2026 Tour de France Femmes: Minimum weight puts very light riders at a disadvantage

The opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes covers 138 kilometres and 1,700 metres of elevation gain. Along the route, the riders will have to tackle three third-category climbs. A classic sprint finish is possible, but not very likely, as the road also leads uphill towards the finish (2.6 km at 4.6 per cent). The steepest section begins 1.6 kilometres from the finish and has a gradient of eight per cent. By this point at the latest, an attack from within a group is to be expected. However, any lead would have to be defended over the final 600 metres, which climb only very slightly. On paper, this is a classic finish.

It seems unlikely that the GC riders will let a breakaway group get away on the first stage. It is more likely that an elimination race will develop before then.

Ultimately, a wide variety of riders are in contention for the win, ranging from a puncheuse like Lotte Kopecky to strong climbers with sprinting ability and GC contenders. Pure sprinters are likely to miss out, or be dropped before the final stretch.

But let’s turn to the technical side of things. Which material offers the best advantages for this type of race? Should the wheels be as light as possible, or is aerodynamics more important?

Anyone who has read the tech briefings on the men’s tour will have guessed that aerodynamics is likely to take precedence over weight here too.

Minimum weight puts very light female riders at a disadvantage

However, there are differences between men and women: on average, women are significantly lighter and also have slightly less power relative to their weight than men. These differences are more pronounced during short-term exertion than during very long periods of exertion.

However, the same rules apply to the wheels: Minimum weight: 6.8 kilograms are also set for women. This means that, relative to body weight, the bikes are heavier than those for men, and as a result, differences in bike weight have a relatively greater impact on women. This puts lighter female riders at a disadvantage.

For very light female cyclists (47 kg), the bike accounts for 13 per cent of the total weight; for heavier female cyclists (66 kg), the bike accounts for just 9 per cent (calculated on the basis of a bike weight of 6.8 kg in each case).

We have analysed the distribution of female riders’ weights using the officially available data. Based on 26 published data sets, the following picture emerges:

According to this, the most common weight is 55–59 kilograms; the mean for our sample is 56.5 kilograms. The distribution has two ranges at either end that are plausible from a sporting perspective:

1. lightweight female mountain bikers weighing 47–52 kg,
2. top female time trialists, classics riders and sprinters weighing between 60 and 70 kg.

Examples from the published data include Katarzyna Niewiadoma at 49 kg, Lotte Kopecky at 66 kg and Marlen Reusser at 70 kg. However, these figures are not official measurements taken by the Tour organisers, but rather database values. Our dataset is derived from compiled ProCyclingStats profile information and, for many riders, contains missing or out-of-date details.

The weights are also subject to fluctuations throughout the year. Some female riders deliberately lose weight before the Tour in order to be competitive on the climbs. Last year’s winner, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, is the best concrete example of this. After the 2025 Tour, she explained that she had specifically four kilograms compared to her condition in the spring. She also said that, in the spring, she had deliberately prioritised performance on flatter routes and did not wish to maintain this very light condition in the long term.

Her actual weight has not been published. The database lists her as 53 kilos, but we suspect her racing weight last year was lower. Demi Vollering, on the other hand, unlike Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, did not aim to minimise her weight; her official weight is 57 kilograms, she never looked underweight and has also spoken out critically about weight loss as a means of performance optimisation.

The number of the day: five seconds

We’re simulating an attack in the final 2,600-metre stretch for a 56-kilo female rider. Just as with the men, the Cervélo S5 comes out on top once again. Team Visma knows how to get the bike down to 6.8 kg. If that’s possible for Jonas Vingegaard, it will be possible for the Visma women riders too.

The gap to the Cervélo R5 mountain bike is five seconds in the final uphill section. It is therefore highly likely that we won’t see any dedicated mountain bikes at the start of the women’s race either.

An overview of the (almost) full line-up*:

* Simulation calculations

Based on our own wind tunnel tests, we carry out simulation calculations for the Tour de France tech briefing. How TOUR tests: Aero road bike test in the wind tunnel.

We are investigating which wheels can offer a technical advantage in which situations. The variables we can control in the simulation include wheel weight, rider weight, the inertia of the wheels, the drag coefficient, the rolling resistance coefficient and the efficiency of the drivetrain.

To model ride times, we use realistic power outputs and weights for the riders, combine these with our wind tunnel data, and have the riders race virtually along selected sections of the route, which we extract from the official route data; the derived elevation profiles are key to this. The modelling also includes bends, which we can brake for realistically, and adjustable power profiles for different types of riders. This allows us to distinguish between hill climbs and proper final sprints. Taken together, this makes the simulation highly realistic. What we cannot replicate, however, are dynamic riding effects such as the individual behaviour of the wheels on different surfaces.

The journey times calculated for the sections of the route that are decisive for the race highlight the influence of the wheels – provided that the riders always behave in the same way in a given scenario.