Stage seven will likely shake up the general classification significantly, but on the final day of the Tour de France Femmes, everything can still change. The eighth and final stage is even tougher than the seventh. It starts in Le Grand-Bornand, the town in the Pre-Alps where the riders finished the day before.

The Col de Tamié (9.5 km at 4.0%) is the first categorized climb of the day. There are only two more climbs to come, but these two are particularly long and steep. The riders will reach the base of the Col du Glandon (19.7 km at 7.2%) after 83 kilometers. The long ascent ends with a final kilometer at nearly 9%.

As if the cycling history of just the Alpe d’Huez wasn’t enough, the course designers have also included the grueling climb of the Glandon. This extremely steep climb has been featured in the Tour de France twelve times, making it a true heavyweight.

The most recent winner on the Col du Glandon is Gino Mäder. The Swiss rider claimed a stage victory atop this iconic climb in the final stage of the Tour de l’Avenir in 2018. At that time, the finish line was set after a 10.8-kilometer ascent.

Afterward, the riders will get a brief chance to catch their breath, which will once again be necessary. The finish of the final stage is on the Alpe d’Huez (13.8 km at 8%). The iconic 'Dutch' climb—with its 21 hairpin bends, as Prudhomme beautifully put it—represents the ultimate climax of the queen stage of the women’s Tour. Bonne chance!

A look at the honor roll of this famous Alpine climb shows that only a big name can win the final stage of the Tour de France Femmes. The rider who raises her hands in victory on Sunday, August 18, will join the ranks of names like Geraint Thomas, Thibaut Pinot, Alberto Contador, Marco Pantani, and the Dutch rider Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel.

The latter is listed twice on the honor roll. Both in 1992 and 1993, the rider from Boekel won the stage to Alpe d’Huez in the Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale. In 1993, the Dutch climb also served as the finish of the entire race. In addition to this twelfth stage win, Zijlaard-van Moorsel won four other stages that year. Moreover, the versatile rider also took the general classification, a feat she had already accomplished the year before.

Date	18 August 2024
Start	Le Grand-Bornand
Finish	L'Alpe-d'Huez
Distance	149.9 km
Type	Individual Road Race
Average Speed	32.80 km/h
Overall Profile	Mountain
Finish Profile	Mountain

Tour de France Femmes

Women Elite - 2.WWT