de France Femmes ends on a high: atop one of France's most iconic climbs: La Super Planche Des Belles Filles. Two categorised climbs precede the summit finish, where jersey hopefuls can test their legs and try for a breakaway, though it’s likely the real racing will play out on the ascent up to Planche Des Belles Filles.
Fresh off her third overall win of the hilly and brutal Giro Donne, Annemiek van Vleuten is a top favourite.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tour de France Femmes 2022 Race Favourites
It’s no secret that all the peloton’s biggest stars have been preparing for this event and the chance to write their name into the history books.
While the official start list is yet to be announced, look to familiar faces likeMarianne “the G.O.A.T” Vos(Jumbo-Visma), breakout riderLotte Kopecky(SD Worx, sprinter sensation Lorena Wiebes(DSM) and world champion Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) to go for the early stage wins and vie for the sprinters jersey. Vos and Balsamo showed tremendous form at the Giro Donne in early July as they scored multiple sprint wins each.
But with the final weekend taking place in the mountains, the yellow jersey will likely be contested by the best climbers. Of course, fresh off her third overall win of the hilly and brutal Giro Donne, Annemiek van Vleuten is a top favourite.
Two minutes down from Van Vleuten and holding her own in the Italian mountains was Marta Cavalli (FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope). Earlier this season, the 24-year-old showed that she’s not timid when it comes to taking on the biggest names in the peloton when she left her mark on the Ardennes Classics with wins at both Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne.
And while she came up short in the Ardennes, look to Demi Vollering to lead the always competitive SD Worx squad in the mountains. With three stage wins, the Dutch woman took the Itzulia overall classification with confidence in May and backed that performance up by also winning the polka dot jersey at the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas later that month.
Other climbers to watch are French woman Juliette Labous (DSM), Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM), Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo), Amanda Spratt (BikeExchange-Jayco), Mavi García (UAE Team ADQ) and Kristen Faulkner(BikeExchange-Jayco).
Tour de France Femmes 2022 Provisional Start List
Canyon//SRAM Racing Alena Amialiusik
Tiffany Cromwell
Elise Chabbey
Soraya Paladin Soraya
Pauliena Rooijakkers
Katarzyna Niewiadoma
EF Education-Tibco-SVB Emily Newsom
Magdeleine Vallieres
Krista Doebel-Hickok
Veronica Ewers
Katrin Hammes
Letizia Borghesi
FDJ- Suez - Futuroscope Marie Le Net
Vittoria Guazzini
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig
Évita Muzic
Marta Cavalli
Grace Brown
Human Powered Health Lily Williams
Marit Raaijmakers
Barbara Malcotti
Nina Buijsman
Henrietta Christie
Antri Christoforou
Liv Racing Xstra
Valerie Demey
Rachele Barbieri
Thalita De Jong
Silke Smulders
Sabrina Stultiens
Jeanne Korevaar
Movistar Team Aude Biannic
Arlenis Sierra
Sheyla Gutiérrez
Andrea Paula Patiño
Emma Norsgaard
Annemiek Van Vleuten
Roland Cogeas Edelweiss Squad Caroline Baur
Olga Zabelinskaya
Rotem Gafinovitz
Petra Stiasny Petra
Tamara Dronova-Balabolina
Hannah Buch
Team Bikeexchange - Jayco Ane Santesteban
Kristen Faulkner
Amanda Spratt
Ruby Roseman-Gannon
Alexandra Manly
Urska Zigart
Team DSM Franziska Koch
Charlotte Kool
Liane Lippert
Lorena Wiebes
Juliette Labous
Pfeiffer Georgi
Team Jumbo-Visma Riejanne Markus
Noemi Rüegg
Karlijn Swinkels
Anna Henderson
Marianne Vos
Romy Kasper
Team SD Worx Christine Majerus
Chantal Van Den Broek-Blaak
Demi Vollering
Lotte Kopecky
Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio
Marlen Reusser
Trek - Segafredo Leah Thomas
Shirin van Anrooij
Elisa Longo Borghini
Elisa Balsamo
Audrey Cordon-Ragot
Ellen Van Dijk
UAE Team ADQ Sofia Bertizzolo
Erica Magnaldi
Eugenia Bujak
Mavi García
Marta Bastianelli
Maaike Boogaard
Uno-X Pro Cycling Team Mie Bjørndal Ottestad
Anne Dorthe Ysland
Hannah Barnes
Hannah Ludwig
Julie Leth
Joscelin Lowden
Ceratizit-Wnt Pro Cycling Sandra Alonso
Laura Asencio
Lisa Brennauer
Maria Giulia Confalonieri
Marta Lach
Kathrin Schweinberger
Parkhotel Valkenburg Mischa Bredewold
Femke Gerritse
Femke Markus
Anne Van Rooijen
Quinty Schoens
Nicole Frain
Valcar - Travel & Service Olivia Baril
Alice Maria Arzuffi
Chiara Consonni
Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini
Silvia Persico
Llaria Sanguineti
AG Insurance - Nxtg Team Ally Wollaston
Julia Borgström
Anya Louw
Ilse Pluimers
Gaia Masetti
Lone Meertens
Arkéa Pro Cycling Team Greta Richioud
Anais Morichon
Pauline Allin
Yuliia Biriukova
Morgane Coston
Amandine Fouquenet
Cofidis Women Team Victoire Berteau
Sandra Lévénez
Martina Alzini
Rachel Neylan
Valentine Fortin
Alana Castrique
Le Col - Wahoo Eva Van Agt
Jesse Vandenbulcke
Marjolein Van 't Geloof
Elizabeth Holden
Gladys Verhulst
Maike van der Duin
Plantur-Pura Kim De Baat
Christina Schweinberger
Laura Süßemilch
Sanne Cant
Julie de Wilde
Yara Kastelijn
Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime Noémie Abgrall
Frances Janse van Rensburg
India Grangier
Séverine Eraud
Natalie Grinczer
Maeva Squiban
24 St Michel - Auber93 WE Alison Avoine
Sandrine Bideau
Simone Boilard
Coralie Demay
Barbara Fonseca
Margot Pompanon
How to Watch the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2022
Demi Vollering wins the 8th La Course by Le Tour in 2021
(Image credit: Getty Images)
In Europe, the Tour de France Femmes broadcasting rights belong to Discovery Sports and Eurovision Sport. Viewers can watch the live, ad-free coverage via Discovery Sports' portfolio of channels, including Eurosport's linear channels and relevant streaming platforms.
Cycling Weekly'sNorth American Editor, Anne-Marije Rook is old school. She holds a degree in journalism and started out as a newspaper reporter — in print! She can even be seen bringing a pen and notepad to the press conference.
Originally from The Netherlands, she grew up a bike commuter and didn't find bike racing until her early twenties when living in Seattle, Washington. Strengthened by the many miles spent darting around Seattle's hilly streets on a steel single speed, Rook's progression in the sport was a quick one. As she competed at the elite level, her journalism career followed, and soon she became a full-time cycling journalist. She's now been a cycling journalist for 11 years.
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Who's won the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift?
