A thrilling final stage of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift was won in superb style by Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) in Chatel, securing the GC victory for the Frenchwoman. After her brilliant race-winning performance on the Col de la Madeleine on Stage 8, Ferrand-Prevot was by far the strongest rider again on Sunday afternoon, leaving her rivals behind with 6.7km to go and powering on to cross the finish line 20” ahead of Demi Vollering (FDJ – Suez), who also finished second overall by 3’42” in the general classification. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto) was third on the stage, finishing 23” behind Ferrand-Prevot on the day and third overall at 4’09”, completing the podium and maintaining her 100% record of top 3 Tour results. The Stage 9 top five was completed by Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl – Trek) and Dominika Wlodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ), leaving Wlodarczyk fourth in the GC and Fisher-Black fifth overall. Starting the day second in the GC, Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) lost ground to the leaders’ group on the Joux-Plane descent and finally finished the stage seventh (3’53”), meaning she was sixth in the GC at 6’40”.
A furious start
Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ) and Chloe Dygert (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto) were non-starters, meaning 126 riders took the start of the final stage in Praz-sur-Arly. In a fast and furious start SD Worx-Protime were very active. The Dutch team ignited the fire via Lorena Wiebes at km 0, but the sprinter was soon brought back to the bunch. Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) then attacked with Femke Gerritse and they went clear at the front. Behind that leading duo, Lotte Kopecky counter-attacked, the world champion accompanied by Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), with that powerful foursome forming an early break.
Van der Breggen goes solo
The breakaway quartet was soon caught and then a second peloton group containing Yellow Jersey wearer Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma|Lease a Bike), which had briefly lost a few seconds, caught back up with the leading bunch at km 26. The regrouped peloton then began the Arâches-la-Frasse climb (Cat. 1, 6.2km at 7.1%, km 33.9) with Ferrand-Prevot back in the front group. On that climb Van der Breggen attacked several times, finally snapping the elastic and leaving the bunch behind, gaining over a minute of advantage by the time she topped the summit alone. A reduced Yellow Jersey group of select riders then reached the summit, with Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ), Demi Vollering (FDJ Suez), Ferrand Prevot and Brand completing the top five on the climb.
Intermediate Sprint
With 83 kilometers to go, Van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) had a 1'35" lead over the Yellow Jersey group, which had grown to 16 since the return of Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek. Van der Breggen led at the Intermediate Sprint, whilst just before that point, around 30 chasing riders had returned to the group of GC favourites. Among them was Lorena Wiebes. The Dutchwoman took advantage of this to move into second place at the Morillon Intermediate Sprint (49.5 km) and ensure she confirmed the Green Jersey, provided she finished the stage within the time limit.
Van der Breggen presses on
Already alone in the lead for about 20 km, Van der Breggen began to tackle the toughest climb of the day (Col de Joux-Plane, Hors Categorie, 11.6 km at 8.5%) with a 1'45" lead over the peloton. Fifth overall at the start of the day, Cedrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) crashed with her teammate Noemie Ruegg, as well as Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (4th overall), just before the Joux-Plane. Niewiadoma-Phinney quickly remounted to stay with the favourites group on the climb, whilst Kerbaol lost 30 seconds and then fell further behind. At the top of the Joux-Plane Van der Breggen was 45" ahead of the yellow jersey group, which had been reduced to eight riders.
Gigante isolated
On the Joux-Plane descent Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) – who had been offensive on the climb – lost contact with the favourites group, jeopardising her second position in the GC. The likes of Niewiadoma-Phinney and Vollering, both keen to leapfrog Gigante in the overall standings, applied the pressure and the AG Insurance - Soudal Team rider fell two minutes behind them, before the final climb of the Tour, the Col du Corbier (Category 1, 5.9 km at 8.5%). Ferrand-Prevot, Vollering, Niewiadoma-Phinney, Wlodarczyk, Fisher-Black and Labous caught and overtook Van der Breggen on the climb, with Vollering leading at the summit, closely marked by her rivals.
Ferrand-Prevot riding safely to glory
With the descent from Le Corbier over the Yellow Jersey Ferrand-Prevot was still safely in the lead group. All that remained was to climb the long (20 km), irregular, uphill section to the finish in Chatel. Ferrand-Prevot put on a show for the fans, attacking with 6.7km remaining and not looking back from there as she took a famous win and confirmed the Yellow Jersey with a flourish. Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) ended the day and the Tour in the Green Jersey, whilst Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) confirmed her victory in the polka dot jersey as the best of the climbers. The White Jersey was won by Nienke Vinke (Picnic-Post NL) and the Teams classification honours went to FDJ-Suez.
