Tour de France Femmes Contenders Who Want Demi Vollering’s Yellow Jersey—and Could Steal It
As the Paris Olympics conclude, we’re turning our eyes towards the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, which kicked off August 12 with eight stages of racing over seven days, wrapping up Sunday, August 18. Racers will understandably be tired—especially many of the top contenders who just spent weeks in the Olympic Village in Paris. Who do we think could win the General Classification and finish in the coveted Yellow Jersey? There are a few obvious answers—but a couple of wild cards as well!
Preview & How to Watch Startlist Staff Predictions
First, let’s do a quick recap of the race stages and how the race could play out. Stages 1 and 2 are flat; Stage 3 is a short individual time trial (ITT); Stages 4 and 6 are hilly; Stage 5 is flat; and Stages 7 and 8 are mountain stages. It’s likely that the Yellow Jersey will be held by a sprinter for the first two stages, and then the ITT may put one of the overall contenders into the Yellow. The ITT is short—just under seven kilometers—which means that win times will matter, but will likely only be seconds apart for the top riders, so it won’t make or break the race. And with a couple of hilly stages plus two mountain stages to finish the race, the Yellow Jersey could easily move around between Stages 3 and 8.
Ultimately, this year’s race is well-designed for the yellow jersey to bounce around plenty, which should make for exciting viewing.
Who are the top contenders for the Yellow Jersey?
The reigning champion: Demi Vollering
Obviously, Demi Vollering (SD Worx Protime) is the rider everyone is looking at for the TDFF win this year. She’s the reigning champion, and while this season has been less dominant for the racer when it comes to one-day races, she has won every stage race that she’s started. And without her teammate Lotte Kopecky on the start list, she may actually have an advantage, since Kopecky was her main competition last year, and the team had a tricky time working for two riders in GC contention.
Gravel queen: Kasia Niewiadoma
Canyon//SRAM’s Kasia Niewiadoma has been *this* close to Tour de France Femmes glory for the last two years. She had a good break this season and plenty of altitude training, and while she didn’t have an amazing performance at the Olympics—like Vollering—that could be a sign that she still has plenty left in the tank for the TDFF. She’ll definitely be a contender in the mountain stages, so if she can just keep her GC standing decent the first few stages, she has a shot.
Young and Talented: Gaia Realini
Without her teammate, Giro d’Italia winner Elisa Longo Borghini, on the start line, Gaia Realini may be the team’s best hope for a GC podium finish. While she didn’t have a single standout day at the Giro last month, she was largely responsible for shepherding Longo-Borghini to victory, so this may be her chance to step into the spotlight. The Lidl-Trek squad is strong even without Longo-Borghini, and there are plenty of riders who can rally behind Realini to put her into contention for a GC podium spot.
The GOAT: Marianne Vos
Admittedly, we know that the Visma-Lease a Bike rider almost certainly won’t be able to compete as the race starts getting hillier. But after her silver medal Olympic showing, we’re betting she’ll be in contention to wear the yellow jersey for one of the first stages because there’s still no one tactically better when it comes to a sprint.
Olympic medalist: Grace Brown
Like Vos, it’s unlikely that she’ll end up in the yellow at the end of the week. But after her Olympic gold in the ITT, she’s likely gunning for the ITT win on day 3, so if she can stay in the lead group and not lose time for Stages 1 and 2, she could move into the yellow on Stage 3.
Green, White, and Polka-Dot Jersey Contenders
Like the Tour de France Hommes, the Tour de France Femmes also has green, white, and polka-dot jerseys available. Green is the sprinter’s jersey, won by collecting sprint points during each stage. White is the young rider jersey for the top Under-26 racer. And the polka dot jersey belongs to the Queen of the Mountains, a race that won’t heat up until mid-week when the climbing starts.
Green Jersey (Sprints Classification): Marianne Vos just took home silver at the Olympics in a wicked sprint, and the Tour de France Femmes is a hugely meaningful race to the GOAT. She’s likely looking for some early-stage wins on the first two flat stages, so we might see her briefly in yellow before we see her in green. But she’ll have plenty of competition with Lorena Wiebes as well as Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)..
White Jersey (Best Young Rider): Neve Bradbury of Canyon//SRAM had a great Giro d’Italia Women’s race, including a stage win. She’ll be supporting Niewiadoma, which will likely put her in a good position to stay toward the top of the GC, especially if she can hang on in the mountain stages.
Polka-Dot (Mountains Classification): It’s a toss-up between Vollering and Niewiadoma. Both are fantastic climbers, and since both are also yellow jersey contenders, we expect them to be up in the front on the final two stages, much like last year.
The Stage Hunters
Kristen Faulkner: The Olympic Gold Medalist (!) will be on the startline with EF-Oatly-Cannondale and, assuming that road and track racing at the Olympics doesn’t leave her too tired, she could very well be a contender for a stage win. And it’s safe to say that EF will be fully behind her with a huge sense of pride in having the Olympic champ on their squad.
Blanka Vas: After a fourth place in Paris (getting outsprinted by her teammate Kopecky, who hilariously told the Olympic reporters, “I’m really sorry for Blanka Vas, she’s my teammate, and she’s a really nice girl. I was fourth three years ago, and it’s the worst place you can be.” Ouch.) Vas is likely going to be gunning for a win if her team allows it.
Lorena Wiebes: Fine, SD-Worx Protime does have two riders who could be in GC contention despite Kopecky not being on the start list. Wiebes is a fantastic sprinter and could certainly take a stage win or two.
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