Tour de France Femmes: History, when, where and how to watch

The third edition of the Tour de France Femmes will begin in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on Monday 12th August 2024 and finish with a mountain stage on the iconic Alpe d'Huez on Sunday 18th August.

The race did not follow on immediately from the men's Tour de France this year due to the unusual cycling calendar caused by the Olympics and is being held in the period between the Olympics and Paralympics.

There will be eight stages including an individual time trial in Rotterdam as riders look to add their name to the list of winners. 

Dutch riders have won both editions of the Tour de France Femmes so far, with Annemiek van Vleuten winning the first running in 2022 and Demi Vollering successful last year. 

Tour de France Femmes 2024 Date

The Tour de France Femmes 2024 starts in Rotterdam on Monday 12th August and concludes with a stage from Le Grand-Bornand to Alpe d'Huez on Saturday 18th August.

Tour de France Femmes 2024 Route

This year's race is the first to start outside France with the Netherlands hosting the Grand Depart. The first two stages are flat, taking in The Hague and Dordrecht, before returning to Rotterdam for a short 6.3km individual time trial as a second stage on day two.

Stage four is the first hilly test as the peloton moves into Belgium, finishing in Liege, and the stages then continue to get longer each day.

The field will finally arrive in France at the end of a 150km flat stage into Amneville on stage five, while the stage six test from Remiremont to Morteau is tougher still, a 160km hilly route.

The difficulty level is turned up several notches for the final two stages in the mountains. Stage seven is a 167km test before the Queen stage of the race, the 150km finale on l'Alpe d'Huez.

In total, there are three flat stages, two hilly days, two mountain stages and one individual time-trial.

Tour de France Femmes 2024 How to Watch

The Tour de France Femmes 2024 will be broadcast in the UK on both Eurosport and Discovery+, as well as S4C in Wales.

Tour de France Femmes 2024 Defending Champion

Demi Vollering of the Netherlands is the defending champion after going one better in 2023 than when runner-up in the 2022 race.

Vollering finished the race three minutes and three seconds ahead of Belgium's Lotte Kopecky, with 2022 winner Annemiek van Vleuten in fourth place.

Tour de France Femmes 2024 Odds

Demi Vollering is a hot favourite for the Tour de France Femmes 2024 at 1/4 while Elisa Longo Borghini is second favourite at 9/2. 

Katarzyna Niewiadoma is 9/1 with Juliette Labous at 14/1 and Gaia Realini and Neve Bradbury both available at 16/1.

Tour de France Femmes Most Wins

The Tour de France Femmes has been run in its current format only twice with Vollering and Annemiek van Vleuten each having one win to date.