The women finally took center stage – and if Stage 1 was any indication, the 2026 Tour de France Femmes could be even more exciting than ever with the last three winners all lining up – the race is wide open..
PEZ Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift 2026 Race Coverage is presented by FACTOR Bikes
Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) powered to a commanding victory on the uphill finish in Lausanne, outsprinting Kim Le Court, Demi Vollering and Puck Pieterse to claim both the stage win and the first Maillot Jaune of this year’s Tour.
It wasn’t a pure bunch sprint. It wasn’t a climbers’ finish either. Instead, the rolling Swiss parcours delivered exactly what everyone had hoped for: a selective finale where the strongest all-rounders and fastest finishers fought for the opening yellow jersey.
PEZ Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift Stage 1 Route Flyover
Early Escape Builds Big Lead
The opening stage both started and finished in Lausanne, with the riders tackling the Côte de Châbles (1.6km at 7.7%), the climb to Villars-le-Comte (5.4km at 5.8%), Côte de Vulliens (3.0km at 5.3%) before a largely flat middle section and the late ascent of Côte Saint-François (2.6km at 4.5%) leading directly toward the finish.
Attacks flew from the flag.
Eventually four riders established the day’s breakaway: Maud Rijnbeek (VolkerWessels), Nikola Nosková, Idoia Eraso and Océane Mahé.
Behind them, Alison Jackson attempted to bridge across solo, but the Paris-Roubaix Femmes winner found herself stranded between the peloton and the leaders. Fellow Canadian Kiara Lylyk also tried her luck with the same result.
The quartet steadily extended their advantage, eventually building a cushion of almost six minutes as the bunch remained content to let the early move breathe.
Mahé made the most of the opportunity by cresting the Côte de Châbles first, collecting enough mountain points to earn the first Queen of the Mountains jersey.
Race Comes Alive
Everything changed on the climb to Villars-le-Comte.
FDJ-SUEZ had controlled much of the chase, but as the pace increased the peloton quickly splintered. Riders began losing contact—including sprinter Charlotte Kool—while attacks started flying from the reduced bunch.
Riejanne Markus, Rosa Maria Klöser and Femke de Vries all launched moves, while Demi Vollering herself eventually came to the front to keep the pressure high over the summit.
Amanda Spratt then countered alone, bridging toward the remnants of the break after Nosková had split away from her companions on the Côte de Vulliens.
The aggressive racing never really stopped.
With just over 20 kilometres remaining, home favourite Marlen Reusser hit the deck in an untimely crash. Thanks to determined work from her Movistar teammates, she clawed her way back into the peloton before the decisive finale, while the last surviving escapees were finally reeled in before the final climb.
Tactical Finish Into Lausanne
The Côte Saint-François became exactly the launchpad everyone expected.
AG Insurance-Soudal took command for Mauritian champion Kim Le Court, widely considered one of the favourites for the stage. Le Court accelerated inside the final 1.5 kilometres but couldn’t fully commit, allowing the group to regroup once more.
Another crash briefly disrupted the run-in, but all of the principal contenders escaped unscathed.
Célia Gery tried next, but her move was quickly neutralized.
Inside the final kilometre, the pace briefly stalled before Demi Vollering surged to the front, stretching the group once again. Cédrine Kerbaol then assumed control to lead out teammate Noemi Rüegg, but while everyone focused on the front of the race, Lorena Wiebes was already launching her own perfectly timed sprint.
Once she opened the throttle, the outcome was never in doubt.
The SD Worx-Protime star surged past the entire group to claim an emphatic opening-stage victory, with Kim Le Court finishing second, Demi Vollering third and Puck Pieterse crossing the line in fourth.
A perfect start for Wiebes—and the first yellow jersey of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes now belongs to the fastest woman in the world.
Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift 2026 Stage 1 Results
The post Tour de France Femmes Stage 1: Wiebes Blasts to Yellow in Lausanne appeared first on PezCycling News.
