Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift extended to nine stages for 2025

Race organisers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) have announced that the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will begin in Brittany, with the race being extended to nine stages for the first time.

The 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will mark the fourth edition since the race was revived in 2022 and the first to hold its Grand Départ in the western region of Brittany. It will have been four years since the former duchy last held the Grand Départ of the men's Tour de France in 2021.

Announced on Monday morning, ASO revealed that the first of nine stages in 2025 will begin in Vannes, heading to the oft-visited Plumelec for the stage finish. Stage 2 will begin on the coast in Brest and head to Quimper, before stage 3 departs from La Gacilly in Morbihan and leaves Brittany to move east.

The 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will begin on Saturday 26 July, which means that there will be an overlap with the men's Tour de France. Returning to Paris after a year away in Nice - on account of the Olympic Games - the 2025 Tour de France will end in Paris on Sunday 27 July.

This year's Grand Départ in Rotterdam is the first on foreign soil in the race's three-year history, with previous Grand Départs held in Paris (2022) and Clermont-Ferrand (2023). The 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will begin in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, before crossing into Belgium for stage 4 and finally reaching the homeland in stage 5.

Read more: Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2024 route revealed

Marking the beginning of the race and awarding the first yellow jersey, the Grand Départ is a sought-after slot for host cities and regions, with the men's Tour de France increasingly starting outside of France in recent years.

With Demi Vollering as the reigning champion, SD Worx-Protime will head into this year's edition hoping to retain their title, but the Dutch superteam will have to do without the 27-year-old in 2025. Vollering looks set to sign for FDJ-SUEZ, who may line up at next year's race with a squad as strong as the two dominant forces of SD Worx-Protime and Lidl-Trek.

Year on year, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is growing not only in stature but also in size, with next year's race the first to be held over nine stages.

First nine-day Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift

The Tour de France Femmes avect Zwift, under the stewardship of ASO, is an entirely new race to the various Tours de France that preceded it, from the Tour de France Féminin to the Tour de la C.E.E Féminin and La Course by Le Tour de France.

Read more: Tour de France Femmes: A brief history of the events which paved the way

In its brief but exciting history, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift has grown at a refreshing pace. Held over eight stages for its first three editions, the race began with no high mountains in 2022 but soon left Paris the year after and headed to the Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees, whilst this year's race will end in spectacular fashion atop the famous Alpe d'Huez.

For 2025, the race will continue to grow, with the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift extended to nine stages. This could make the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift the longest stage race on the Women's WorldTour calendar. Previously, the Giro d'Italia Women was raced over nine stages, but for 2024, the Italian Grand Tour has been reduced to eight stages under the organisation of RCS Sport.

Read more: Opinion: The Tour de France Femmes is delivering on its promises of growth

As one of the most prestigious races on the calendar for decades, the Giro d'Italia Women in some ways presents a blueprint for growth for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. In the 1990s, the Giro d'Italia Women was extended from eight stages to 12 and 13. In 2002, the race settled on nine stages and 12 years later, grew to 10.

Earlier this year, the Vuelta Femenina route for 2024 was announced and saw the Spanish stage race extended to eight days in its own right, as the three longest stage races on the Women's WorldTour continue to establish themselves as the three 'Grand Tours,' akin to in the men's sport.

Are you a fan of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift expanding to nine stages in 2025? And where would you like to see the race head in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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