Marion Rousse unveiled the route of the 2026 Tour de France this Thursday. And the director of the women’s event warned the riders. It will be hard.
This Thursday, the organizers of the Tour de France unveiled the route for the men’s and women’s events in 2026. For the fifth edition of the Tour de France Women, Marion Rousse hit hard. The one who has been the director since the resurrection of the event in 2022, warned the participants: the race has never been so difficult. And indeed, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and her comrades will have a lot to do.
Marion Rousse was present on stage at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. After confirming that the departure would take place in Lausanne, Julian Alaphilippe’s companion revealed the rest of the stages. And there will be nine in total, like last summer. A total of 1,175 km to cover, but above all a positive altitude difference of 18,795 m. A record which far exceeds that of 2025 (17,240 m of positive altitude difference for 1,165 km of running).
Facing the media, Marion Rousse first described the course as
“mischievous, because on every step (there’s) has a difficulty placed very far from the finish, or something which means that no leader will be able to say to herself: ‘Today I’m hanging out in the back’“ . And the manager admitted:
“Mentally speaking, I think it will be (the Tour de France Femmes) the hardest in its history. »
Marion Rousse “proud” facing Ventoux
Then the France Télévisions consultant spoke about the queen stage of this future edition, namely the seventh which will take place between La Voulte-sur-Rhône and Mont Ventoux. “I am very proud to be able to include it in our young history of the Tour de France Femmes. I know it will be a success, the roof of the Tour, the queen stage with almost 3,600 m of elevation gain. »
Marion Rousse hopes in any case that this stage in particular will be “a possibility of making women’s cycling a part of history, because we know that it goes through legendary passes”. The 2026 Tour de France Femmes therefore promises to be a major event. Title holder, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will have work to do to maintain her property in the face of vengeful competition and a complicated course.
