Tour de France Femmes 2026: riders heading for finish on stage one in Lausanne – live

And there you have it. The Dutchwoman goes deep on the final climb, and accelerates away from Demi Vollering, among others, to take a dominant win.

Off they go. Attacks from the start.

The Tour de France Femmes, since relaunching and rebranding in 2022, has had four different winners: Anniemiek van Vleuten, Demi Vollering, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and, most recently, the home favourite Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. Hence it is a more exciting business than the men’s event, where the general classification has been sewn up by the relentless Tadej Pogacar in recent years.

But like so much women’s sport, the TdF Femmes increasingly stands alone, growing in popularity and stature every year and attracting more fans to the beautiful sport of cycling. Vollering, whose Giro win earlier in the season sealed the set of all three grand tours, is the favourite to win the nine-stage race – but French fans would dearly love to see Ferrand-Prévot finish in yellow again.

There is one individual time trial, two mountain stages, three classified as flat and three hilly. Whoever tops the GC in Nice next Sunday will have undergone a thorough examination of their all-round ability. Today’s stage one, a 138km loop in and out of Lausanne, includes four categorised climbs – plenty of incentive for breakaway hopefuls but also one the sprinters’ teams will be aiming to control.

Neutralised start: 14.15 CET/13.15 BST.

Key events

• 1m agoLorena Wiebes wins stage one!
• 4h agoRacing on Tour de France Femmes stage one!
• 5h agoPreamble

Lorena Wiebes wins stage one!

And there you have it. The Dutchwoman goes deep on the final climb, and accelerates away from Demi Vollering, among others, to take a dominant win.

1km to go: Under the flamme rouge. Wiebes is right there! Then Vollering attacks! Le Court covers the attacks …

1.2km to go: Another crash. There will be some sore bodies in the peloton tomorrow morning.

2km to go: A big right-hander. A flatter section, it looks like, and now a left-hander taken at top speed. Who will be in yellow? Zoe Backstedt (Canyon/SRAM) is up there …

3km to go: The pace is hot, hot, hot! It’s all strung out at the front. And it’s technical, the road winding from left to right … and now on to the final climb.

4km to go: The final climb is 2.5km long, with an average gradient of 4.6%. It’s 490m of climbing. Surely the more powerful sprinters are going to be ruled out on that basis?

6km to go: It’s hectic in that chasing bunch. As you would expect.

The break has been swallowed up! That gap collapsed very quickly …

10km to go: Will Lorena Wiebes have a shot at a sixth career Tour de France stage victory? Plenty of riders will be hoping to deny her the opportunity and the final climb may rule her out of contention.

10.5km to go: Not much progress for the chasing peloton. It’s 46sec for the four leaders.

12km to go: EF Education-Oatly are setting the pace on the front of the peloton. Jonathan Vaughters, the team manager, was apparently spotted in one of their team cars earlier.

15km to go: It’s a 42sec advantage for our four leaders. They’re alternating turns at the front, trying to maximise their chances of a stage win. But behind, the sprinters’ teams are really cranking up the effort levels …

16km to go: So it’s four at the front now. Noskova, Spratt, Rijnbeek and Eraso. They have 39sec on the bunch.

17km to go: The chasers about to catch Noskova! Rowe says Spratt has been doing most of the work, and has obviously been given permission to go for the stage win by her team Lidl-Trek.

19km to go: This is a spectacular descent down to the lake. There are vineyards on either side of the road, and a beautiful view over to Lac Léman.

20km to go: Marlen Reusser (Movistar) crashes on a right-hand downhill bend. It’s a nasty looking impact but true to form for any pro cyclist, she is back on the bike, or perhaps a teammate’s bike, as soon as humanly possible.

22km to go: Noskova has a chance here, riding like this. Although the gap is 1min 30sec. She’s about 50sec ahead of the chase group.

23km to go: Stunning helicopter shots of Lac Léman, adjacent to Lausanne, and the surrounding mountains.

26km to go: Noskova has 33sec on Spratt, Eraso and Rijnbeek, who have joined forces. She has 2min on the chasing peloton.

Noskova is certainly looking like she managed to conserve energy while riding in the break. She is tapping out a fierce tempo, and now leaps out of the saddle to get maximum power through the pedals.

28km to go: Noskova, our lone leader, comes from Jablonec nad Nisou in Czechia. Good cycling round there, plenty of hills, not to mention mountains, including the Krkonose National Park.

Giant Mountains (Krkonose) on the Czech-Polish border. Photograph: Piotr Borkowski/Alamy

30km to go: Mackenzie Coupland (Liv AlUla Jayco) crashes heavily in Australian national champion’s kit. That was an unfortunate racing incident.

32km to go: Noskova has 13sec on Eraso: Spratt and Rijnbeek continue to give chase.

33km to go: Now there’s a long descent to a flat section leading into the final climb in Lausanne. It will be full gas from here.

The peloton rides on stage one. Photograph: Alex Broadway/Getty Images

35km to go: Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) is now with Rijnbeek, chasing Eraso, who is chasing Noskova.

36km to go: The road is still heading upwards, which is a quirk of this route design. Ordinarily I think you’d start the descent right after the QOM point, but there you go.

37km to go: Noskova (Cofidis) has attacked solo after the QOM point. She has 10sec on her closest chaser, Eraso.

38km to go: “It’s going to be a very difficult sprint to get right,” says Matt Stephens on TNT Sports, on reporting duty at the finish.

“If they turn up the gas at the foot of the climb, you may be looking at a reduced sprint.”

Côte de Vulliens QOM result

3pts Nikola Noskova (Cofidis)2pts Océane Mahé (Ma Petite Entreprise)1pt Idoia Eraso Lasa (Laboral-Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi)

That means Mahé has secured the jersey. She now has 8pts, Eraso has five, and there are only 2pts maximum available on the final climb.

41km to go: The peloton grinds up the climb. Océane Mahé (Ma Petite Entreprise), Maud Rijnbeek (Volkerwessels), Idoia Eraso Lasa (Laboral-Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) and Nikola Noskova (Cofidis) are the riders in the break. They will be flying down the descent towards the finish soon enough: but after the top of the Côte de Vulliens, there is more climbing to do for a bit before that …

42km to go: The rolling landscape around Lausanne is looking dry, as you’d expect, but quite beautiful. The four breakaway riders will not be soaking in the scenery, though, they will be more focused on the burning pain in their legs.

Can Mahé wrap up the QOM jersey for today by taking maximum points on the Côte de Vulliens?

France's Mahe ahead of Spain's Lasa and Czech Republic's Noskova. Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA

44km to go: 1min 30sec the gap. The race has hit the Côte de Vulliens. A category-three, 3km long, average gradient 5.3%.

48km to go: The gap is 1min 42sec. It’s been an active day, with a couple of riders trying to get across to this four-person break, and (unfortunately) a number of crashes in the bunch.

50km to go: This time last week, I was at the Tour! Here’s a photo I took of the lake at Allemond. A week ago we saw the race go through there in the morning, then rode up the Col d’Ornon, then toiled up to Alpe d’Huez to watch the dramatic finish when Richard Carapaz chased down Sepp Kuss.

Allemond. Photograph: Luke McLaughlin/The Guardian

53km to go: 1min 39sec is the gap. But the breakaway riders are not hanging about. They’re going for it, all-out, and meanwhile there is a split in the bunch behind, with a large group presumably trying to shut this gap down to nothing.

54km to go: Mahé took an impressive win on that climb, and is well set for the QOM jersey, with six out of a possible six climbing points so far. That would be a boost for her team, Ma Petite Entreprise.

Côte de Villars-le-Comte: QOM result

3pts:

55km to go: The gap is down to 2min. Is this all going to kick off in a big way? It looks likely. If the break is caught, the fight for the stage win will be long and fierce.

55.5km to go: The gap has plunged to 2min 42sec. Clearly some teams on the front of the bunch have picked up the pace, and the lead-out for the intermediate sprint would also have made a difference in narrowing the gap.

56km to go: There’s a 16-rider group that’s been dropped by the main bunch. The main bunch numbers 126 rider at the moment, and the brave breakaway riders are working away up front.

56km to go: The riders are now on the Côte de Villars-le-Comte, a category-three climb. At the summit, there will be 54.6km to race.

58km to go: Another crash in the bunch. Henrietta Christie (EF Education-Oatly) and Debora Silvestri (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) were both involved. But it seems they are back in business. However, on the motorbike, Dani Rowe says someone is hurt: Christina Schweinberger of Fenix–Premier Tech has hurt her wrist (I think in an earlieer crash) and is really struggling.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, unfortunately, if she doesn’t start tomorrow,” says Rowe.

60km to go: Charlotte Kool (Fenix–Premier Tech) sprints to victory from the bunch behind. A nice lead-out from a teammate and a dominant win.

61km to go: Good scenes along the route.

Roadside decorations for the Tour de France Femmes. Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA

63km to go: Suddenly the pace is hot at the front of the bunch as they approach the sprint point. Those 13pts are not to be sniffed at if you want the green jersey.

64km to go: Eraso Lasa, Rijnbeek, Mahé and Noskova, in that order, through the intermediate at Villeneuve.

The breakaway with, from right: Noskova , Rijnbeek Mahe and Lasa. Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone/AP

65km to go: There will be 13pts available to whoever wins the sprint from the peloton. For the first four riders it’s 25, 20, 17, 15.

67km to go: Gap is holding at 6min, give or take a second here or there. Another 2km to the intermediate sprint.

72km to go: Reminder: Océane Mahé (Ma Petite Entreprise), Maud Rijnbeek (Volkerwessels), Idoia Eraso Lasa (Laboral-Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) and Nikola Noskova (Cofidis) are the riders in the break. If they can get significantly closer to the finish with this kind of gap, they’ll fancy their chances of setting up a fight for the stage win.

73km to go: The gap between break and peloton is 6min as the riders who crashed try to get back into the bunch. It’s 8.5km to go until the intermediate sprint. Alison Jackson (St. Michel–Preference Home–Auber93), who won a stage of the La Vuelta Femenina in 2024, is swept up by the peloton.

76km to go: Another big crash in the bunch. This one looks worse. Three or four riders are taking their time before trying to get back into the action.

79km to go: And it seems Jackson has given up the fight. She’s fallen 2min behind the break now. The effort that Jackson expended there should not be underestimated. It wasn’t to be, as for joining the breakaway, but it was a fine effort.

80km to go: Lylyk is about to be caught by the peloton.

86km to go: The peloton now rolls up the climb. The fight for QOM points saw Jackson’s task get harder: they accelerated away from the chaser and she’s now 1min 20sec down.

A general view of the peloton competing. Photograph: Alex Broadway/Getty Images

97km to go: Mahé takes three points atop the Côte de Châbles. Eraso Lasa second, Rijnbeek third.

QOM result: Côte de Châbles 3pts: Océane Mahé (Ma Petite Entreprise)2pts: Idoia Eraso Lasa (Laboral-Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi) 1pt: Maud Rijnbeek (Volkerwessels)

89km to go: Jackson continues to chase, alone, and she’s 40sec down. Perhaps she’s now used up so much energy that finally joining the break would be a pyrrhic victory, at this stage.

Canada’s Alison Jackson tries to join the break. Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone/AP

89km to go: Quite a big crash back in the peloton. At first glance, it appears no one is badly hurt, thankfully, and they will all be able to resume.

90km to go: Is Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) looking forward to today, she was asked before the stage by Matt Stephens, on TNT Sports.

“Yes. It’ll be a lot of suffering. But we are looking forward to it,” says the Dutchwoman.

“It’s quite complicated,” she adds of the final climb. “I will try to save as much as possible during the stage, then suffer as much as possible during the final kilometres, hopefully to be able to sprint.

“Main focus is stage wins and then GC.”

Lorena Wiebes. Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA

92km to go: The gap is 4min for the four riders up front. Jackson is putting in a quite remarkable ride here and has closed to within 20sec. This is real character.

94km to go: Jackson is 15 years older than Lylyk, by the way. Age is just a number.

Jackson was born in Vermilion, Alberta, which is in central Canada. Lylyk hails from Guelph, on the eastern side, close to Toronto and the border with New York state.