Don’t look back in Angers After the rollercoaster rides of Morbihan and Finistère on the opening two stages, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift peloton should be able to breathe a little easier on Monday.
Stage 3 from Gacilly to Angers is the first real flat day of the 2025 Tour. A bunch sprint therefore seems highly likely in the prefecture of Maine-et-Loire. The final kilometre, a slight false flat (1.6%), is made for the most powerful sprinters in the peloton.
The withdrawal of Charlotte Kool, winner of the bunch sprints in the first two stages of the Tour last year, opens the door wider for Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime). The European champion continues to confirm that she is the fastest rider in the peloton since the start of the season (14 victories, including the last two at the Giro). She also proved her form on Sunday's Quimper climb, winning the bunch sprint to finish second behind Mavi Garcia, who caught everyone out by breaking away 11 km from the finish.
Wiebes main challengers could be the likes of Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) and Marianne Vos (Visma|Lease a Bike), who could regain her Yellow Jersey without even finishing in one of the top three places that provide bonus points.
Dutch rider Vos, winner of the first stage in Plumelec, only lost her jersey in Quimper by way of combined stage finish placings. She has just one more (6) than the new GC leader Kim Le Court-Pienaar (5), who finished second and third in the first two stages. All Vos needs to do is finish ahead of the leader of the AG Insurance-Soudal Team to regain the GC lead and hold the sole record for days in yellow at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, an honour which she currently shares with Lotte Kopecky (6).
This stage, which marks a link between Brittany and the Pays de la Loire region, is long enough (163.4 km) to see a breakaway form. This breakaway should share the mountain points (2 and 1) awarded at km 34.1 on the Côte de la Richardière (1.7 km at 4.6%), the only categorised climb of the day. This is no major concern to polka-dot jersey holder Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez), who has a four-point advantage over Silke Smulders. Afterwards, the sprinters will have plenty of time to organise themselves to catch the breakaway before the anticipated showdown in Angers.
