On the 2,400-metre-long final climb, only ten women finished within the same time; the eleventh, Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team), was already five seconds behind. From twelfth place onwards, starting with Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ), the gap was already eight seconds – including for Antonia Niedermaier (CANYON//SRAM) and Anna van der Breggen (Team SD Worx – Protime). However, the main favourites for the overall victory all came through unscathed. Alongside Vollering, who picked up a further four bonus seconds by finishing third, defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), Kasia Niewiadoma (CANYON//SRAM) and Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) also crossed the line without losing any time.

​When Vollering stepped up the pace once again in the final 800 metres, the eventual winner refused to be shaken off and, showing great determination, celebrated her 132nd professional victory – her sixth at the Tour and her second opening stage win.

“I can hardly believe it. Everyone worked really hard today; even Anna took the lead a kilometre from the finish,” said winner Wiebes. “And then Demi attacked. I thought to myself, ‘I’ve got to stick with her.’ And then it was a long sprint, but I’m absolutely delighted with the result. The support team believed in me completely, even though I still had a few doubts myself. That gave me extra energy.”

The stage covered a total of 138 kilometres, starting and finishing in Lausanne. At the four mountain classifications, Océane Mahé (Ma Petite Entreprise) from the breakaway group collected the most points and will therefore be wearing the polka-dot jersey. The green jersey, like the yellow, belongs to Wiebes, whilst Blasi is the best young rider despite losing time.

2026 Tour de France Femmes – Results of Stage 1

Here’s how the first stage of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes went

A four-strong leading group comprising Nikola Nosková (Cofidis Women Team), Idoia Eraso (Laboral Kutxa – Fundación Euskadi), Maud Rijnbeek (VolkerWessels Cycling Team) and Mahé broke away from the peloton early on and built up a lead of almost six minutes. Alison Jackson (St Michel – Preference Home – Auber93) attempted a solo chase, but found herself caught between two worlds.

After the Côte de Vulliens (3rd category), the group initially split up; the peloton also began to break up and had to regroup, slowing down and reorganising itself. The lead, which had by then shrunk to just over a minute and a half, remained constant for the time being.

At the front, Noskova initially held the lead on her own, even extending her advantage over the peloton to two minutes at one stage. With 17 kilometres to go, Rijnbeek, Eraso and Amanda Spratt (Lidl - Trek), who had broken away from the peloton late on, caught up with Noskova. Shortly afterwards, the new quartet still had a 50-second lead.

But once the action really kicked off at the back of the field, it all came to a swift end. Six kilometres from the finish, the quartet had been caught. The riders then tackled the 2,400-metre-long final climb at a high pace. However, when a small group had already broken away halfway up the climb – partly due to a crash further back, which also held up co-favourite Elisa Balsamo (Lidl – Trek) – the pace was slowed down once again. It was during this phase that Wiebes also returned to the front.

However, a subsequent surge in pace by Vollering, which stretched the field out once again, was not enough to shake off the eventual winner – partly because Vollering did not maintain her pace right through to the finish line.