There are less than 100 days to go before the most ambitious edition of the Tour de France Women’s 2025 kicks off on July 26. At least that’s what race organizer Franck Perque has promised.
For the first time in its history, the women’s race will have its Grand Depart in the Breton region of Morbihan. The 2025 edition will have nine stages, one more than in previous years, highlighting the growth and ambition of the event.
At the presentation, Franck Perque provided information on the upcoming route and what fans can expect.
“A short and dynamic format for the puncheurs, this will be the case on the first stage with only 79 km and three times the Cadoudal climb,” explained Perque of the opening day of the race in Brittany. “We wanted to be fast on the pace. The riders will have to be fit from the start, we can’t afford not to be.”
“The girls who will be fighting for the general classification will have to be attentive. We can lose the Tour every day, we saw it again last year with Vollering’s crash, but we will all have to be on our toes from day one, with breakaways and potential gaps.”
The favorites
“Lotte Kopecky is especially strong on this kind of stage, and has made it her main target. But we are also thinking about the French women, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Evita Muzic, Juliette Labous…”.
As for the general classification picture, Perque believes the race will start to take shape very soon.
“I think we will have an idea of the profile of the overall winner on Saturday, after La Madeleine. And the next day, those who have been caught will want to express themselves and shuffle the cards again in Joux-Plane. The goal is to enter the Tour legend, so we’ll be looking for the legendary passes, like the Tourmalet and before that the Alpe d’Huez.”
With nine stages on the calendar, the race continues to push its limits. Asked how far the Women’s Tour de France can go, Perque keeps an open mind.
“I don’t know, but we didn’t rule anything out. We had to evolve, and we will continue to do so. If we want to be part of the benchmark event, we need a significant number of days and demanding courses to show the best. I don’t have a concrete number in mind, but 9 days is already significant, and we’ll see later.”
Before concluding, he also gave a nod to local favorite Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, hinting that she could be a serious contender: “We can’t rule anything out, we saw her on Saturday in Paris-Roubaix. Given her physical qualities, there’s no doubt: she’ll be there, she’s already proven that at the beginning of the season.”
Source: www.ciclismoaldia.es