The Olympics may be nearing its final days, but the summer of sports is far from over, with the women's biggest tour coming up on Monday, August 12.
Despite its young age, the women's Tour de France, officially known as the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, has quickly become one of the highlights of the women's cycling calendar.
This year's event will see 154 riders travel across three countries, tackling eight stages totalling 950 kilometres ( 590 miles) and 13,566 metres (44,507 feet) of elevation in the quest for the iconic Maillot Jaune.
This year's event features the race's first foreign Grand Départ, with the first three stages taking place in the Netherlands. From there, the race heads south to Belgium before finally arriving in France on stage five. In France, the race will wind up and over three mountain regions — Vosges, Jura and Alps — and will end atop of one of the most iconic climbs in all of cycling: the Alpe d'Huez.
While the ultimate winner of the yellow jersey will have to show substantial climbing prowess, the beauty of this multi-stage event is that every type of rider gets a chance to showcase her strengths.
This year's event features 3 flat stages where the sprinters can shine, 2 hilly stages for the all-rounders and 2 mountain stages for the mountain goats. There's also an individual time trial for the fastest among them in the race against the clock.
The star-studded field of contenders will truly be the world's best, with Olympians, world champions, national champions, living legends and the stars of tomorrow among them.
In 2022, Annemiek van Vleuten became the first official female Tour de France yellow jersey wearer in 33 years. Another Dutchwoman, Demi Vollering, claimed the jersey in 2023 and will return in the hopes of defending it. Can she do it?
The competition is sure to be fierce, with last two-time third-place finisher Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) looking to move up on the podium. Other favourites for the General Classification include Lidl-Trek's Elisa Longo Borghini and Shirin van Anrooij, Juliette Labous (Team DSM), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal) and Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM).
For stage wins, look for inspiring performances by the likes of Olympic medalists Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease A Bike), Grace Brown ( FDJ-Suez) and Chloe Dygert (Canyon-SRAM), sprinter Lorene Wiebes (SD-Workx), and climbing specialists Mavi Garcia (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) and Liane Lippert (Movistar).
The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift offers a unique blend of high-stakes competition, inspiring teamwork, tactical battles, brave performances, triumph and heartbreak — all with a stunning backdrop. Don't miss a single minute of the action with our TV viewing and online streaming guide below.
Race Schedule
TV streaming schedules weren't available at the time of publishing. Coverage usually begins around two hours into the race.
Stage 1: Monday, August 12 - Rotterdam to The Hague - 123km, flat
Starts: 12:15pm CEST, 6:15am EDT, 11:15am BST, 8:15pm AEST
Expected finish: 3:55pm CEST, 9:33am EDT, 2:33pm BST, 11:33pm AEST
Stage 2: Tuesday, August 13 - Stage 2: Dordrecht to Rotterdam - 69.7km, flat
Starts 9:50am CEST, 3:50am EDT, 8:50am BST, 5:50pm AEST
Expected finish: 11:35am CEST, 5:35am EDT,10:35am BST, 7:35pm AEST
Stage 3: Tuesday, August 13 - Stage 3: Rotterdam to Rotterdam - 6.3km, flat
Start: 3:10pm CEST, 9:10am EDT, 2:10pm BST, 11:10pm AEST
Expected finish: 5:10pm CEST, 11:10am EDT, 4:10pm BST, 1:10am AEST
Stage 4: Wednesday, August 14 - Stage 4: Valkenburg to Liège - 122.7km, flat
Starts: 12:25pm CEST, 6:25pm EDT, 11:25am BST, 8:25pm AEST
Expected finish: 3:49pm CEST, 9:49pm EDT, 2:49pm BST, 10:49pm AEST
Stage 5: Thursday, August 15 - Stage 5: Bastogne to Amnéville - 152.5km, flat
Starts: 11:55am CEST, 5:55am EDT, 10:55am BST, 7:55am AEST
Expected finish: 3:48pm CEST, 9:48am EDT, 2:48pm BST, 11:48am AEST
Stage 6: Friday, August 16 - Stage 6: Remiremont to Morteau - 159.2, hilly
Starts: 11:30am CEST, 5:30am EDT, 10:30am BST, 7:30pm AEST
Expected finish: 3:45pm CEST, 9:45am EDT, 2:45am BST, 11:45pm AEST
Stage 7: Saturday, August 17 - Stage 7: Champagnole to Le Grand-Bornand - 166.4km, mountainous
Starts: 10:30am CEST, 4:30am EDT, 9:30am BST, 6:30pm AEST
Expected finish: 3:27pm CEST, 9:27am EDT, 2:27am BST, 11:27pm AEST
Stage 8: Sunday, August 18 - Stage 8: Le Grand-Bornand to Alpe D’Huez - 149.9km, mountainous
Starts: 1:40pm CEST, 7:40am EDT, 12:40pm BST, 9:40pm AEST
Expected finish: 4:38pm CEST, 12:38pm EDT, 3:38pm BST, 2:38am AEST
Official broadcasters
The official TV broadcasters are FranceTV and Eurovision Sport. Their images are then licensed to 150 channels worldwide to be shown in five continents and 190 countries.
In the US
In the U.S., the broadcasting rights are held by NBC. The race will be broadcast live on NBC, as well as on the network's streaming service and app, Peacock TV.
Peacock TV is a paid service with a subscription starting at $4.99 per month. If you're new to Peacock, there's a seven-day free trial that should last you for the whole Tour.
In Canada
Cycling fans in Canada can catch the action on the FloBikes streaming service.
An annual subscription is required, which costs $12.99/month.
In the UK
In the U.K., the Tour de France Femmes will be broadcast live on TV on Eurosport and Discovery+.
Again, a subscription is needed. Normally, a Discovery+ subscription, which includes Eurosport's cycling coverage, starts at £59.99 per year, but there's currently a Special Olympics deal, which costs £3.99 per month through the end of 2024.
In Europe
As the official broadcaster of the race, France TV will have all the French-language coverage.
Other European channels to carry the race include NOS in the Netherlands, VRT/Sporza and RTBF in Belgium, ARD in Germany, RTVE in Spain, TV2 in Norway and DKTV2 in Denmark.*
*Geo-restrictions may apply.
In Australia & New Zealand
In Australia, the race coverage is provided by national broadcaster SBS. In New Zealand, Sky Sports will offer live coverage.
On Social Media
The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift has garnered an impressive social media over the past three years with millions of people opting to tune in via TikTok, X, Facebook and Strava.
The organisation has also been producing its own web series titled Femmes du Tour. This mini docuseries introduces fans to some of the Tour's contenders. This season's episodes feature Shirin van Anrooij, Léa Curinier, Amber Kraak, Sarah Gigante, Ella Wyllie, Cédrine Kerbaol, Niamh Fisher-Black and last year's winner Demi Vollering.
The previous two seasons of the series are also for replay available on YouTube.
VPN options
If you are outside of your home country and try to access your usual live streaming services to watch the action, you may find your access to be geo-restricted.
In this case, a VPN service will come in handy, allowing your computer to pretend it's back home and let you log into your streaming accounts to catch all of the racing action.
Our colleagues at TechRadar thoroughly tested several VPN services and recommend NordVPN:
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