Tour de France Femmes 2024: Lots of Netherlands and finale in L'Alpe d'Huez: This is the complete route
Sebastian Lindner
· 12.08.2024
The Tour de France Femmes starts abroad for the first time. The Grand Depart in Rotterdam recalls the start of the men's Tour de France in 2010 - and at the same time honours the Dutch dominance in women's cycling. Rotterdam plays the leading role on the first two days. Stage 1 leads completely flat to The Hague. The second stage starts in Dordrecht and leads back to Rotterdam and is only 69.7 kilometres long. The reason for this is the 6.3 kilometre time trial through the city, which will be completed on the same day.
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.
After the two half-stages on the second day, the bunch moves on to Valkenburg, where stage 4 starts. The finish is in Liège, Belgium. And it's not just the start and finish locations that sound like classics - the profile of the day also looks like one. It packs the decisive mountains of the Amstel Gold Race and Liège - Bastogne - Liège, both of which are also on the women's calendar, into one stage. The Cauberg, Cote de la Redoute and Cote de la Roche-aux-Faucons have to be conquered.
Two chunks on the final day
The tour only reaches France on stage 5. After the start in Bastogne, the day ends in Amneville, not far from the German border. However, the supposed sprinter's stage offers an uphill finale - a total of three stages were categorised as flat, two as hilly and two as mountain finishes. There is also the time trial.
Meanwhile, the race winds its way through the east of France and heads for the Vosges. From Remiremont to Morteau. From stage 7 onwards, the going gets really tough. From Champagnole in the Jura, the race heads into the high Alps. The longest day, at 167 kilometres, ends in the winter sports resort of Le Grand Bornand with a seven-kilometre, 5.1 percent steep final climb.
Only the last stage adds to this. Starting from the previous day's finish, the route goes over the Col du Glandon. For the men it is an HC climb, for the women it is simply a mountain classification, as there are no different categories, just like last year. Nevertheless, 19.7 kilometres with an average gradient of 7.2 per cent have to be conquered. Only those who cross this climb can enjoy the 21 hairpin bends of L'Alpe d'Huez, spread over 13.8 kilometres with an average of 8.1 per cent.
After 3100 metres of climbing up to Le Grand Bornand, another 3900 metres await on the final day. Overall, the third edition is somewhat shorter than the first two tours, but probably the most difficult due to the two high mountain stages at the end and the unusual double load on the second day.
Tour de France Femmes 2024: All stages at a glance
Stage 1 | Monday, 12 August 2024 | Rotterdam - The Hague | 123 kilometres
Stage 1 of the Tour de France Femmes 2024 starts flat and, despite a slightly uphill finish in The Hague, will be a sprinter's race. The distance between the two cities, which is actually less than 30 kilometres long, is stretched by a few loops, including through the port of Rotterdam. The biggest opponent on the absolutely flat course could be the wind, if it blows from the right direction.
Stage 2 | Tuesday, 13 August 2024 | Dordrecht - Rotterdam | 69.7 kilometres
What applies to stage 1 will also apply to the second leg. After the start south of Rotterdam in Dordrecht, the route takes a diversion back to the centre to conclude the first part of the day. Normally, this is again a matter for the sprinters. But perhaps a rider will decide to organise a time trial in the morning due to the shortness of the route. If the gap gets too big, breakaway riders may not be able to be caught in this full-throttle event.
Stage 3 | Tuesday, 13 August 2024 | Rotterdam - Rotterdam | 6.3 kilometres (individual time trial)
The official time trial in Rotterdam has the character of a prologue. There are even a few mini-waves and the course is relatively technical with several bends. Larger time gaps are possible despite the short distance.
Stage 4 | Wednesday, 14 August 2024 | Valkenburg - Liège | 122.7 kilometres
Stage 4 takes the Tour from the Netherlands to Belgium. With Valkenburg and Liège, it connects the finishes of two great classics. The first hills of the day are a regular part of the Amstel Gold Race programme, with the Cauberg being the most prominent. However, the climbs only get longer when the race enters Belgium. A total of eight mountain classifications are on the programme.
After Liège is reached for the first time after 43 kilometres, the first climb between Mont and Theux stands in the way of the riders. The 2800 metres are up to 10.5 percent steep and will sort out the peloton for the first time.
14 kilometres later, the Cote de la Redoute is reached. It gets really steep here for a good kilometre and a half, averaging 9.4 percent. The elimination race continues. And it will reach its climax at the Cote de la Roche-aux-Faucons. 13 kilometres before the finish, the 1300 metre climb is 11 percent steep on average. It smells like a solo victory or the arrival of a small group.
Stage 5 | Thursday, 15 August 2024 | Bastogne - Amneville | 152.5 kilometres
The fact that the Tour only reaches French soil after more than half of the tour is quite a surprise. The motherland is reached at Meurthe-et-Moselle after stage 5 started in Bastogne, Belgium. It remains undulating until the finish in Amneville, and the final kilometres are also slightly uphill. Although a bunch sprint is the most likely outcome, it is by no means certain.
Stage 6 | Friday, 16 August 2024 | Remiremont - Morteau | 159.2 kilometres
Between Remiremont and Morteau, the hills turn into mountains for the first time. After a transfer, the Vosges are reached. Things really get going from kilometre 80, after the Col du Mont de Fourche is crossed very early in the race, where the leading group of the day could form, which may not be caught by the peloton until the finish.
The biggest challenges of the day await in the final third. Firstly with the 5.5 kilometre climb to La Roche du Pretre, which is followed by a short descent and then the significantly shorter but almost seven per cent steep Cote des Fins. Shortly afterwards, the highest point of the day is reached. The route then descends to Morteau.
Stage 7 | Saturday, 17 August 2024 | Champagnole - Le Grand Bornand | 166.4 kilometres
Compared to what awaits the riders on day 6, everything so far has been just a skirmish. The Col del la Croix de la Serra is the first major climb of the day on the longest stage of this year's tour, which is 166.4 kilometres long. The first 15 kilometres of the stage are uphill. The middle section of the day is a little quieter, as the route is in the Jura.
But then we head straight towards the high Alps. Thones is reached 20 kilometres before the day's destination. But it's almost all uphill from there. Initially only slightly uphill until a temporary high point is reached at the Col de Saint-Jean-de-Sixt. After a two-kilometre rest, you reach Le Grand Bornand - and the route climbs up to the Montee du Chinaillon. That's another seven kilometres with an average gradient of more than five per cent. At the end of a long stage with a total of 3100 metres of climbing, only the strongest will win.
Stage 8 | Sunday, 18 August 2024 | Le Grand Bornand - L'Alpe d'Huez | 149.9 kilometres
This applies all the more to the final day of the race. After a preliminary decision on the overall victory had probably already been made the day before, the result must be confirmed once again. Because the final stage is also the queen stage of the tour. 3900 metres of climbing await the women.
With the almost 20 kilometre long climb to the Col du Glandon, the women are now working their way up the first legend in the Alps after the Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees. However, the Glandon - which is therefore likely to be ridden a little more cautiously - is just the appetiser for the final climb up to L'Alpe d'Huez.
The legendary 21 hairpin bends are likely to spur the women on once again, as the finish of the tour awaits at the top of the town. The 13.8 kilometres with an average gradient of 8.1 per cent will once again push the favourites to their best performances. And there is a good chance that the winner at the summit will also take home the yellow jersey.
