The men's Tour de France is over, the Olympic Games are wrapping up but this is no time to turn off the spotlight, as the stage is set for another enthralling battle at the Tour de France Femmes.
The third edition of the race starts in the Netherlands on Monday, August 8, before working its way back toward the Alps and a crucial final two days in the mountain, with Alpe d'Huez the crowning glory. Defending champion Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) may be the outright favourite, but there are plenty of others that are set to play a significant role – including a contingent of 13 riders from Australia and New Zealand.
Some of those will be chasing their chances for stage victories, and perhaps giving one of the nations its first Tour de France Femmes stage victor, while others will be dedicated to helping their teammates. Either way – whether they are lining up for their first or last Tour de France Femmes – the strong group of riders from Australia and New Zealand will not go unnoticed as the peloton weaves its way across the 946km course from Rotterdam to the top of Alpe d'Huez.
Cyclingnews takes a closer look at the nine riders from Australia and four from New Zealand expected to – based on the preliminary start list – line up at the race that draws the eyes of the cycling world from August 12-18.
Australia
Grace Brown (FDJ-SUEZ)
A few months ago the Australian announced her plans to retire at the end of this season with the closing remark of ‘let’s see if I can sign off in style’. No matter what comes next as Grace Brown lines up for her third Tour de France Femmes, the gold medal hanging around her neck after the time trial at the Olympic Games means she has delivered in spades.
Still, even though the final months of her career are quickly counting down and the pinnacle she has already reached is lofty, there is still much riding on this final Grand Tour with there being no question about just how important the race is to her French-based squad. The stage 3 time trial probably offers her the best opportunity to give her FDJ–SUEZ team the stage victory it is pursuing at the Tour de France Femmes, though stage 4 could also be an opportunity as the road to Liège has been kind to Brown this year, with the 32-year-old winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège in May. Her role, beyond that, is likely to be in support as FDJ-SUEZ has two strong options for the mountains and overall, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig – who has had a few hurdles with injury this season – and Évita Muzic. Helping a French team to success at the Tour de France, regardless of whether that is through earning top stage results herself or helping out in the GC charge, will win her plenty of wholehearted cheers from the local fans on the roadside as she waves goodbye.
Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM)
It may be the first time Neve Bradbury has lined up at the Tour de France Femmes, but she is doing so with some serious results behind her. Blockhaus was a stage of the Giro d’Italia Women that stood out as soon as the route was announced as delivering one of the most challenging climbing stages the Women’s WorldTour had seen – and Bradbury won it. When Cyclingnews spoke to her before that impressive Giro stage win Bradbury said "when it's quite hard, quite late, everyone's tired – that's usually what would suit me quite well."
The same scenario she described as suiting her at the Giro – of hard stages late – applies just as much with the dual mountain stage finale of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes, which concludes at the top of Alpe d’Huez. Still, her role at the race is different from that at the Giro, where she was a leader and finished third overall. Teammate Kasia Niewiadoma has clearly earned the whole-hearted support of her squad by finishing third at the French Grand Tour in the last two editions, so Bradbury’s focus will likely be to bury herself for her team leader when the terrain hits the mountains and perhaps, at the same time, gather the experience that may one day help her be that leader at the biggest race on the calendar. Although if things don't go to plan for Niewiadoma, she could also be a handy plan B this time around.
Ruby Roseman-Gannon and Amber Pate (Liv-AlUla-Jayco)
The Australian champion Ruby Roseman-Gannon and her teammate Amber Pate will be lining up for the nation's only Women's WorldTour squad. Both will be taking on their second edition, with Pate lining up in 2023 while Roseman-Gannon made her debut in 2022, her first year as a professional. Roseman-Gannon has amassed plenty of experience since and has certainly built up her results through this season, claiming the national criterium and road race title at the start and then also picking up her first Women's WorldTour stage win along the way at the Tour of Britain. She'll be chasing another at the Tour de France Femmes
“When I did the 2022 Tour de France Femmes, it certainly felt like the biggest race I’ve ever done, just due to the number of spectators and media interest," said Roseman Gannon in the team's pre-race media release. "It was a really incredible atmosphere and I’m excited to come back this year with two more years of training and experience."
In her pursuit of stage wins, Pate will be a strong ally, just as she was when the Australian Champion claimed the rest of her three victories so far this year.
Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek)
The experience of Amanda Spratt is a valuable asset in a Grand Tour with the rider who has twice finished on the overall podium of the Giro d'Italia Women lining up as a powerful support rider on the climbs for one of the strongest teams going up against defending champions SD Worx-Protime. The 36-year-old finished in the top ten overall last year, when she had to take up the mantle after GC hope Elisa Longo Borghini had to leave the race right before the crucial stage ending on the Col du Tourmalet. This time, too, the Italian has had to change her race plans, but before the start after a pre-race training crash, though there are others that are expected to lead the team charge this time.
Longo Borghini – who took the maglia rosa at the Giro d'Italia – had timed her peak to begin in Italy and given that was always going to be hard to maintain through the Olympic Games and onto the Tour de France Femmes so other options were in focus. The small amount of time trialling and two final mountain stages with summit finishes could play into the hands of capable climber Gaia Realini and Shirin van Anrooij is also another GC option, one who doesn't have quite the same climbing record but has the characteristics to potentially carve out an advantage through the opening stages. The climbing strength of Spratt could be a valuable piece of the puzzle that helps wear down rivals and conserve the strength of her teammates for those crucial moments.
Sarah Roy and Josie Talbot (Cofidis)
Sarah Roy will be lining up for her second Tour de France Femmes with the French team and so will Josie Talbot. The Australian pair’s best chances for a top result come on the punchy terrain of stage four and stage five. Both are showing solid form to make the most of the opportunities that may crop up. Roy, the 2021 Australian road champion, this season took her first victory since claiming the national title, winning stage 2 of the 2.1 ranked Bretagne Ladies Tour.
Talbot has been raising the bar in her second season with Cofidis, taking victories at La Périgord Ladies and on stage 3 of the Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées. The rider will be hoping to keep up the strong run as she heads toward a new team, Liv-AlUla-Jayco, next year.
Sarah Gigante and Anya Louw (AG Insurance-Soudal)
Even before the rebirth of the women's Tour de France was confirmed, the excitement at the potential for it to be introduced was clear when Cyclingnews spoke to Sarah Gigante about the prospect. Back in 2021 when the then 20-year-old was in the extremely early stages of her professional racing career, it seemed clear that this was an event where the potential for her to make a mark on the race in the future was clear as this was a rider that embraced big challenges, long tough climbs and could deliver a solid time trial as well. The Melbourne-based rider, however, hasn't yet had a chance to line up at the event, but that is set to change.
Gigante is set to make her debut in the third edition of the race, beginning to gather experience in the French Grand Tour with AG Insurance-Soudal. It should be another massive step in what is her fifth year as a professional but, given a horrible run with interruptions, is her first solid European season. 2024 started with the dream win at the women's Santos Tour Down Under, with the overall and stage victory clinched with a spine-tingling run up Willunga HIll, and has continued with solid results. As she returns to racing, after having not pinned a number on since the end of June, no matter the results lining up at the Tour de France Femmes will be another dream realised. Experience is likely to be the big target in this edition, but who knows in the years to come.
Anya Louw is also expected to join Gigante on the start line in 2024, having already taken on the event in 2022. The 23-year-old who came through the ranks with Gigante in Australia has proved an ever reliable teammate and is bound to fill that role again.
New Zealand
Niamh Fisher-Black (SD Worx-Protime)
The mountains of the Tour de France Femmes are finally calling for Niamh Fisher Black. The rider from New Zealand has long shown enormous climbing strength – finishing in the top ten overall at the last four editions of the Giro d'Italia Women –the likes of which in most teams would have seen her lining up at the French race long ago. Fisher Black, however, is racing for the world's top team, SD Worx-Protime, which always seems to have an endless array of options for just about any scenario. This time, however, the 23-year-old rider from New Zealand gets her chance to ride the Tour de France Femmes.
Fisher-Black may have had the option of chasing her own opportunities at the Giro in July, but there is no doubt about the focus of the team in August given that Demi Vollering heads the line up not just as defending champion but also the clear-cut favourite. Vollering has already sailed away to victory at La Vuelta Femenina, Itzulia Women, Vuelta a Burgos and at the Tour de Suisse this year and in the mountains it will be Fisher-Black she will be counting on to be a key ally.
Kim Cadzow (EF Oatly-Cannondale)
Kim Cadzow is lining up for her first Tour de France Femmes with an EF Oatly-Cannondale squad that is bound to be aggressive in pursuit of stage wins. "My goal is to get stuck into the racing," said Cadzow in a team announcement. "I want to enjoy the experience and support the team as best as possible."
Cadzow will be lining up alongside several potential stage winners, including the two-time Paris Olympic gold medallist Kristen Faulkner, but with the year the rider from New Zealand has had, it would be no surprise if she was also given support to chase her own opportunities. This season so far an overall and stage win at the Trofeo Ponente in Rosa in March led into a sixth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and a top ten overall at La Vuelta Femenina as ample evidence of just what potential the 22-year-old has to be a powerful force. She is also clearly coming into the race with some strong form, having taken seventh at the Olympic Games time trial.
Mikayla Harvey (UAE Team ADQ)
It is a debut Tour de France Femmes for Mikayla Harvey, who should prove a handy all-rounder for UAE Team ADQ. The 25-year-old, who came fifth overall at the Giro d'Italia Women in 2020 and 6th overall at the UAE Tour Women in 2023, is expected to line up alongside Erica Magnaldi and Silvia Persico.
Magnaldi was last year 13th overall at the French Grand Tour and also came fifth overall at the Giro d'Italia Women while Persico has taken to the stage podium three times on stages of the Tour de France Femmes and finished fifth overall in 2022, with the race a real breakthrough for the rider who was then at Valcar-Travel & Service. As such, Harvey is likely to find herself in a support role much of the time particularly given it hasn't been a season where she has regularly been pushing to near the top of the results sheet.
Michaela Drummond (Arkea B&B Hotels)
Michaela Drummond will be making her debut at the race with a French team, with the weight of the sprint expectations for the squad on her shoulders for the first two sprinter-friendly stages. It has been a strong season for the 26-year-old, with a win in the national championships criterium, at Région Pays de la Loire Tour Féminin and two stage victories at the Volta a Portugal Feminina in July.
Sill the rider from the Continental Team will be stepping into a whole new tier at the Tour de France Femmes, with Arkea B&B Hotels one of the wildcard entrants. The advantage of that, however, is that she will be free to fly under the radar as she chases whatever opportunities may come her way.
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