A Grand Départ from Switzerland before taking the road to Nice while climbing the giant of Provence: the route of the 2026 women's Tour de France was revealed, Thursday October 23, in Paris. If the first ascent of Mont Ventoux will be the highlight of this 5th edition, the other eight stages will be far from being anecdotal, before an explosive finale around Nice. A route that Marion Rousse, director of the Tour de France women, analyzes for franceinfo: sport.
Franceinfo: sport: In a word, how would you summarize the journey of this 5th edition?
Marion Rousse: It's a tricky course, because there is no stage without difficulty, no stage where the leaders will be able to stay warm at the back of the peloton. Every day, things can change. This course will be tough physically and mentally: you will have to stay focused and focused every day.
The Grand Départ takes place in Switzerland. We could therefore expect that it would quickly become difficult with the mountains, which will not be the case. For what ?
We could have had a very tough start in Switzerland, obviously, but it's the first race weekend, so we don't want to have monstrous gaps and kill any suspense. A journey is built as a whole, with measured first days. There, we will start with a loop for punchers around Lausanne, including the coast of Saint-François in front of the Olympic museum. It's a nice bump which should smile on the leaders and the outsiders, already with tension.
There will also be the return of the individual time trial, which closed the race in 2023 and launched that of 2024. This time, it will be in the middle of the course.
To be honest, the time trial is where we have the least audience and that sometimes creates an imbalance in terms of suspense. But, we love this exercise, and this year I'm happy that we have a time. And above all it can open up the suspense, we can see Marlen Reusser take the yellow jersey before the arrival of the mountain. Which would then force the other leaders, who had given up time, to move. Placing it in the middle of the Tour opens up perspectives.
The rest of the program is very attractive, including a descent of the Rhône valley via Beaujolais, notably Mont Brouilly.
It's a very nice stage, on routes that Paris-Nice often takes. This is the type of stage I prefer, which looks like a classic with walls that mean anything can happen at any time. There will be eight climbs in 140 km, with almost 3,000 meters of elevation gain. And with Mont Brouilly 12 km from the finish, its very steep slopes and its narrow road, including the way down: it's a stage where you can lose everything, it's one of all dangers.
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Obviously, the highlight will be the ascent of Mont Ventoux for the first time in the history of the women's Tour de France.
Every year, we try to put on the road a legendary pass from the history of the Tour de France, the kind of pass that makes you turn on the TV to watch a stage. And Mont Ventoux is perhaps the most beautiful pass. Visually, it's still magical. The girls will be able to make a little more history at the top. This will be the queen stage, especially since we put a few passes on the road before arriving at the foot of Ventoux, with a day of 3,600 meters of positive altitude difference.
After the Tourmalet in 2023, the Alpe d'Huez in 2024, there is a new Tour monument on the menu. Is it important that the women's peloton appropriates these myths?
In truth, it just became natural. We passed a milestone last year in all areas, the Women's Tour de France entered people's hearts. We no longer even ask ourselves the question of whether girls deserve it, if they are capable of it. They proved it on the pedals. Mont Ventoux is one of the greatest myths in the history of the Tour, and the girls will be very proud to tame it.
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With 1,175 km to cover, a record, and 18,795 meters of elevation gain, another record, is this the toughest women's Tour de France in history?
In terms of elevation and mileage, yes. And on top of that there is a time trial in the middle. It's clearly a difficult, but measured, women's Tour de France, without falling into the gargantuan. I learned by commenting on races that you can be disappointed by a stage that is too hard. So we're trying to find a happy medium, but it's true that for the first time, we'll have one pass per day. Nervously speaking, in any case, it will be the hardest in history.
There will be nine stages in nine days, for the 2nd year in a row. And a departure again delayed by a week compared to the arrival of the men. The objective is to continue to gradually lengthen the route?
In the early years, we wanted to be the 4th week of the Tour de France to take advantage of the media hype. We needed this showcase. Today, we are strong enough in terms of audiences to dissociate ourselves, to take off. The priority is to stay during people's holidays, because the public can travel and that is essential. We want to grow, but without skipping steps. Women's cycling is not ready for a three-week Tour.
“Another element to take into account is that the women’s Tour de France has grown so much in the last two years that it has become practically impossible to juxtapose the first two stages with the last two for the men.”
Marion Rousseat franceinfo: sport
For the infrastructures to follow, for our teams to follow, we needed to make a break between the men's Tour and the women's Tour.
This will already be the 5th edition. We should never declare victory too quickly, but we have the impression that that's it, women's cycling has taken hold?
I experienced unbroadcast women's cycling, with unpaid riders. In four years, seeing what we have achieved, seeing people chanting the names of the champions, following the other races of the year, the transfers… I am extremely confident for the future of women's cycling, even if I remain cautious because the economic system is not yet as strong as that of the men, which is also faltering for certain teams. We remain cautious, we solidify our bases.
“Christian Prudhomme was with me on the women's Tour de France last summer, and he told me that he no longer saw any differences with the men's Tour in terms of crowds at the side of the roads. To achieve this in four years is exceptional.”
Marion Rousseat franceinfo: sport
Four years ago, we had amateur runners alongside professionals in the races. Today, the level is more and more homogeneous, but we are not yet at the peak. It will be even better in the coming years.
When you relaunched the women's Tour de France in 2022, did you imagine that things would go so quickly?
To be really honest, no. Even the runners didn't expect this. It's beyond our expectations. The public understood that girls on a bike are beautiful to look at, that they go fast. We got there thanks to the magic of the Tour de France, which speaks to cycling enthusiasts and others.
