At the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, the battle between Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) and Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) was only part of the story. While the yellow jersey was draped over the familiar shoulders of Niewiadoma, it was the emerging stars of women’s cycling who excited the fans during the seven days leading up to the finale. The eight-stage Tour delivered seven surprise winners, most of whom were little- or lesser-known names at the beginning.
The standout performances of these rising talents signal a shift in the peloton. Whether it's the dawn of a new generation or simply a deepening field of talent, the future looks bright and competitive.
Here’s a look at the breakout riders of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift — names you'll want to remember in the seasons ahead.
Puck Pieterse
Team: Fenix Deceuninck
Age:21
Nationality: The Netherlands
Hands down one of the most exciting playmakers of this year's Tour was 21-year-old Puck Pieterse. The Dutch cyclocross and mountain bike star is still "just feeling it out" on the road, but her performances leave us wanting to see a lot more of her.
The Tour de France Femmes marked her first-ever stage race. It was also her ninth road race of the year, following a brief Spring campaign that saw her on the podium twice and miss out on the Top-10 only once.
“In the spring, I learned a bit about how the peloton works, and I can climb a little," she told Cycling Weekly at the start of the Tour. "But those last two days are really big climbing days, and I’m not trained for that." Instead of putting any expectations on herself, Pieterse went in expecting to play more of a supporting role for intended GC riders Yara Kastelijn and Pauliena Rooijakkers.
Three days in, however, Pieterse was seen nabbing QOM points and attacking the race favourites on her way to winning the Liège stage at the line in a photo finish with Demi Vollering.
Team director Michel Cornelisse told Cycling Weekly afterwards that he had been anything but surprised, stating, " When Puck participates, she only wants one thing, and that is to win.”
For two days, Pieterse led the Climber's and Young Rider's classification. She also went into the final stage, sitting second in the overall classification—not bad for a first-timer!
Once the Tour moved into the Alps, Pieterese lost the polka dots to Justine Gherieke but went home with the best young rider's jersey. She finished 11th overall, third in the mountain classification, and eighth in the points classification.
Cedrine Kerbaol
Team: Certizit-WNT
Age: 23
Nationality: France
Cédrine Kerbaol delivered France its first-ever stage win in the Tour de France Femmes after a well-timed attack and a daring descent into Morteau on stage 6. The 23-year-old gave a masterclass in descending before riding to the finish solo to thundering applause from the French fans.
Stage 6 was the first stage completely held on French soil. It was also the last stage before the Tour's big mountain stages. A breakaway was likely, and many looked to the French riders for the win, bolstered by the hoards of fans that came out to cheer on their local heroes. With the hilly profile, French climber Juliette Labous (dsm-Firmenich) and Évita Muzic (FDJ-Suez) were favoured to win, but it was last year's white jersey winner who made her mark.
Kerbaol gained such a lead on the descent that, for a minute, she even threatened Niewiadoma's yellow jersey. But while her gap diminished before the finish, Kerbaol still had plenty of time to sit up and celebrate the biggest win of her career.
"It's an incredible day for me, and I think for a lot of other people. I hope the French are as happy as I am. I hope it will give them something to smile about, too," Kerbaol said post-race.
This victory at the world's biggest bike race was also meaningful for her Ceratizit-WNT team, a UCI Women's Continental Team. Her teammates, who crossed the finish line some 12 minutes later, celebrated like champions with cheers and fists raised in triumph. Their shared joy underscored the significance of the moment for the entire squad.
"It's super big because it's a f*cking stage in the Tour de France," Nina Berton told Cycling Weekly. "It's one of the biggest things you can win. And to win it with Cédrine is super special because she's French, and she really worked super hard for this."
With her stage win, Kerbaol moved into second place in the general classification, heading into the final two stages of the Tour. Although she lost time on the mountainous Stage 7, she returned as a key contender on the final day, fearlessly descending the Col du Glandon and showcasing her all-around strength by finishing sixth on the stage and in the overall when the Tour concluded atop the Alpe d'Huez.
Justine Ghekiere
Team: AG Insurance - Soudal
Age: 28
Nationality: Belgium
While Kerbaol displayed her descending mastery, Belgian rider Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) demonstrated her prowess on the uphills.
The 28-year-old was an animater throughout the seven days of racing, and her efforts put her into the white-and-red polka dot kit at the end of stage 6. She cemented her status as Queen of the Mountains with a solo victory atop Le Grand Bornand on the following stage.
While the race favourites were playing GC games, Ghekiere went on the attack on the Col de Saint-Jean-de-Sixt with a little over 13.5km yet to go. When no one followed—whether from underestimation or inability—she tackled the final climb alone, showing exactly what this rising star is capable of.
Ghekiere secured the climber's jersey at the Giro d'Italia Donne and the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Femenina earlier this year, which already hinted at her potential, but her stage win at the Tour de France Femmes stands as her biggest result to date.
A physical education teacher and personal coach, Ghekiere only started cycling during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, turning to Zwift to stay fit. Her impressive power numbers on the virtual platform led to her first cycling contract with Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire team the very next year. She signed with AG Insurance-Soudal ahead of the 2023 season, and her star has been on the rise ever since.
"I really have no words. I think I'm dreaming, it's crazy," Ghekiere commented post-race.
Charlotte Kool
Team: dsm-Firmenich
Age: 25
Nationality: The Netherlands
Charlotte Kool (dsm-Firmenich) is not a new talent by any means, but she's re-emerging after a sub-par season.
The sprinter came up through the junior ranks, and her breakout season came in 2023 when she wrote a string of victories in her name. When sprinting sensation and DSM teammate Lorena Wiebes left for SD Worx, Kool seized the opportunity to fill the void. An exciting rivalry between the two Dutch sprinters quickly took shape, with Kool coming out on top at stages of the UAE Tour Women and again at RideLondon Classique.
By adding two more stage wins at the 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, Kool firmly established herself as one of the top sprinters in the peloton.
However, the highly anticipated sprint battles between Kool and Wiebes in 2024 didn’t quite play out as expected. While her rival continued to dominate, Kool struggled to reach the podium's top step.
“It wasn’t my training. I was training well but at the very end of a race, my torso felt stuck. It’s hard to explain,” Kool said.
She saw doctors, chiropractors and physiotherapists but relief wouldn't come. Then, two weeks before the start of the Tour de France Femmes, her medical team had a breakthrough. After contracting another virus following the Baloise Ladies Tour in July and experiencing shortness of breath, a deeper investigation revealed the root of the problem.
"It goes back to February," Kool told Cycling Weekly. "I got really sick—high fever and breathing issues. When you’ve been ill for a long time, you can develop shallow, high-torso breathing, which eventually disrupts your breathing patterns and restricts your torso."
Through bodywork and exercises, her body started to come loose again. And the results soon followed.
The opening stage of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift was poised for Wiebes, the top sprinter with SD-Worx's flawless lead-out train. But a chaotic final and a touch of wheels saw Wiebes' derailleur get ripped off, leaving Kool perfectly positioned to capitalize. She powered to victory, claiming the win, and the yellow and green jerseys along the way.
Kool proved her win had been no fluke the very next morning. When Wiebes launched her sprint early into a headwind, Kool slipped into her rival’s slipstream and timed her own jump perfectly, surging past Wiebes to take a resounding victory, this time by at least a wheel's length.
Kool held the yellow jersey for three stages before Vollering seized it with a dominant time trial. She also defended the green jersey until Stage 6, when Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) overtook her in the points classification. But two stage wins and several days in a jersey was a dream come true for Kool. More than anything, the Dutch woman said she's happy to feel like herself again.
Now back to full health, Kool has returned to her best, reigniting her rivalry with Wiebes. The stage is set for an exhilarating battle between these two sprinting powerhouses in 2025, and we can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
