​Stage 6 of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes took the riders through the eastern foothills of the Massif Central, making it another challenging climb. A total of 2,600 metres of climbing lay ahead over the 153.4-kilometre route between Montbrison and Tournon-sur-Rhône. In the end, Kimberley Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance – Soudal Team) won the stage.

The final part of the stage was dominated by a leading group of eight riders who broke away around 35 kilometres from the finish. The group included, amongst others, Liane Lippert (Movistar), Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE - L’IMAD), Célia Gery (FDJ United - SUEZ) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix - Premier Tech). After plenty of tactical manoeuvring, it eventually came down to a sprint finish, in which Le Court-Pienaar, having made an early move, narrowly beat Cedrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) and Pieterse. Lippert crossed the line in sixth place.

​Le Court-Pienaar fought his way back after a breakdown

“The race was mad. I had a mechanical on the descent before the final climb. I had to change my bike. But my team were fantastic afterwards and got me back into the peloton. I tried to stay patient. Riejanne Markus and I then made our move to join the leading group,” said Le Court-Pienaar in her post-race interview. However, looking back on the final stretch, she added: “I was really completely knackered and absolutely at my limit. I can’t believe I still had the legs for the sprint. But after the effort my team put in, I couldn’t give up.”

The group of favourites, led by Marlene Reusser (Movistar) in the yellow jersey, Antonia Niedermaier (CANYON//SRAM) and Demi Vollering (FDJ United - SUEZ), crossed the finish line 28 seconds later.

The jerseys for the 2026 Tour de France Femmes

In the overall standings, Longo Borghini moved up to fourth place (+2:28 minutes) thanks to her role in the breakaway, overtaking Niedermaier (+2:40), who now occupies fifth place. Niedermaier, however, continues to lead the classification for the best young female riders. Reusser remains at the top of the general classification, twelve seconds ahead of Vollering, followed by Kasia Niewiadoma (CANYON/SRAM, +1:17 minutes). In the mountains classification, Pieterse extended her lead. Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx - Protime) continues to wear the green jersey.

​2026 Tour de France Femmes – Results of Stage 6

Here’s how Stage 6 of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes unfolded

After around 25 kilometres, a three-woman breakaway formed comprising Nikola Noskova (Cofidis), Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek) and Katrine Aalerud (Uno-X Mobility). Noskova claimed the day’s first mountain classification on the Côte de la Prunerie (Category 4). As the trio were allowed to ride on, Noskova went on to collect further points on the Côte d’Aurec (Category 3) and the Côte de Praneuf (Category 4).

Meanwhile, on the undulating terrain, Anna van der Breggen (Team SD Worx – Protime) had already lost contact with the peloton, where EF Education-Oatly and Fenix-Premier Tech in particular were setting the pace. Even without any categorised climbs, the route frequently took the riders uphill, which ultimately proved to be Noskova’s undoing in the leading group 67 kilometres from the finish. After Adegeest increased the pace, she fell behind.

Lippert is part of the decisive leading group

On the climb up to the Col de Lalouvesc (2nd category), Adegeest and Aalerud were finally caught 54 kilometres from the finish. Puck Pieterse (Fenix - Premier Tech) eventually secured the mountain points at the Col de Lalouvesc from the reduced peloton, 47 kilometres from the finish.

This was followed by a 15-kilometre descent, during which, following an attack by Célia Gery (FDJ United – SUEZ), a group formed comprising Liane Lippert (Movistar), Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE – L’IMAD), Sarah Van Dam (Visma | Lease a Bike), Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) and Pieterse. The six-woman group built up a lead of around 30 seconds.

​Le Court-Pienaar closes in on the leading group late on

In the chasing group, Lidl–Trek did most of the chasing work. However, even on the day’s final mountain climb, the Côte de Boucieu-le-Roi (3rd category), the gap between the leading group and the peloton remained unchanged with 16 kilometres to go. Pieterse secured the mountain points, whilst Kerbaol tried a solo attack but was quickly caught again by her five companions.

However, Riejanne Markus had (Lidl – Trek) and Kimberley Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance – Soudal Team) had meanwhile successfully broken away from the peloton and joined the six leaders ten kilometres from the finish. However, the group did not really work well together from then on; Longo Borghini, in particular, did the bulk of the work at the front.

Nevertheless, the eight riders reached the final kilometre and ended up battling it out amongst themselves for the win.