From Lausanne to Nice, from the historic start in Switzerland to France, the Tour de France Femmes is ready to host 9 days of great battle. From August 1st to 9th, 9 stages for a total of 1175 km all concentrated in the south-east area of France. As happened for the men's Grand Boucle, the start is outside the French border, two full days on Swiss soil before arriving in France only for the third stage.

It is a demanding route, 9 days of racing with little flat terrain, days in which you will never go below 1500 m of elevation gain, a tough challenge for sprinters, as much for breakaway riders and attackers, but especially for climbers who will battle it out on the legendary Mont Ventoux in the seventh stage. 8 road stages full of pitfalls and surprises and a 21 km time trial that, as happened at the Giro Women, could make the difference. Already the first yellow jersey of the Tour will not be easy to conquer, the 137 km starting and finishing in Lausanne present 3 categorized climbs to award the first polka dot jersey, but watch out for the insidious finale: the Cote Saint Francois climb, 2.5 km at an average of 4.6% with peaks of 9%. If sprinters want to play their chances they could do so in the second stage but it will not be easy at all, the series of 5 categorized climbs ends less than 40 km from the finish and there could be the possibility to make up ground ahead of a sprint finish.

The caravan will enter France on the third day of racing, after the start in Geneva the border will be crossed and the Col de la Faucille and the Cote de Lajoux will be tackled. The day's menu also includes the Col de la Savine and the Cote de Chaux Champagny which ends 25 km from the finish. The fourth stage will be raced entirely on French territory and is one of the most anticipated, the individual time trial from Gevrey Chambertin to Dijon offers a route for specialists and the time gaps could be significant. The Macon – Belleville en Beaujolais instead has the appearance of a classic, a continuous up and down with as many as 8 categorized climbs that create a route perfectly suited to attackers, 2850 m of elevation gain and guaranteed spectacle. For the sixth day of racing instead the entire Loire will be crossed, 6 categorized climbs and a finish after a long descent, again a golden opportunity for attackers.

The queen stage and decisive for the general classification features the legendary Mont Ventoux, 15.7 km with an average of 8.8% and peaks of over 10%. Before tackling the fearsome climb there will be 130 km of rolling terrain where it will be fundamental to organize the team well. It will certainly be a day that will leave significant time gaps and could already give us the name of the final winner; the fast wheels that will have saved energy will be able to challenge each other in the Sisteron – Nice stage which with its 175 km is the longest stage of this edition. The city of Nice will instead host the grand finale which however will be anything but a formality: only 99 km but 2175 m of elevation gain. The main protagonist of the last day is the Col d'Eze, 7.7 km at 5.9% which will be tackled 4 times with the last one about 15 km from the finish. Will it be a springboard to glory?

1st Stage Lausanne > Lausanne | 127 km (August 1st)

2nd Stage Aigle > Geneva | 149 km (August 2nd)

3rd Stage Geneva > Poligny | 157 km (August 3rd)

4th Stage Gevrey – Chambertin > Dijon | 21 km (August 4th) individual time trial

5th Stage Macon > Belleville En Beaujolais | 140 km (August 5th)

6th Stage Montbrison > Tournon Sur Rhone | 153 km (August 6th)

7th Stage La Voulte Sur Rhone > Mont Ventoux | 144 km (August 7th)

8th Stage Sisteron > Nice | 175 km (August 8th)

9th Stage Nice > Nice | 99 km (August 9th)