Two Stages, One Day: The TdF Femmes Is About to Do Something We Haven’t Seen Since 1991 (2024)

Jersey Contenders Stage-By-Stage Results

One day, two stages. That’s Tuesday’s outlook for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, as the peloton sees both stages two and three going off after the race’s opening stage from Rotterdam to The Hague. Otherwise called a split stage, this type of day has not been seen at the Tour since the men’s 1991 edition.

And since Tuesday will feature the riders in the Yellow, Green, Polka Dot, and White jerseys, the way the race will play out is very much unknown. Of course, having back-to-back stages on a single day might help clear things up a bit.

Stage 2: Dordrecht > Rotterdam, 70 km

69.7 km (43.3 miles) – 66 m (216 ft) of elevation

Stage 3: Individual Time Trial, Rotterdam > Rotterdam, 6 km

6.3 km (3.9 miles) – 24 m (78 ft) of elevation

How Hard Are Stages 2 and 3 of the Tour de France Femmes?

Much like Stage 1, Stage 2 of this year’s race is almost completely flat (because, let’s be honest, much of the Netherlands is flat). However, unlike Stage 1, there is no intermediate sprint and no categorized climb. Rather, the ultra-short second stage will be all about the finish.

Given the shortness of the course and the fact that there’s a time trial starting soon after the stage finishes, I expect a more reserved day than is typical of the often wire-to-wire racing we see in women’s Grand Tours. The fireworks might hold off until the last few kilometers, when the peloton gets into the thick of downtown Rotterdam, facing a series of technical turns. That might give the stage a more criterium-like feel than anything else, and if you’ve ever watched a crit race, you know the chaos endemic to them.

Racers will have just a few short hours to recover, refuel, and change into their skinsuits before the day’s second event, Stage 3’s super-fast time trial.

With just 6.3 kilometers to race and virtually nothing to climb, this could be one of the faster time trials we’ve seen in some time. It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it stage that will take the riders less than ten minutes to complete. And with just seven turns and one roundabout, the course is anything but technical.

Stage 2 will start at 9:50 a.m. local time (3:50 a.m. EDT) and is projected to finish in little more than 90 minutes, at 11:35 a.m. The first rider will roll out of the start house for stage 3 at 3:10 p.m. local time (9 a.m. EDT).

What Will the Weather Be Like, and How Can It Affect the Stage?

After a brutally hot first day, the weather looks to be much more forgiving for Stages 2 and 3. With the forecast calling for a low of 64°F, a high of 81°F, and partly cloudy skies, it should be a perfect day for racing. As Stage 2 heads in a westerly direction, riders might face a mild headwind. But it shouldn’t be anything that will have a massive impact on the race.

There is a slight chance of rain both in the morning and the mid-afternoon, the latter of which might have a big impact on the time trial (remember all of the slideouts during the Olympic time trial?!).

Who Can Win Stages 2 and 3?

Given its flatness, shortness, and the fact that the riders have to race twice in a day, I expect Stage 2 to be a bit more open-ended than some of these other stages. With Lotte Kopecky and Elisa Longo Borghini out of the race, we should expect to see some less common names banging elbows in the bunch sprint.

Of course, it will be a bunch sprint, which means you have to consider SD Worx-Protime’s Lorena Wiebes and Visma-Lease a Bike’s Marianne Vos above everyone else. Keep an eye on dsm-fermenich-PostNL’s Charlotte Kool—Stage 1 winner—and Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo.

Stage 3 is a straight, flat, six-kilometer time trial perfect for time-trial specialists like Kristen Faulkner (EF-Oatly-Cannondale) and FDJ-Suez’s Grace Brown, who absolutely destroyed the competition at the Olympic Time Trial.

How Can Stages 2 and 3 Affect the General Classification?

So long as all the favorites arrive at the finish lines upright, a short, flat road stage and a super short, flat time trial shouldn’t impact the GC competition much at all.

Stage 2 should see the GC contenders crossing the line not long after the sprinters. Stage 3 simply isn’t long enough for anyone to put meaningful time into the competition.

Tuesday should be a super fun day of bike racing. But I doubt it’s going to be the day that anyone looks back at as a defining moment of this year’s Tour de France Femmes.