At 165.8 km, 2.3 km longer than the route between Gacilly and Angers on Monday, Stage 5 will be the longest of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
The route is divided into two parts. The first is completely flat, starting at the Futuroscope Park in Chasseneuil-du-Poitou, which should allow a breakaway to take off. The riders will gradually gain altitude to reach the Creuse region and a much more challenging finale.
Three climbs are condensed into the final 40 km: the Côte de Chabannes (Category 4, 1.4 km at 5.2%), the Côte du Peyroux (Category 4, 3.3 km at 4.3%), and the Maupuy (Category 3, 2.8 km at 5.3%), whose summit is only 7.1 km from the finish. This toboggan-like finale will be a formidable playground for attackers.
A key detail: a Bonus Point is located halfway up the Maupuy. This will encourage the big guns to dig in and grab some precious bonus seconds. But to do so, they would need to have caught any escapees by then.
Will Marianne Vos (Visma|Lease a Bike) keep her Yellow Jersey in Gueret? The length and steepness of the final climbs do not seem insurmountable for the Dutch sprinter-puncher.
Vos has a 12" lead over Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), who will likely struggle to secure a third consecutive victory on Wednesday. The GC leader is also 12” in front of Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal Team), the most likely threat to steal her jersey, three days after having already grabbed it in Quimper.
Or could it be the day for Vos’ teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), who is fourth at 18"... With a final descent ending 2 km from the finish, the finale promises to be spectacular and unexpected. The Tour is open to all possibilities on the eve of the foray into the mountains.
