Tour de France Femmes 2025 - 7th stage: Bourg-en-Bresse - Chambéry | 159.7 kilometres | 1950 vertical metres
The seventh stage starts flat, builds up towards the end and finally plunges downhill. The finale is a 17 kilometre long downhill into the heart of Chambéry. The setting is similar to the fifth stage, only the climb is higher and the descent longer.
The climb to the Col du Granier (8.9 km, 5.4%) is not particularly steep, so the favourites for the classification will keep an eye on each other. The last section of the climb is ideal for an attack, as it is somewhat steeper. The expected scenario is a breakaway with an acceleration at the end of the climb.
The stage will then presumably be decided on the downhill. The organisers shied away from such a finale in the men's Tour. In the Tour Femmes, three of the nine stages end with a downhill section. Apparently, the women have more confidence in their riding skills.
The central climb becomes steeper towards the end, and you can expect the attack here, which then has to be extended on the downhill. The approach to the finish is full of bends. It only becomes flat 2000 metres before the finish.
What does the stage profile mean for the wheels?
The final decision will probably come on the downhill. On the fifth stage, we were able to see how the battle is fought there. Kasia Niewiadoma rode particularly aggressively in the group of favourites. Several times her bike seemed to be at the limit of grip, the front wheel jumped as if the tyre pressure had been set too high.
Tyres and air pressure are the most important parameters for optimum downhill performance. Slightly wider tyres with adapted low pressure improve road holding dramatically. Coupled with superior riding skills and courage, this can make a difference. Track knowledge also helps. We can assume that the top teams have had a close look at the track in training.
As already reported yesterday, rain tyres are an insurance policy if the road is wet. The slightly higher rolling resistance may not matter to GC riders on a stage like today. Uphill, rolling resistance is not so important because the speed is not very high, downhill the grip properties are more important than ultimate smoothness. If you can carry more speed through a bend, you are simply faster.
The approach to the heart of the city is also tricky today. Several hairpin bends in the city area and numerous obstacles to calm the traffic are ideal material for the technical riders in the field to make a difference in the last 4000 metres. The 290 metre long home straight is flat. We simulate the descent again to find out which bike offers potential advantages here.
The number of the day: 35 seconds
On the downhill course, the fastest bike can gain a 35-second lead over the slowest.
The (almost) complete field at a glance*
The table shows the riding times for the downhill section to the finish. The ranking shows that, from a technical point of view, aerodynamics are the most important factor.
*) The calculations are based on the bikes tested by TOUR in the laboratory and wind tunnel. The bikes at the Tour de France may differ in some details. Of course, we have also not yet been able to analyse last-minute prototypes. Background to the simulation.
Our expert
Robert Kühnen studied mechanical engineering, writes about technical and training topics for TOUR and develops test methods. Robert has been refining the simulation calculations for years and they are also used by professional teams.
