The historic race will wrap-up once a winner stands atop the podium in Paris on Sunday (AEST), but not before a grueling final two stages which will see the riders combat some of the longest and steepest ascents of the entire eight-stage race.
The penultimate and final stages of the Tour will be a survival of the fittest, with some riders lamenting their exhaustion on Friday (AEST) heading into the final two days of racing.
Aussie Grace Brown (FDJ Suez Futuroscope) was one of the only riders to express excitement at the race finale after coming off a challenging and unpredictable first six days of the Tour.
“I am almost looking forward to the mountains,” she told SBS shortly after Stage 6.
“They are a bit more predictable in a way, you just get out there and do sort of paced efforts on the climbs, so it will be a nice change.”
Conversely, Brown's compatriot Anya Louw (AG Insurance-NXTG) was not so optimistic at the prospect of tackling the mountains over the weekend, despite seeing her teammate Julia Borgstrom take the lead in the youth classification following Friday's stage.
“I don’t know if I’m looking forward to them, I’m pretty tired,” she said.
"But we will just take it day by day and see what happens."
Nicole Frain (Parkhotel Valkenburg) also hinted at her fatigue felt from the first six days of the Tour, which was also heavily impacted by a crash in Stage 2 which saw Brown's teammate and GC hopeful Marta Cavalli withdrawn from the race following a concussion.
“I really hope tomorrow I find some better legs,” Frain said.
“I think my early stages probably haven’t helped how I’m feeling at the moment, and then it’s the fatigue and the build-up, and yesterday was an exceptionally long day with the heat as well.”
Veteran Rachel Neylan (Cofidis) will be looking to keep up with race leader Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) as well as other GC contenders over the weekend, including highly favoured climber and recent Giro d'Italia Donne winner, Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar).
“I’m taking confidence from how I’m climbing and just my ability to stay with the top riders on these tough stages,” she said.
“Anything can happen these next days and I’m going to look for my opportunities, be smart, stay calm and just give it everything.”
The Tour de France Femmes continues with the first of two big mountain stages to finish the race, with the 13-kilometre climb of the Grand Ballon summiting with just seven kilometres remaining in the stage. Watch from 11.20pm AEST on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker or from 11.25pm AEST on SBS and SBS On Demand.
