- The Grand Départ of the fifth edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will be held in Switzerland, beginning with the opening stage, a loop around Lausanne on Saturday, 1 August. Stage 2 will take the field from Aigle to Geneva.
- It will be the second Grand Départ of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift beyond French borders, following the start of the 2024 edition in Rotterdam. The event will take place between August 1 and 9, 2026, with 9 stages on the schedule.
BREATHTAKING IN EVERY SENSE, Marion Rousse, Director of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift
Lausanne submitted a bid to host the women’s race as early as 2022, the last time that a stage of the Tour finished in the city. What better choice for the Olympic capital than to link up with Aigle, the world cycling capital, and Geneva, the diplomatic capital of Europe, to make Lake Geneva, whose deep waters shimmer with the reflections of mountains and vineyards, the jaw-dropping backdrop to the 2026 Grand Départ? It will be a delightful three days in the Swiss Riviera, whose picture-postcard landscapes will set the scene for a formidable sporting challenge. The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (1-9 August 2026) will get off to a cracking start, with the favourites clashing in the puncheuse- friendly opener, followed by a likely sprint finish in the glamorous harbour of Geneva.
LAUSANNE, Émilie Moeschler, Municipal Councillor and Deputy Mayor of the City of Lausanne
Lausanne, the Olympic capital, is proud to welcome the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift to Switzerland for the first time. Our city will offer the riders the most beautiful setting, with the city, vineyards, Lake Geneva and the Alps as a backdrop. Our passion and love for cycling will make our city’s heart beat faster for a Grand Départ that’s rich in emotion. As a result, Lausanne will highlight its strong commitment to promoting female athletes, as well as to bringing people together and inspiring them.
AIGLE, Grégory Devaud, Mayor of the City of Aigle and Member of the Grand Council
Aigle is very honoured to have been chosen to host the Grand Départ of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. As the home of Swiss and international cycling, the World Cycling Centre and the International Cycling Union, Aigle would like to offer a warm welcome to the riders and their teams, who are committed to promoting the sport and putting a spotlight on women’s cycling and, more broadly, women’s sport, where athletic endeavours deserve our full attention.
GENÈVE, Marie Barbey-Chappuis, Administrative Councillor of the City of Geneva
What a privilege it is to see all of these champions in Geneva! Our city is very proud and very happy to welcome the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. It’s a fantastic opportunity to promote women’s cycling in our city and in Switzerland. This welcome will underline the City of Geneva’s desire to promote women’s sport, as was the case during the Euro 2025 football championships. We encourage everyone to come out all along the route to cheer on the champions!
STAGE 1 | Lausanne > Lausanne | 137km
The fifth edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will hit the road in Avenue de Rhodanie, on the banks of Lake Geneva. A wide loop will then take the peloton to Lake Neuchâtel, followed by a sequence of two climbs (3.5km at 6.1% and 3.7km at 4.5%) that are likely to whittle down the field in the inbound half of the course. The stage will hug the banks of Lake Geneva, at the foot of the Lavaux Vineyard Terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The course has a sting in the tail, with the final hurdle (a 2.3km ascent at 5.4%) coming shortly after the Olympic Museum and leading to the finish line in Place Saint-François, at the end of a 400-metre straight.
STAGE 2 | Aigle > Genève | 150km
The riders will roll out of downtown Aigle and race in the vicinity of to the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) headquarters and the World Cycling Centre (WCC) before charting a course for Lake Geneva via Montreux and Vevey. Over 13 kilometres, the road will rise in three stages to visit Lac de Bret and skirt Lausanne. The return trip to Geneva will go through undulating terrain, but the three climbs on the menu, the last of which comes with 35 kilometres to go, should not prevent the sprinters from duking it out opposite the famous Jet d’Eau, at the end of the home straight on Quai du Mont-Blanc.
STAGE 3 | Genève > Poligny | 157 km
The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will set out from Geneva, a multiple-time Tour de France stage city (most recently in 1990) and the scene of the climactic showdown of the most recent Tour de Romandie. Course designers are spoilt for choice with stage 3. A relaxing promenade down the Rhône Valley, all the way to the Ain Plain, perhaps? A journey north-west to the Jura mountain range, whose hilly terrain is bound to keep the riders on their toes? Or maybe an expedition over the daunting Alpine passes of Haute-Savoie, just a stone’s throw away? The answer will come in October.
Unfortunately, illness prevented Marlen Reusser from finishing the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. However, the Swiss rider subsequently made a full recovery and was crowned world time trial champion in September. A stage-winner in 2022 and 2023, she’ll be heading back to the Tour determined to do well.
Geneva’s Elise Chabbey reached new heights in 2025: proud winner of the polka dot jersey as best climber at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, she went on to win the Tour de Romandie Féminin in August, a great event on the Women’s WorldTour calendar, as is the Tour de Suisse Féminin earlier in the season.
Switzerland also has two promising young riders in Noemi Rüegg (24) and Linda Zanetti (23). They could soon follow in the footsteps of the greats of the past, including Barbara Heeb (1996 world champion), Nicole Brändli (winner of the Giro in 2001, 2003 and 2005), Karin Thürig (world time trial champion in 2004 and 2005) and Priska Doppmann (winner of the Grande Boucle Internationale in 2005).
