12.26pm BST
Here is the route profile of stage eight of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift:
12.21pm BST
Stage eight: Chambéry to Saint François Longchamp – Col de la Madeleine, 112km
Here’s a look at today’s stage, Saturday 2 August: Chambéry to Saint François Longchamp – Col de la Madeleine, 111.9km, with the race director of the Tour de France Femmes, Marion Rousse:
There’ll be no respite on what’s the queen stage of the 2025 edition. It will head into the Bauges massif straight away, with the first major difficulty coming on the way out of Chambéry in the form of the Col de Plainpalais (13.2km at 6.3%). After crossing the less demanding Col du Frêne, the race will reach the Maurienne and tackle the toughest flank of the Madeleine. Extending to 18.6km, with regular changes in gradient (averaging 8.1%) and a rough surface, this climb will provide plenty of opportunities to create gaps.
12.15pm BST
Preamble
Stage eight of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is the queen’s stage – regarded as the most challenging mountain stage of a multi-day race. It often featurs the highest climbs and most significant elevation gain. Today, the peloton will ride 111.9km from Chambéry to Saint François Longchamp – Col de la Madeleine, taking in more than 3,500 meters of climbing, making it a brutal day out. The first ascent of the day will come at 13km, with the category one Col de Plainpalais (13.2km at 6.3%). The sharp Côte de Saint-Georges-d’Hurtières comes duing the second half of racing, and then it’s all go towards the finish at the summit of the imposing Col de la Madeleine (18.6 km at 8.1%, rising to over 2,000m above sea level).
It’s the penultimate day of the Tour, so any GC contenders who want to make their mark will surely have plans for this decisive stage. While Kim Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) hung on to the yellow jersey yesterday after being dropped on the final climb, she’ll face stiff competition from Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon/SRAM), Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx Protime) who are all biting at her heels (none are further than 35secs behind the maillot jaune). Le Court Pienaar’s teammate and powerful climber Sarah Gigante might fancy the stage win and the Mauritian rider spoke effusively yesterday about her colleague’s strength coming into this mountain stage.
Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) made it two victories in a row yesterday, so I’m excited to see what she’s got in store today. Shirin van Anrooij and Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez), Silke Smulders and Mavi García (Liv Alula Jayco) are worth keeping an eye on in terms of a potential breakaway.
Today’s action will kick off at 1.45pm CET/12.45pm BST. Here is Jeremy Whittle’s stage seven race report from Chambéry:
