The Tour de France Femmes Thunders Toward Iconic Alpe D’Huez

Tour de France Femmes' Lorena Wiebes , Demi Vollering and Puck Pieterse take stage wins at the prestigious Grand Tour race.

Tour de France Femmes 2024: Puck Pieterse (left) of Fenix-Deceuninck wins stage 4 ahead of Demi Vollering of SD Worx-Protime in Yellow Leader Jersey(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

The Women’s Tour de France, officially known as the "Tour de France Femmes," has completed the first four of eight stages . After a rocky beginning from 1984-1989, The Tour de France Femmes was revived in 2022. The prestigious race is thriving in year-3 of its return to the world stage. The return of the Tour de France Femmes has played a significant role in cultivating and inspiring a new generation of female cyclists. Demi Vollering is the defending tour champion. The 2024 Tour de France Femmes runs from August 12-18. The race began in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and concludes on the iconic and extremely tough Alpe D’Huez, France.

Tour Review. The first stage of the Tour was relatively flat, and super fast. Dutch rider, Charlotte Kool, outdueled her competitors to win Stage 1. Cristina Tonetti earned the polka dot jersey for climbing points after winning the stage’s only climb. The stage race remained in the Netherlands for Stages 2 and 3. Stage 2 was a 43.5-mile sprint, and Stage 3 followed on the same day with a 3.9-mile time-trial. Stage 4 took the tour into challenging and hilly terrain.

The final breakaway into Liège - Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM Racing), Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) in the Yellow Leader Jersey and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck)(Image credit: Alex Broadway/Getty Images)

Stages 2 and 3 - Results

Stage 2 - Dordrecht to Rotterdam (42.6-miles) Stage 2 resembled Stage 1. It was relatively flat, very fast, and crowned the same winner. Premiere sprinter Lorena Wiebes, who suffered a broken derailleur and a disappointing 41st place in Stage 1, looked strong and poised to capture the stage when Charlotte Kool surged past her in the final kilometers. Kool also held off  Marianne Vos to take the stage – her second  straight win. Kool is off to a spectacular start!

Stage 3. - Time Trial (3.9-miles) Stage 3 started shortly after the conclusion of Stage 2, and ended Kool’s possession of the coveted Yellow Jersey. The defending Tour champion, Demi Vollering, bettered a blazing-fast time previously established by Chloé Dygert to take the Time-Trial and the Yellow Jersey.

Stage 4 - Results

Stage 4 - Valkenburg to Liège (75.8-miles) - A hilly stage featuring climbs from classics like Liège-Bastogne-Liège.  Stage 4 took the peloton into Belgium. Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) was victorious in taking her first World Tour stage win. She was crafty in surprising the yellow jersey Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM). “It’s unbelievable, actually. The last few days I had super-good legs, and today I didn’t feel my legs at all. To take the win here in a sprint against Demi, that’s really a dream come true,” Pieterse said after the stage.

The three riders had broken away from the peloton on the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons. Kim Le Court finished fourth from a group of 12 riders that also contained GC contenders Évita Muzic (FDJ-Suez), Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek), Kristen Faulkner (EF-Oatly-Cannondale), Rooijakkers, Juliette Labous (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), and Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek). Following Stage 4, Vollering has a 22-second lead on Pieterse, with Niewiadoma following at 34 seconds in the general classification.

Despite her Pieterse’s lack of road-bike experience, facing Vollering and Niewiadoma didn’t concern the young cyclocross and mountain bike standout. “I knew they were riding for GC, and I’m just here for the stage while I’m fresh, so I could poker a bit. I knew Kasia would attack, and Demi would have to follow, so I just tried to keep a poker face and take it from the sprint.”