Tour de France Femmes 2025 route revealed featuring Col de Madeleine, Col de Joux Plane, mountaintop finale at Châtel

The 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is set to cover nine days of bike racing, entirely in France, from July 26 to August 3, making it the longest yet of any edition of the new version of the women's Tour de France and will feature main ascents Col de Madeleine, Col de Joux Plane, and a mountaintop finale at Châtel.

ASO and race directors Marion Rousse and Christian Prudhomme revealed the details of the route of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes at the Palais des Congrès in Paris on Tuesday, October 29. 

The fourth edition of the Tour de France Femmes will take new heights with 1,165km route that crosses through four regions and a total elevation gain of 17,240 metres. 

The event will begin with a Grand Départ in Brittany, and there will be two flat stages, three hilly stages, two medium-mountain stages and finish with two back-to-back high mountain stages where the peloton will tackle the Col de Madeleine, the highest mountain of the race, on stage 8 and the next day's finale stage 9 will pass the famed Col de Joux Plane with a mountaintop finale at Châtel Châtel Les Portes du Soleil where the overall champion will be crowned.

ASO annually brings the Tour de France Femmes into new territory and raises the bar with each new edition since its rebirth in 2022 won by Annemiek van Vleuten, which finished atop La Planche des belles Filles. The race then went on to include Col du Tourmalet in 2023 with the overall title won by Demi Vollering, and then finished on L'Alpe d'Huez with the overall title earned by Kasia Niewiadoma in 2024.

The 2025 Tour de France Femmes will once again overlap with the final two stages of the men's Tour de France, which hasn't happened since the 2022 edition. This time, the races will coincide by two stages with the the opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes and the two final stages of the Tour de France held on July 26 and 27. Unlike the 2022 edition, the two events will not meet on the streets of Paris. 

The 2025 Tour de France Femmes will begin in Brittany with the opening stage set in the heart of the Morbihan department. It will start in Vannes and finish in Plumelec, with the finish at the top of the famous Côte de Cadoudal. Though it is set to finish uphill, it is still through to be a day for the sprinters to take a stage win and the event's first yellow jersey.

The second stage will be held in the neighbouring Finistère department. It will begin in Brest and finish in Quimper with a final loop in the town and a steep finish. It is potentially a day for a breakaway or could offer a re-shuffle of the early general classification.

The race will depart from the Morbihan department on the third stage which will start in La Gacilly to Angers, and begin to travel southeast toward the Massif Central.

The fourth stage will start in Saumur and finish in Poitiers. The fifth stage will start in Chasseneuil-du-Poitou and finish in Guéret. The sixth stage will start in Clermont-Ferrand and finish in Ambert. 

The race enters the Alps on the seventh stage will start in Bour-en-Bresse and finish in Chambéry.

The penultimate eighth stage will start in Chambéry and finish in Saint Francois Longchamp on the Col de Madeleine, the highest mountain of this Tour de France Femmes at 2,000 metres of elevation. 

The final ninth stage will start in Praz-sur-Arly and tackle four ascents beginning with the Côte d'Araches-la Frasse, the famed Col de Joux Plane, the Col du Corbier before a mountaintop finish at Châtel Les Portes du Soleil.

2025 Tour de France Femmes - Dates, Locations and Distances

Tour de France Femmes 2025 - Stage by stage guide

Stage 1: Vannes to Plumelec, 79km

• Hilly

Stage 1 of the Tour de France Femmes will begin in Vannes and finish in Plumelec with 79km of racing for the event's first yellow jersey. 

There are four climbs along the route; Côte de Botségalo (800m at 5.3%), and three trips up the Côte de Cadoudal (1.7km at 6.2%) where the race will finish.

Stage 2: Brest to Quimper, 110km

• Flat

Stage 2 will begin in Brest and finish in Quimper with a total of 110km. 

There are four climbs starting with Menez Quelerc'h (3km at 6.2%), Côte de Locronan (800m at 8.9%), and two times up the Côte du Chemin de Troheir (1.1km at 5.7%) before an uphill finish in Quimper.

Stage 3: La Gacilly to Angers, 162km

• Flat

The peloton will race a relatively flatter stage 3 starting in La Gacilly to Angers with a total of 162km,

The stage opens with a climb, Côte de la Richardiere (1.7km at 4.7% and then follows an undulating course into Angers.

Stage 4: Saumur to Poitiers, 128km

• Flat

Stage 4 brings the peloton from Saumur to Poitiers for a total of 128km.

There is only one climb on this stage over Côte de Marigny (900m at 5.4%) before a lumpy finish into Poiters.

Stage 5: Jaunay-Marigny-Futuroscop to Guéret, 166km

• Medium Mountains

Stage 5 will begin in Jaunay-Marigny-Futuroscop to Guéret with a total of 166km. It is the longest stage of the Tour de France Femmes.

The stage brings the peloton its first medium mountain route with three back-to-back ascents near the end of the stage: Côte de Chabannes (1.4km at 5.2%), Côte du Peyroux (3.3km at 4.3%) and Le Maupuy (2.8km at 5.4%), before finishing on an uphill in Guéret.

Stage 6: Clermont-Ferrand to Ambert, 124km

• Mountain

Stage 6 bring the peloton its first mountain day which will begin in Clermont-Ferrand and finish in Ambert for a total of 124km.

The stage will include five mountains: Côte de Courpière (1.7km at 6.8%), Côte d'Augerolles (2.6km at 5.6%), Col du Béal (10km at 5.6%), Col du Chansert (6.3km at 5.5%) and Côte de Valdvieres (4.5km at 5.3%), before a downhill run-in to Ambert. 

Stage 7: Bourg-en-Bresse to Chambéry, 160km

• Hilly

The peloton will compete its third 160km-plus stage at the Tour de France Femmes with stage 7 from Bourg-en-Bresse to Chambéry and a total of 160km.

It is a hilly route that three climbs near the end of the stage; Côte de Saint-Franc (3.8km at 7%), Côte de Berland (1.2km at 7.2%) and Col du Granier (8.9km at 5.4%) before a long descent into the finish at Chambéry.

Stage 8: Chambéry to Saint François Longchamp-Col de Madeleine, 112km

• Mountain

Stage 8 is the second mountains stage of the Tour de France Femmes and it will start in Chambéry and finsih in Saint François Longchamp atop the Col de Madeleine.

The 112km stage will feature three main ascents: Col de Plainpalais (13.2km at 6.3%), Côte de Saint-Georges-d'Hurtières (4.8km at 5.9%) before the final Col de la Madeleine (18.6km at 8.1%). 

Col de la Madeleine will bring the peloton to 2,000 metres of elevation gain and the highest point of the Tour de France Femmes.

Stage 9: Praz-sur-Arly to Châtel, 124km

• Mountain

Stage 9 will conclude the Tour de France Femmes with a 124km race from Praz-sur-Arly to Châtel.

The race will cover four ascents beginning with the Côte d'Araches-la-Frasse (6.2km at 7.1%), Col de Joux-Plane (11.6km at 8.5%), Col du Corbier (5.9km at 8.5%) and then finish at the Châtel.

The Châtel ski resort, which is part of the French-Swiss ski area in the Portes du Soleil region, is located in the Haute-Savoie department of southeastern France.

This will mark the location of the overall champion of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes.

Cyclingnews will have live coverage of all eight stages of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, along with race reports, galleries, results, and exclusive features and news.