'We want to win it again' - Canyon-SRAM set sights on history at Tour de France Femmes 2025
Kasia Niewiadoma 'very optimistic' about yellow jersey defence following route announcement
In three editions so far of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, no rider has won the race twice. First, there was Annemiek van Vleuten, then Demi Vollering, and this year, Kasia Niewiadoma, who clung to the yellow jersey by a thread on Alpe d’Huez.
Should Niewiadoma defend her title next summer, she’ll make history as the first woman to do so since the race’s reboot. It’s her “big goal”, she said, and after Tuesday’s route announcement, one for which she is now particularly excited.
Next year’s fourth edition of the race will be its toughest and longest yet. Now taking place over nine stages, up from eight, the course stretches across 1,165km, rising to a crescendo in the Alps, with the climbs of the Col de la Madeleine and the Col de la Joux Plane.
“It’s a goal to bring the yellow jersey home again,” said Niewiadoma. “My big goal is to become a woman who wins the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift twice in a row, and I’m in the best position right now to make that happen in 2025. The final general classification can unfold at any point but the final three stages will be decisive for the overall.”
For the 30-year-old’s Canyon-SRAM team, the desire to win again is the same.
“It’s something very special, something very unique,” team manager Ronny Lauke told Cycling Weekly. “To be honest, when you have experienced what this yellow jersey does to a team, and the attention it raises, the emotions all staff members go through, you want to have it again.
“It’s the biggest race, the biggest global brand in our sport. When you go away as a winner, you have the most prestigious colour on your shoulders. The yellow does something to the people involved in a team. Everybody would like to have it again. We are not shy of saying we aim for the highest and the best, so we’re going for this. I think we have a good group of talent that we can confidently say we want to win it again.”
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Lauke’s first impressions of next year’s route are that it is “well balanced” and will “offer a very interesting bike race”.
“Kasia is very optimistic. She likes the route. So therefore I have confidence,” he said. “Now it’s up to us to do the necessary homework and identify the right group for this event, so we are competitive and an uncomfortable opponent, the most uncomfortable opponent that anyone can ask for.”
Niewiadoma’s winning margin this August was the narrowest in the race’s three-year history, just four seconds separating her and Vollering. The victory crowned the Polish rider’s biggest to date, coming after a long dry spell between 2019 and 2023.
“With the Gravel World Championships in 2023, she eventually won her rainbow jersey, which, in my opinion, she deserved a lot. That was a turning point for her that also helped her to approach the 2024 season in a different way,” Lauke said.
“Many doubts were erased that she carried within her, and she was more confident about herself, about what she can achieve. I got to know her when she was 24 years of age. Now, a few years later, I can say that she has definitely matured as a very mature woman, with a very mature approach to her goals.”
Between now and the end of winter, Niewiadoma and her Canyon-SRAM team-mates will rest, train on Zwift, and travel to team camps in December and January. Then the season will start, with the biggest mark on the calendar against the Tour de France Femmes, scheduled to begin on 26 July in Brittany.
“I think, overall, there’s a lot of curiosity around what a longer race will bring,” Lauke said. “I think it looks like it will offer some drama, some smiles, some tears, everything that a stage race can offer. We will try to be as prepared as best as possible, and the riders will enjoy it.”
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Tom joined Cycling Weekly as a news and features writer in the summer of 2022, having previously contributed as a freelancer. He is the host of The TT Podcast, which covers both the men's and women's pelotons and has featured a number of prominent British riders.
An enthusiastic cyclist himself, Tom likes it most when the road goes uphill and actively seeks out double-figure gradients on his rides.
-
I'm fed up of bad train infrastructure for cyclists - does it have to be this way?
Reserving a space, using the hanger, hoping no-one else turns up... None of it is fun
By Adam Becket Published
-
Budget has 'betrayed' local bike shops, says British retailer association
More money to combat potholes and active travel funding also announced in budget
By Adam Becket Published
-
Milan-San Remo addition will 'raise the level even higher' in women’s cycling, says Kasia Niewiadoma
'It's really motivating to see that in just one season, everything can change' says Tour de France Femmes winner as she reflects on a year of success on the road
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
A new era emerges: meet the rising talent that stole the show at the Tour de France Femmes
A familiar face may have won the race, but rising stars shone brightest. Here are the names you'll want to remember in the seasons ahead.
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
'I lost the faith that I could still do it' - Kasia Niewiadoma conquers the ‘Mountain of Emotions’ for Tour de France Triumph
"I've gone through such a terrible time on this climb. I hated everything," shares the yellow jersey victor.
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
Niewiadoma claims 2024 Tour de France Femmes yellow jersey in nail-biting battle with Vollering on Alpe d'Huez
Vollering wins the stage, but comes up just short to win the race overall. Rooijakkers second, Muzic third.
By Dan Challis Published
-
'1:15 isn't much' - SD Worx confident in Demi Vollering for grand finale on Alpe d'Huez
Eyes turn to Alpe d’Huez showdown as GC battle stalls on Le Grand-Bornand
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
Polka Dot jersey Justine Ghekiere conquers Tour de France Femmes stage 7 as Niewiadoma holds onto yellow
Belgian victorious from breakaway, Vollering and Niewiadoma in stalemate in first Alpine battle
By Dan Challis Published
-
Who's won the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift?
The full general classification, along with the latest stage result, and the standings for the other jerseys
By Cycling Weekly Published
-
Cédrine Kerbaol powers to stage six win at Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, the first ever French victory
Kasia Niewiadoma maintained her lead in the yellow jersey on an action-filled day in north-east France
By Adam Becket Published