Schedule, TV coverage & live stream of stage 1 of the Tour de France Femmes 2024
- Monday, 12 August
- Rotterdam - The Hague
- 123 kilometres, flat
- Official start: 12:45
- Finish: ~ 15:33 - 15:49
- TV: ARD, from 14:10, Eurosport 1, from 12:00* - more info on TV broadcast & live stream
- Live stream: ARD Mediathek, sportschau.de, Discovery Plus (for a fee)
- All stages of the Tour de France Femmes at a glance
Lisa Brennauer's assessment of stage 1
There will be a lot of excitement among the female riders as the Tour de France Femmes starts abroad for the first time. As we saw at the Amstel Gold Race in the spring, the Dutch throw a party when it comes to cycling. The fans will make this start unique and unforgettable. The opening stage will take place in an interesting setting: The peloton moves from the largest harbour in Europe to the seat of government of the Netherlands. I expect a very hectic start, and unfortunately many crashes are pre-programmed here. The proximity to the coast on a windy day can pose a major challenge for some of the classification riders in the final kilometres.
I once lived near The Hague myself for a while. The last time the men's Tour de France was held in Rotterdam was in 2010, when Alessandro Petacchi won. We will most likely see another sprint finish, as all the fast women like Lorena Wiebes, Charlotte Kool or Elisa Balsamo will be keen to take the first yellow jersey.
My tip for the stage win: Lorena Wiebes
Our expert and her daily forecast
Lisa Brennauer competed in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift once during her active career. At the inaugural event in 2022, the Allgäu native finished 58th in the final standings in her last year as a professional racer. The former road world champion in the time trial and Olympic champion in the team pursuit has since switched sides. She is now the mother of a son and has been supporting the German Cycling Federation as national coach of the women's U23 category since 2023. She also works as a TV expert and sporting director of the Women's Cycling Grand Prix Stuttgart, which is now the largest international women's one-day race organised in Germany with UCI Pro status.
For TOUR, the 36-year-old analyses all the stages on the route from Rotterdam to the legendary Alpe d'Huez, which features on the Women's Tour route for the first time and sets the stage for the exciting finale. On which stages could there be a sprinters' festival? Where could a preliminary decision be made with a view to the overall standings? With the first foreign start and a detour to neighbouring Belgium, the Tour of France promises eight exciting and varied stages. As the most successful German cyclist in recent years, Brennauer provides insights into possible race scenarios and describes with great expertise what the riders can expect on their three-country tour through the Netherlands, Belgium and eastern France into the Alps just one day after the end of the Olympic Games in Paris. We also use the number of classification jerseys to assess the significance of the stage for the overall classification, the climber's jersey and the sprinter's jersey.
* Broadcast times are subject to change.
Live from Tour de France Femmes 2024
TOUR editor Sandra Schuberth will be there live at the start of this year's Tour de France Femmes before cycling back to Munich. Her bikepacking tour is being organised under the name Deutschland-Trail Gravel-Edition. If you want, you can accompany them for a while.
