With five different leaders over the course of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, the spotlight of the Yellow Jersey was shared like never before, from Lorena Wiebes to Demi Vollering. The second eventually lit up Nice, while the first made history in green. Their Dutch compatriot Puck Pieterse claimed the polka dot jersey two years after winning the white jersey, which this time went to Antonia Niedermaier. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and Juliette Berthet were also honoured.
Yellow Jersey: Demi Vollering doubles up
Demi Vollering eventually soared away on the final climb, and descent, on the slopes of the Col d’Èze, but the 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift was more hotly contested than ever. From Lausanne to Nice, five different riders wore the Yellow Jersey. There had never been more than three leaders in 2022, 2024 and 2025, and only two women wore yellow when the Dutchwoman claimed her first title, in 2023.
This year, Lorena Wiebes got things started, just as she had in 2022. But this time, she did it again on the second day of racing, joining the select group of riders to have raised their arms in victory while wearing yellow. Her successor, Sigrid Haugset, had a more fleeting spell as leader, but her huge solo ride to Poligny set a new benchmark on the Tour: Annemiek van Vleuten had ridden 62 km alone to take the Yellow Jersey at Le Markstein (2022, Stage 7); the Norwegian pushed that figure to 88!
The final podium began to take shape in the Dijon time trial (Stage 4). Marlen Reusser took control, Vollering did more than hold her own, and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney admirably limited her losses. The same trio broke clear towards Belleville-en-Beaujolais, where the battle swung in Vollering’s favour, then on Mont Ventoux, where Niewiadoma-Phinney flew away. The Pole became the fourth overall leader of this Tour. The fifth, Demi Vollering, waited for her moment in Nice to take it all. Growing stronger as the week went on, Elisa Longo Borghini took third place on the final podium after Reusser crashed on the last stage.
Green jersey: Lorena Wiebes writes her legend
There may have been three different wearers of the green jersey, but that was only because Lorena Wiebes was shining in yellow after winning the opening two stages. The sheer dominance of the “Oranje” star allowed Idoia Eraso and Elisa Balsamo to enjoy the honour of wearing green for one day each, but the Dutchwoman is the true owner of this jersey… and has been since Stage 3 of the 2025 Tour!
Across two editions, the Dutchwoman has received the last 16 green jerseys awarded in the race. In the sprints, her devastating accelerations leave her rivals several bike lengths behind. Wiebes has also improved on the climbs: that was essential to target victory in Lausanne, on the Côte Saint-François, and to definitively secure her green jersey on the final day, after a first ascent of the Col d’Èze. Vollering was not far behind. But Wiebes managed to claim her second green jersey (2025, 2026), matching Marianne Vos (2022, 2024).
Polka dot jersey: Puck Pieterse goes full red
“It goes well with my hair,” the ever-flamboyant Puck Pieterse smiled about her polka dot jersey. The ginger puncheur repeatedly put in the efforts throughout the week, over rolling sequences worthy of the Ardennes Classics where she is accustomed to shining, and on the highest peaks that she will need to fully master if she is to challenge for the general classification and perhaps target the Yellow Jersey, having already won the young rider classification in 2024.
For now, Pieterse is forging her own path in white, red and red hair. She took the lead in the mountains classification on the third day, cresting the Col de la Faucille first, the first Category 1 climb of the 2026 Tour. She put on a show on the road to Belleville-en-Beaujolais, taking no fewer than six categorised summits, a new record on a single stage. And she was able to savour the ascent of Mont Ventoux and the Nice finale: her polka dot jersey was no longer under threat from any rival.
White jersey: Antonia Niedermaier leads a golden generation
The time trial, and above all the climbs, brought a trio of riders to the top of the young rider classification, and what a trio! Antonia Niedermaier, Paula Blasi and Isabella Holmgren were each riding their first Tour. The first wearer of the white jersey, Catalan rider Blasi continued her run of podium appearances after winning La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es. Longo Borghini’s lieutenant then handed over to another invaluable teammate, Niedermaier, who wore white while supporting Niewiadoma-Phinney’s major attacks. The German finished the race 4th overall and won the white jersey, one month after stepping onto the podium at the Giro Women. As for Holmgren, who did not hesitate to attack on the final stage, she became the first winner of the Tour de l’Avenir Femmes (2025) to finish in the overall top 10 of the Tour (8th).
Team classification: UAE L’Imad demonstrates the strength of numbers
The multi-leader UAE L’Imad team managed to strike the right balance to make a significant impact at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026. The ‘campionissima’ Elisa Longo Borghini was the linchpin of a squad brimming with talent, notably featuring Paula Blasi and Dominika Wlodarczyk to support the two-time Giro Women’s winner on her way to her first top-three finish in the Tour’s general classification. When the field began to thin out and the top teams were left with just one or two riders at the front, the Emirati team could rely on this fantastic trio to lead the charge. They took the lead in the team classification right from the start, relinquishing it only briefly to SD Worx-Protime (leaders after stages 3 and 4), and eventually built up considerable gaps on the climbs of this year’s race: a 48’11’’ lead over Lidl-Trek and 48’26’’ over FDJ United-Suez.
Super Combative: Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney tried everything
The winner of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift had known it for a long time. She had even said so: “We’ll have to seize the opportunities and not be shy.” Ready to risk everything in the hope of winning, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney launched some huge moves and led a historic assault on the slopes of Mont Ventoux: an attack almost 10 kilometres from the finish, a determined solo charge, and the Yellow Jersey wrested away from her rivals.
She had to surrender it to Vollering the following day. Her final attack on the steepest slopes leading to the Col d’Èze, on the brutally tough Chemin du Vinaigrier, did not succeed. But the Pole went down fighting. That is the nature of this passionate competitor.
Best teammate: Juliette Berthet deserved her reward
Juliette Berthet’s reputation is well established. The rider from Besançon is a great champion, talented and selfless, who puts herself at Demi Vollering’s service in the biggest races of the year, and especially the biggest of them all. Within the FDJ United-Suez “super team”, Berthet is the Dutch leader’s “super lieutenant”, the rider who stays with her the longest and has to respond best when adversity strikes.
“A lot can happen on the Tour,” she explained before the Grand Départ in Switzerland. The nine days of racing proved her right while also highlighting everything she did for her leader. At the start of the final stage, she received the Best Teammate award. She was then back on the front line, controlling rival attacks, regulating the pace of the lead group and ultimately launching Vollering towards overall glory.
