INFO WITH ONE DAY TO GO

• The excitement is building in Vannes for the fourth edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, as the Grand Depart is all set to take place in Brittany on Saturday, with a strong start list featuring 22 teams and 154 competitors. Stage 1’s hilly 78.8km route from Vannes to Plumelec will provide an explosive spectacle, with the neutralised start taking place at 5.25pm and with the stage to be broadcast live in full. The final two stages of the Tour will also be broadcast live in full, with over 25 hours of live coverage scheduled over the nine stages of this year’s race.
• Amongst those considered as main contenders for the Yellow Jersey in a strong GC field are defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto), 2023 Tour winner Demi Vollering (FDJ - Suez), Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma | Lease a Bike) and the recent winner of the Giro d'Italia Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ).
• With a sprint finish anticipated in Plumelec on Saturday evening the competition to secure the first Yellow Jersey of the 2025 Tour will be fierce, with Dutch rivals Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) and Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike) amongst those expected to battle for the win.

VOLLERING ARRIVES LOOKING STRONG
Heading into the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift as one of the big favourites is Demi Vollering (FDJ - Suez). Last year’s race started in her native Netherlands but did not end as she would have hoped as she agonisingly missed out on the GC victory by only four seconds on Alpe d'Huez, following a costly crash on Stage 5. The route of this year’s race covers entirely French territory and Vollering is now with a French team – supported by the likes of Evita Muzic and Juliette Labous and French national champion Marie Le Net at FDJ - Suez. A winner already this year at Strade Bianche Donne, Vuelta España Femenina, Itzulia Women and Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Femenina, Vollering’s next mission is clear: to reclaim the Yellow Jersey she won in 2023. Asked if arriving at the Tour with a new team makes a big difference to her, Vollering says, “Emotionally I think a lot yes. I think it gives a lot of energy and excitement to a race that’s already very, very exciting, but it's that bit extra special.” Regarding the drive to take the Yellow Jersey back after her tough luck in 2024 and the motivation she feels from having lost out by such a close margin, Vollering replies, “I mean that's racing. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win and now I'm just very focused on what's ahead. I'm really motivated to do very well with my new team, a French team. This year’s edition of the Tour looks really good, with a lot of strong riders on the start line, so I’m looking forward to the battle.”

NIEWIADOMA DEFENDING THE YELLOW JERSEY
Targeting the GC victory again is Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto) whose fighting spirit and sheer determination on Alpe d'Huez last year secured her the Yellow Jersey in such dramatic fashion. Niewiadoma is accustomed to showing her very best in the biggest race on the calendar and already finished third in both the 2022 and 2023 Tours de France Femmes avec Zwift. Having also finished third at this year’s Tour de Suisse Women in June, she then went on to claim the Polish national champions jersey, before pushing hard in training to be ready to defend the coveted Yellow Jersey. “That's the goal,” acknowledges Niewiadoma. “It's a really nice parcours, it suits all the riders that can go for the stage victory and the GC. Every year is getting harder, not only because of the stages but because of the level that women now represent. We’ll take it day by day and we try to save every little second until the end, because you know sometimes you win by only four seconds!" On her readiness for the biggest challenge of the season, she says, “I feel like I'm in a good shape, I trained hard and recovered hard, together with the team we went to an altitude training camp, where we focussed on the Tour de France only, so definitely all of us are ready to kick it off. Personally, I don't feel fully satisfied with the season so far, so maybe it gives a little extra motivation for even better and harder preparation for this race.”

KOPECKY & VAN DER BREGGEN: THE POWER DUO
With their former rider Demi Vollering no longer with the team it will be interesting to see how SD Worx-Protime adapt their approach to the race. With Vollering the team won the race in 2023 and was also on the podium in second place in 2022 and 2024, whilst Lotte Kopecky took second overall two years ago. Last year world champion Kopecky was not at the Tour after taking the bronze medal at the Olympics and this year she arrives in Vannes with a lingering back injury which forced her to stop at the Giro d’Italia earlier in July. “I’ve had a few days off the bike to try to recover. I did a few hard trainings in between, but there was not that much time, so I'm happy to be here,” she states. This means her objectives going into the race have shifted somewhat, with the Belgian star saying, “At the moment I think riding for the GC is not really reachable for me, but we still have a really good team here to try and win a lot of stages. I look forward to Saturday and see what my body is saying.” Kopecky’s colleague and former world champion Anna van der Breggen (Team SD Worx – Protime) is ready for her Tour de France debut at the age of 35 years, having come out of retirement for this season after three years without racing. “It's nice to be able to start this Tour de France because it's a race I've never done,” says Van der Breggen. The talented Dutch rider was sixth in the Giro d’Italia overall, but also plays down her own Tour GC chances saying, “I think we have to change the goal a bit, but if you see which riders we have it can be really nice race. Also, if you look to the punchy stages, not too long climbs, but good climbs, we have Blanka (Vas), Femke (Gerritse), Misha (Bredewold) and Lorena (Wiebes). It's different than racing for general classification I think.”

FERRAND-PREVOT: “I’M REALLY AT MY PEAK”
Two months and 17 days after withdrawing from La Vuelta, which was her last race, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma | Lease a Bike) looked particularly strong on Friday in Vannes, as the riders gathered on the eve of the Grand Depart. After her victory at Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift in April, the Frenchwoman revealed that she wanted to lose 4 kg. “That goal has been achieved, I'm at my ideal weight,” said the rider, who has been preparing for the Tour at altitude, in Tignes. “Now I can't go any lighter. But I think it's a good weight for climbing the Col de la Madeleine [where Stage 8 will finish], which will be long and difficult. I'm really at my peak. I've prepared as best I can. I can't wait to see how I perform against my competitors.” On returning to the road this winter, the Olympic mountain bike champion gave herself three years to win the Tour. Does she think she can do it this summer? “This year, I'm mainly here to learn, discover the Tour de France and race a nine-day stage race. I feel ready, but I don't want to put any extra pressure on myself, and especially not any limits. I think the first two days will be quite nerve-wracking. It'll be fast, especially the first one, which is quite short. I think it will be difficult to win the Tour over the first two stages, but we could lose it, so we'll have to stay vigilant.”

WIEBES & VOS STRONG CONTENDERS FOR THE FIRST YELLOW JERSEY
The hilly characteristics of Saturday’s relatively short first stage, in which the peloton will take on two laps of the final circuit including the climb of the Côte de Cadoudal three times, means the race could explode right from the start. Amongst the riders many see as favourites for the stage win - which of course provides the first chance to claim the Yellow Jersey in this year’s Tour – are Dutch pair Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) and Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike). However, ahead of the Grand Depart in Vannes both were playing it cool in terms of assessing their own chances of glory. Asserting that she does not see herself as a main contender for the victory in Plumelec, Wiebes comments, “I think it can go different ways in the stage on Saturday. If the GC riders make the riding already really hard maybe it could be a solo finish. There are other riders I expect will suit this finish. We also have Lotte (Kopecky) in the team and it really suits her. Demi (Vollering) can also compete here. On the first stage everyone really wants to win because it’s special to ride in the Yellow Jersey for the first time.” For her part, Vos adds, “Well, it's going to be a tough stage. I think there is such a short opening stage, it's going to be nervous in the bunch and there are a lot of different riders that aim for this first victory and the first yellow jersey.”

YOUNG AFRICAN RIDERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Six young African riders will be present at Stage 1 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift on Saturday as special guests, giving them the opportunity to meet some of their racing idols and enjoy the Grand Depart up close. These talented Under 19 and Under 23 riders are already training in Brittany and gaining experience in European races this summer and as part of an initiative supported by the UCI World Cycling Centre they will get a taste of the big time. They will be introduced to fans on the starting podium with the riders in Vannes, will follow the stage finish from the guest areas, and then finally symbolically climb onto the official stage finish podium just after the riders, holding a yellow jersey and a rainbow jersey. The six riders are Georgette Vignufondo (U19 - Benin), Tsige Kiros Kahsay (U19 - Ethiopia), Alaliaa Darwish (U23 - Egypt), Miria Nantume (U23 - Uganda), Vanette Housu (U23 - Benin) and Jazilla Mwamikazi (U23 - Rwanda). The national champion of Mauritius and the 2025 Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes winner Kim Le Court commented: “Africa means a lot to me. It will be really cool if I can meet these young riders tomorrow and motivate them.”

WOMEN FROM LOCAL URBAN AREAS RIDE WITH BRITTANY
The Brittany region and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift are mobilising together to promote cycling for all, particularly those who are often excluded from cycling. Several groups of women from local urban districts are being supported by local authorities through educational projects, enabling them to incorporate cycling into their lives and gain more freedom in their daily routines. During the stage starts in the region, around ten women will cycle a few kilometres ahead of the Tour peloton, before cheering on the professional riders as they pass by.