Tour de France Femmes: stage seven heads for Tourmalet summit finish – live
As my friend put it this morning: happy Tourmalet day! Today is the big one, the climb we’ve all been waiting to see the riders tackle … it’s the savage Col du Tourmalet. A favourite since it was introduced in the Tour de France in 1910, today marks the first time it’s been included in the Tour de France Femmes (yes, I know it’s only the second edition but don’t spoil the fun). Saturday’s stage may only be 89.8km, but it’s set to split the peloton apart.
The penultimate stage will be a decisive day for the maillot jaune and a day the for the climbers. SD Worx’s Lotte Kopecky has been in the yellow jersey every day since her stage one victory, but will today mark the end of that? Although, stage seven will begin with a relatively gentle and rolling terrain, the riders will then face the Col d’Aspin before the 17km haul to the 2,110 metre summit of the legendary Tourmalet.
Speaking about the inclusion of the high mountains in this year’s Tour de France Femmes, race director, Marion Rousse, said that it was in a bid to make the event “a little bit more historical.” She added: “The Tourmalet is a mythical climb and all the champions want to write their names into the record books by winning there.” It’s going to be a big day, so settle in and join me as we follow the riders on their ride in the Pyrenees.
Stage start time: 3.15pm UK time
🚲 Stage 7 / Étape 7 🚲⠀
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 29, 2023
🚩 Lannemezan
🏁 @destinationtpm
📏 89,9 km
⏰ 16:25 CEST > 19:15 CEST
⛰ 1xHC, 1x1️⃣c
💚 km 41,7
💛#TDFF2023 #WatchTheFemmes @GoZwift pic.twitter.com/SDT9W1nOyy