ORANJE VIBES
A leading nation in women's cycling, the Netherlands will be particularly well represented during the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, bringing together 24 teams of six riders at this early stage of team nominations. Among the 144 entrants (as of early July), 29 are Dutch. That represents 20 per cent of the peloton, a high level reflecting the strength of the Netherlands in the top 150 of the UCI world ranking.
The French public will be able to cheer for 23 of their local riders in the next highest participation from any one nation. French champion Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Trek-Segafredo) and Juliette Labous (Team DSM), winner of the Tour de Burgos and a mountain stage on the Giro, are among the top riders lining up. Italy (19) and Belgium (9) will make up the next highest representations, with 25 nationalities expected on the startline.
ALL THE STARS ALIGN
With the first 28 riders in the UCI ranking enlisted to start from Paris, the start-list of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is among the most star-studded ever. Among them, Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) is a hot favorite two weeks removed from winning her third Giro Donne.
She will face again the three challengers that followed her in Italy: Marta Cavalli (FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope), Mavi Garcia (UAE Team ADQ) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo).
Fans will also be able to watch the fastest sprinter in the world, Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM); the most successful rider in history, Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma); a rising star in Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx); and world champion Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo).
14 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Australian Nicole Frain will join 13 other national champions riding in different colours from the rest of their team during the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
14 riders will start with the status of national champion: Nicole Frain (Australia, Parkhotel Valkenburg), Christina Schweinberger (Austria, Plantur-Pura) - whose twin sister Kathrin is enlisted with Ceratizit-WNT -, Kim de Baat (Belgium, Plantur-Pura), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark, FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope), Mavi Garcia (Spain, UAE Team ADQ), Audrey Cordon-Ragot (France, Trek-Segafredo), Liane Lippert (Germany, DSM), Elisa Balsamo (Italy, Trek-Segafredo), Christine Majerus (Luxembourg, SD Worx), Riejanne Markus (Netherlands, Jumbo-Visma), Frances Janse Van Rensburg (South Africa, Cofidis), Eugenia Bujak (Slovenia, UAE Team ADQ) and Caroline Baur (Switzerland, Roland Cogeas Edelweiss Squad). But only thirteen will wear a distinctive jersey representing their country as Balsamo, who claimed the title in Italy, will wear the rainbow bands of world champion. Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo) will also stand out as the European champion.
FROM DE WILDE TO LÉVÉNEZ
There are a wide variety riders’ ages on the startline with the average age of the participants at 26.4 years. France’s Sandra Lévénez (Cofidis), 43 years old, is the oldest while the youngest rider of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift should be Belgium’s Julie de Wilde (Plantur-Pura), who will celebrate her 20th birthday on December 8.
De Wilde is one of three teenagers gearing up for the Grand Départ, Ines Cantera (Roland Cogeas Edelweiss Squad) will celebrate her 20th birthday on Stage 7. Australian Rachel Neylan (Cofidis) is the only other 40-year-old in the race, the experienced all-rounder to bring plenty of know-how to winning races on the road.
The oldest team in average is SD Worx (30.7 years), ahead of UAE Team ADQ (30.33) and Canyon//Sram Racing (30.17). The youngest formation is AG Insurance - NXTG (21.17), a Dutch team that could feature Australians Cassia Boglio and Anya Louw. Team DSM is the next youngest squad (22.5), with the youngest of the 14 World Tour teams.
STELLAR STAFF
Stars will be everywhere, inside the peloton and supporting it, as many former champions are now part of the management of teams participating in the race. Among the most notable names, Anna van der Breggen is part of the SD Worx management since she retired at the end of the last season, after an extraordinarily successful career (3 world champion titles, Olympic champion, 7-time winner of La Flèche Wallonne Femmes…).
Jolien D’Hoore, her teammate last year with SD Worx, a Belgian champion on the road and a world champion on the track, is another fresh retiree now acting as a sports director, with AG Insurance-NTXG, while Trek-Segafredo will once again make the most of Ina Teutenberg’s experience and leadership.
Other names such as Joanne Kiesanowski (Human Powered Health), Lieselot Decroix, Carmen Small (Jumbo-Visma), Heidi Van de Vijver (Plantur-Pura) or Charlotte Bravard (St-Michel Auber 93) stand out with their experience and accomplishments on the bike.
The trailblazers of the first Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift can also count on the expertise of former Tour de France contenders such as Lars Ytting Bak (Uno-X), Albert Timmer (Team DSM) and Rubens Bertogliati (UAE Team ADQ), who even wore the maillot jaune in the men’s race.
