- The scene is set in Rotterdam for the third edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, with local star Demi Vollering the big favourite on her home roads, as the Grand Départ takes place outside France for the first time. Monday’s 123km Stage 1 from Rotterdam to The Hague commences at 12.15pm and will be broadcast live in full.
- With Elisa Longo Borghini finally unable to race due to a recent crash, the Lidl-Trek team will be led by Gaia Realini, who will share team leadership with Shirin van Anrooij. Meanwhile it is Katarzyna Niewiadoma leading the charge for Canyon//SRAM Racing with Neve Bradbury also in good form.
- There is a unique opportunity for a Dutch rider to take the first Yellow Jersey on home territory in an expected bunch sprint on Stage 1, with Charlotte Kool, Lorena Wiebes and Marianne Vos amongst the contenders.
VOLLERING THE STRONG HOME FAVOURITE
Arriving at the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift as a big favourite to retain the Yellow Jersey she won in 2023, it is a special moment for Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx - Protime). She is in fantastic form with four overall stage race victories to her name so far this season - including the La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es – and with the Grand Départ taking place in the Netherlands she will be cheered on by the huge Oranje crowds. Vollering is from Pijnacker, 15km from the centre of Rotterdam, so she’s determined to put on a good show for the home fans. “Everybody is super excited and I’m really motivated for the start. I’m sure that everybody I know will be here to watch,” said the 27 year-old. On her mission to repeat the 2023 GC victory and the threat her rivals pose, she added, “Everybody thinks I can do it again and I have the feeling that people think it will be easy, but for sure it is not. I’m happy that I have such a strong team behind me because I’ll really need them. I’m looking forward to the battles. There's Evita Muzic and Juliette Labous, then Gaia Realini who is also very strong. Neve Bradbury has also showed she is really good on the climbs and there's Katarzyna Niewiadoma of course. There are a lot of good riders to look out for.”
‘SAME MOTIVATION’ FOR LIDL-TREK WITHOUT LONGO BORGHINI
In great form this season, Elisa Longo Borghini had emerged as Demi Vollering's main opponent, leading the impressive Lidl-Trek team. But the Italian champion, 6th overall in 2022, finally misses out on participating in her 3rd Tour, an announcement made only two days before the start of the race. The recent winner of the Tour of Flanders and the Giro d'Italia crashed in training this week. “I don't have any fractures, but I left a lot of skin on the road and I can't ride a bike,” declared the world number 4 on social media. Whilst forced to change their plans, the American team still have very high ambitions with Gaia Realini, the Italian climber who could do some serious damage en route to the finish at Alpe d'Huez next Sunday. “We lost our main leader but we keep the same motivation,” insists Realini, who is ready for her Tour debut, after her 3rd places in the Vuelta and the Giro in 2023. She will share team leadership with Shirin van Anrooij, winner of the white jersey in 2022. “Gaia and Shirin will both have the opportunity to see what they can do on the General Classification and we have some really strong support for them,” comments sporting director Jeroen Blijlevens. He adds, “Elisa (Balsamo) will naturally be our leader for sprints while, Lucinda (Brand), Lizzie (Deignan), Spratty (Amanda Spratt), and Ellen (Van Dijk) bring a wealth of experience to our line-up.”
NIEWIADOMA & BRADBURY STAR FOR CANYON//SRAM RACING
Targeting the GC for Canyon//SRAM Racing is Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma, who won La Flèche Wallonne Féminine earlier this year and recently finished 8th in the Paris Olympic road race. “We definitely came here to fight for the Yellow Jersey,” states Niewiadoma. Assessing the first three stages in the Netherlands she continues, “We are all experienced when it comes to racing in Holland, so it's going to just be a different type of racing. It’s going to be hectic and nervous and it’s the same game for everyone.” Niewiadoma finished 3rd in both the 2022 and 2023 Tours de France Femmes avec Zwift and will be strongly supported at this year’s race by her teammate Neve Bradbury who was 3rd in the general classification at this year’s Giro d’Italia, as well as winning the Best Young Rider, the Most Combative Rider overall and the tough Blockhaus stage of the Italian race. It will be intriguing to see how the Canyon//SRAM Racing riders can take the fight to their competitors.
ORANJE STARS DREAMING OF YELLOW
The chances of a bunch sprint at the finish of Stage 1 were already high and they have only increased with the weather forecast not predicting crosswinds between Rotterdam and The Hague. “We shouldn't see any echelons” explains Franck Perque, the director of the race. “It will be hot [around 30°C] and the numerous changes of direction could test the peloton. But we are expecting a bunch sprint.” In this context, the strong Dutch contingent at the race could well become early protagonists. “Fighting for the first Yellow Jersey on our home roads will be very special,” enthuses Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich PostNL), adding, “I don’t think you could dream of anything bigger as a sprinter!” By triumphing on the Champs-Elysées two years ago, Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx - Protime) already knows the awesome feeling of being the first leader on the Tour. The rider with the most victories so far this season (18) intends to repeat that experience. “It’s really nice that we have the opportunity to get the Yellow Jersey and it’s really special. I think the speed will be really high and it will be nervous and quite chaotic. You never know with the wind, it could just pop up somewhere because of the dykes,” explains the only rider to have raised her arms in both of the first two editions of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (twice in 2022, once last year). Also a serious contender for the opening stage victory is another Dutch superstar Marianne Vos, who will be dressed in a special Oranje coloured kit which Team Visma | Lease a Bike have created for the Dutch Grand Départ. The rider with the greatest record in women's cycling (255 career victories on the road) attempted to play down the pressure of going for the win on the opening day of racing, stating, “It’s going to be difficult as everyone will be nervous. Actually it’s not the biggest ambition to think about the yellow, the ambition is to win a stage and see what we can do during the week.”
PODIUM ‘IN THE BACK OF THE MIND’ FOR MUZIC & LABOUS
4th in 2022 and 5th last year, Juliette Labous (dsm-firmenich PostNL) will once again fight for the final podium and perhaps her quest has become a little easier since the withdrawal of Elisa Longo Borghini. Labous is expecting a “really special” week as she will race with the French champion’s jersey on her shoulders and will ride on her home roads on the 6th stage, where a “Labous corner” will be organised by her riding club VC Morteau-Montbenoit. “We’re going to have to make this jersey shine. It’s an honor, I’m very proud of it and I think I’ll be even more motivated than usual!” she says. The winner of the tricolor jersey in 2021, Evita Muzic also aims for a place in the Tour GC top 3, two years after setting a youth record in the top 10 (finishing 8th at 23 years old). Muzic, who has had "good preparation", has upped her ambitions following her stage victory ahead of Vollering, at the Laguna Negra, in the Vuelta España Femenina by Carrefour.es. She explains, "It’s in the back of my mind. In the Vuelta, without the echelons stage, I would have been on the podium [she finished 5th]. But it's part of racing and I learned from my mistakes. We will try to do much better at the start of the Tour. I hope to lose as little time as possible in the first three days and I’m happy that there shouldn’t be 40km/h winds tomorrow. It will still be a nervous first stage and there could be crashes. We have to get through it and try to avoid any splits in the bunch.”
KEY NUMBERS FROM THE PELOTON
• Here at the 2024 Tour de France avec Zwift there are 24 national champions on the start list, with 14 road race champions and 13 time trial champions present. Three riders on the start list hold the national titles in both disciplines: Kimberley Le Court of AG Insurance - Soudal Team (National champion of Mauritius), Anniina Ahtosalo of Uno-X Mobility (Finland) and Antri Christoforou of Roland from (Cyprus). American road race champion Kristen Faulkner (EF-Oatly-Cannondale) participates as the newly crowned Olympic road champion, whilst Australian and Olympic TT champion Grace Brown represents FDJ – SUEZ and Mischa Bredewold of Team SD Worx – Protime rides in the European champion’s jersey.
• Seven of the riders on the 153-strong start list have already won a stage in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift: Lorena Wiebes (3), Marianne Vos (2), Yara Kastelijn (1), Liane Lippert (1), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (1), Emma Norsgaard (1) and Demi Vollering (1).
• Elyne Roussel (St-Michel-Mavic-Auber93) will be the youngest rider at the start. At 18 years, 8 months and 7 days, the Frenchwoman is younger than Babette Van der Wolf was at 19 years, 1 month and 25 days when she departed from Clermont-Ferrand last year. Mavi Garcia (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) is the only 40 year-old in the race and is therefore the oldest participant in this 3rd edition. She is more than double Roussel's age (40 years, 7 months and 10 days).
