With the Grand Départ set to roll out from Vannes, the 2025 edition of the Tour de France Femmes promises high drama, deep rivalries, and no shortage of tactical brilliance. At stake: the iconic Maillot Jaune, cycling’s most coveted symbol of supremacy.
The Tour de France Femmes 2025, features 22 teams, 154 riders who will be navigating more than 1,000 kilometres of pedal-to-the-metal racing, as the world’s best cyclists battle for the one and only: Maillot Jaune (yellow jersey).
The action gets underway from Saturday 26 July to Sunday 3 August, with 17,240 metres of elevation gain ready to welcome the cyclists, across nine action-packed days of racing.
The entry list at Tour de France Femmes 2025 is stacked with past winners, world champions and Olympic champions across multiple cycling disciplines, and you have yourself a summer blockbuster well worth the price of admission.
From defending champions to Olympic heroes, this year’s peloton is packed with contenders ready to conquer the roads of France.
Here’s are the top five contenders for the yellow jersey at Tour de France Femmes 2025:
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney
Few riders understand the rhythm of a Grand Tour quite like Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney. The 30-year-old from Limanowa, Poland has stood on the podium in the last three editions of the race, and enters the 2025 Tour de France Femmes as the defending champion.
Despite a less-than-ideal build-up — including an 11th place at the Vuelta España Feminina and third at the Tour de Suisse Women — Niewiadoma-Phinney remains a serious GC threat. A recent win at the Polish national road race could indicate that her form is peaking just in time.
Still, questions about her overall fitness persist. If she wants to retain the Maillot Jaune, she’ll need to rely on experience, smarts, and perhaps a touch of good fortune to fend off a stacked field.
Demi Vollering
If there’s one rider arriving in France with unfinished business, it’s Demi Vollering. The Dutch powerhouse, who won the 2023 edition of this race, saw her title defense slip away last year after a crash on Stage 5. The final margin? Four agonizing seconds behind Niewiadoma-Phinney.
Now 28, Vollering has roared back in 2025 with emphatic victories at the Vuelta España Feminina, Itzulia Women, and Strade Bianche Donne. A runner-up finish at the Tour de Suisse Women further underscores her readiness.
With a month-long break to fine-tune her Tour prep, she arrives in Vannes rested, sharp, and hungry for redemption. Vollering is arguably the favorite to reclaim yellow — and this time, she’s not leaving anything to chance.
Elisa Longo Borghini
Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini has worn plenty of jerseys in her career, but the tricolore of the Italian national champion may be the most fitting for a rider who has dominated much of 2025. Her palmarès this year include wins at Dwars door Vlaanderen, De Brabantse Pijl, and the Giro d’Italia Women.
A runner-up finish at the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas and her UAE Tour Women win cement her status as one of the most consistent riders of the season.
Still, at 33, Longo Borghini has the tactical nous and endurance to manage her efforts and mount a serious GC campaign. If she’s still fresh by week two, expect her to challenge for yellow at Tour de France Femmes 2025.
Pauline Ferrand-Prevot
Few riders have generated more buzz ahead of this year’s race than Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. Fresh off her Olympic mountain bike gold at Paris 2024 and a dominant win at Paris-Roubaix Femmes, the 33-year-old is returning to road racing after a six-year hiatus — and she’s doing it in style.
Her second place at the Ronde van Vlaanderen confirmed she’s got the legs for road classics, but her withdrawal from the Vuelta due to an ankle infection casts doubt over her durability in a long stage race.
If she’s healthy and still strong by the time the Tour hits the Alps, Ferrand-Prevot could become the breakout star of the race. But as always, Grand Tours are about consistency — and her lack of recent road stage racing could be a liability.
Also Read: Tour de France: Riders With Most Titles
Kristen Faulkner
While she may not be a GC contender, Kristen Faulkner is poised to be one of the most exciting riders to watch at this year’s Tour de France Femmes. The Olympic road race champion from Team USA stunned the cycling world with a late solo attack in Paris that earned her a historic gold beneath the Eiffel Tower.
A punchy rider with a nose for opportunity, Faulkner will likely target stages with sharp elevation profiles — particularly Stages 1, 2, and 5. If she gets into an early break and finishes it off, don’t be surprised to see her wear yellow, even if only temporarily.
She’s not here for a full GC campaign, but her explosive style and tactical instincts make her a genuine threat to steal a stage — or two at Tour de France Femmes 2025.
