Tour de France Femmes 2026 route - Stage-by-stage guide

The route of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will cover a record 1,175km across two different countries over nine stages. The route will pass through three mountain ranges in the Jura, Massif Central and Alps, with a record total vertical gain of 18,795m.

• 3 flat stages
• 3 hilly stages
• 2 mountain stages, including a summit finish on Mont Ventoux
• 1 individual time-trial

For just the second time in five editions, the Tour de France Femmes will begin on foreign soil. The last occurrence of this was 2023, when the race kicked off in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, but this time around, the peloton will set off from Lausanne, Switzerland.

What awaits the riders is a fiddly 137km stage, which, although classified by the race organisers as flat, will not be a day for the pure sprinters.

On the menu are three categorised climbs, all of which come in the stage's second half. The climbs of the Côte de Villars-le-Comte (4km at 5.8%) and Côte de Vulliens (3km at 5.3%) will sting the legs of many, before a stepped descent which leads to the final 20km. From here, the riders will motor along one of the flattest sections of the stage before the final rise to the line.

The Côte Saint-François stands at 2.5km and averages 4.6% and will host the finish line of the stage. To take the first yellow jersey of the race, timing will be key in a finish like this, as things will become selective, but there could still be a number of riders in contention for victory.

The second full stage in Switzerland is also described as flat by the race organisers, and whilst there are five categorised climbs on the menu, this is likely a stage that the sprinters will be targeting. 

Beginning in Aigle, home of the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the World Cycling Centre (WCC), the peloton will reach the first categorised climb around 30km into the stage. The Côte de Chexbres (3.2km at 5.6%) is first on the menu, and at the summit, the road continues to rise towards the Côte de Savigny (2.5km at 5%). 

The Côte de Cossonay is sandwiched in the middle of the stage, before the double test of the short but steep Côte de Bougy-Villars (0.9km at 10.4%), and the Côte de Monts-sur-Rolles (2.3km at 6.5%)

The fact that the summit of the final categorised climb comes 42km from the finish line means that any riders who have been distanced on the climbs should have enough time to return to the peloton for a likely bunch sprint. 

Geneva will host the conclusion of stage 2, where it's expected that there will be a fast and furious battle to the finish line.

After hosting the finish of stage 2, the riders will set off from Geneva at the start of stage 3, and will quickly arrive on French soil, marking the end of the Swiss opening to the 2026 Tour.

The riders will need their climbing legs ready, as they will reach the foot of Col de la Faucille (11.4km at 6.3%), the longest climb in the race so far, just 12km into the stage. This is by far the toughest climb of the stage, and could see an exciting and well-fought battle for some crucial points towards the mountains classification.

The majority of the stage consists of rolling terrain, with the final climb, the Côte de Chaux-Champagny (1.8km at 6.4%), coming around 15.5km from the finish line. This stage looks suitable for a competitive game of cat and mouse between the breakaway and peloton for the stage win, with the escapees having every reason to believe in success at the finish in Poligny on a route of this nature.

After an absence in the 2025 edition, the individual time trial makes a return to the Tour de France Femmes. However, this profile is completely unlike the last time trial, a pan-flat 6.3km effort around Rotterdam in 2023. Stage 4's time trial in 2026 has the potential to create significant gaps in the general classification with its 21km profile, featuring an important climb.

Beginning in Gevrey-Chambertin, the riders will begin on rolling terrain and travel towards the main attraction of the stage, the Lacets de Marsannay.

The Lacets de Marsannay (2km at 6.6%) is a climb which will disrupt the rhythm of the riders, and those who are able to not only thrive on the climbs slopes, but also continue to power over the top, and towards the downhill run to the finish in Dijon, are likely to be the big winners at the end of the day in the general classification battle.

The race organisers have described the profile of stage 5 as hilly, and that’s the least that could be said of this rollercoaster route. In total, there are 8 categorised climbs across 140km, with each climb varying in its nature.

Beginning in Mâcon, the peloton will very quickly begin the longest climb of the stage, the Côte de Cenves (9.6km at 4.4%). 

It’s not an understatement to say that there is almost no flat kilometres on the menu, with the riders either climbing or descending for the most part.

The final climb, Mont Brouilly (3km at 7%) should split the race apart, and with the summit coming 7km from the finish in Belleville-en-Beaujolais, there could be major attacks on the climb.

Similarly to the previous day, stage 6 looks like a tough day on paper, with the road very rarely being flat. Across 153km from Montbrison to Tournon-Sur-Rhône, there are six categorised climbs. 

The toughest climb on the menu is the penultimate one, the Col de Lalouvesc (8.6km at 5%), and could be enough to see the main contenders group become a small one.

The Côte de Boucieu-le-Roi (3.8km at 5.7%) is the final climb of the stage, with its summit coming just under 20km from the finish line. Following the summit, the riders will descend towards Tournon-Sur-Rhône, and it could serve as the perfect setting for a solo winner from a breakaway, perhaps?

Since 2022, each edition of the Tour de France Femmes has featured one climb that stands above the rest in terms of significance and difficulty. 2022 saw La Super Planche des Belles Filles, the Col du Tourmalet came to the fore in 2023, 2024 was the turn of the mighty Alpe d’Huez, and 2025’s centrepiece was the Col de la Madeleine. The 2026 edition sees the debut of another iconic climb, Mont Ventoux.

Beginning in La Voulte-Sur-Rhône, the climbing will begin after just 13.5km. Due to the sheer significance of Ventoux, the rest of the stage profile looks pretty flat. However, this is not the case, with three other categorised climbs, the Col de la Grande Limite (6.6km at 5%), Col du Colombier (3.2km at 6.4%), and the Col de Suzette (3.9km at 6.4%).

However, all these efforts will pail insignificant to the mighty challenge that awaits the riders in the shape of Mont Ventoux. The Bald Mountain is not only brutal for its 15.7km length and 8.8% average gradient, but also due to his unique and barren landscape towards the summit which causes both psychological challenges from being able to see the lighthouse so far from the finish, but also physically with the high exposure to wind which makes things all the more difficult.

A mountain of this magnitude will have a crucial impact on where the yellow jersey is heading in the 2026 Tour de France Femmes.

Stage 8 is another which has been labelled as flat, but the profiling doesn’t tell the full picture. Beginning in Sisteron, the route will head towards the two climbs of the Col des Robines, and the Col de Toutes Aures, which will be crested 80km into the 175km stage. The riders will then gradually descend their way towards Malaussene. 

It’s the final 20km which could interrupt the sprinters' fun with the Côte de Colomars (1.4km at 5.4%), and the Côte de la Ginestre (2.5km at 4.4%), both of which serve as launchpads for attacks. If any fast finishers survive this chaotic finale, the odds will turn in their favour inside the final kilometres for a flat finish in Nice.

The ninth and final stage of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes is the shortest (except for the individual time trial) of the entire race, and looks set to be a cracker.

Nice has a gift for producing explosive and entertaining racing, as illustrated annually at Paris-Nice, and based on the profile of this stage, we can expect nothing less.

From the flag drop, the riders will begin climbing the iconic Col d’Èze (7.7km at 5.9%), and will complete a circuit three times, taking on this version of the climb. The twist comes after the third loop, when the riders tackle the climb for the fourth and final time, but from the shorter though steeper side, which is 6km at 7.6%. 

This ascent marks the final time to make a race-defining attack, unless a rider is brave enough to do so on the technical descent back into the heartland of Nice, where the 2026 Tour de France Femmes will finish.