the French runners to follow and the big favorites

As the 109th edition of the Tour de France ends on Sunday, the cycling festival will be extended with the start of the new edition of the Tour de France women. The 144 riders at the start will leave the same day from Paris for a competition divided into 8 stages between the capital and Alsace (July 24-31). If the women’s cycling events have been much less publicized, we will have to familiarize ourselves with the big favorites of the peloton and the French women who will have a chance to shine. We make the presentations.

The French to follow

For this new women’s Tour de France, there will be 24 French riders at the start in Paris. Among her, Audrey Cordon-Ragot who will have the great honor of competing with the French cycling champion’s jersey, a title won for the second time in her career last June. The Trek-Segafredo team rider will mainly aim for a stage victory and will be particularly scrutinized in the peloton.

Same profile for Evita Muzic, from the FDJ – Suez – Futuroscope team. The 2021 French champion will be the luxury teammate of the two leaders Marta Cavalli and Cecilie Uttrup-Ludwig, but could well benefit from a few exit tickets to aim for a stage victory.

If there is a Frenchwoman who can claim a place in the general classification, it will be necessary to count on Juliette Labous from the Team DSM team. The one who finished 7th in the Giro last year and 9th this year, is aiming for the Top 5 during this edition of the Women’s Grande Boucle. La Bisontine took the most spectacular stage of the Tour of Italy, at the top of the Passo del Maniva and won the Tour de Burgos in May, its first victory on the World Tour.

The great favorites

The big favorite of this first edition of the Tour de France women is Dutch and is called Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar). At 39, she has just won the Giro for the third time and crushed the competition. To get an idea of ​​her level of form, it should be noted that she won two stage victories in the Tour of Italy, as well as Liège-Bastogne-Liège earlier in the year. Comfortable on all terrains and especially in the mountains, the Dutch will be a scarecrow in the peloton.

Another Dutch girl will also be one to watch closely: Marianne Vos. At 35, the Jumbo-Visma rider is van Vleuten’s great rival. It also has three Giros and has won two stages this year before giving up in order to prepare for the Tour de France. She was the winner of the first edition of La Course by le Tour in 2014.

Never two without three. The other big favorite is also Dutch and is called Demi Vollering. At 25, the puncher from the SD Worx team embodies the next generation. She especially stood out in 2021 by winning La Course by le Tour and Liège – Bastogne – Liège. Also at ease on all terrains, she has chosen to skip the Tour of Italy 2022 to arrive fresh in the Grande Boucle.

But Demi Vollering will not be the only one to fight for the final victory within her team SD Worx. She will share her co-lead status with Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, a 36-year-old South African. The rider has declared that her participation in the Tour will be her first … and her last since she will retire from sport at the end of the competition. It should hurt its competitors in the mountains, a terrain on which few manage to follow it.

Among the other runners of great talent to follow: the Italian Marta Cavalli (24, FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope) who finished second in the Giro just 1’52 behind Annemiek van Vleuten, her Danish teammate Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (26 years old), fourth in the Giro 2020 and amazing on the Tour de Burgos 2021, or even the Italian Elisa Longo Borghini (30 years old, Trek Segafredo), fourth in the last Giro and winner of the Paris-Roubaix.

► Our file Tour de France women 2022