2026 Tour de France Femmes stage 7 preview | Vollering hunts yellow on Mont Ventoux

Le moment suprême: Mont Ventoux! After a hilly 122-kilometre run-in, the riders reach Bédoin, where they will tackle the most famous — and perhaps most difficult — side of the Bald Mountain. A 15.7-kilometre climb at almost nine percent awaits, and the Tour could be decided right here. IDL Pro Cycling looks ahead!

Anyone who has visited Provence and explored the area around Mont Ventoux will understand why one of its nicknames is the Giant of Provence. The climb towers above a landscape filled with lavender fields and sunflowers, and there are few comparable mountains to be found anywhere nearby.

Relatively speaking, the terrain before the final ascent is therefore not usually too demanding. In 2026, the supporting act consists of the Col de la Grande Limite — 6.6 kilometres at 5 percent — the Col du Colombier, measuring 3.2 kilometres at 6.4 percent, and the Col de Suzette, which is 3.9 kilometres long at an average gradient of 6.4 percent.

But let us be honest: everything revolves around Mont Ventoux. The riders face 15.7 kilometres of climbing at an average of 8.8 percent, approaching from the familiar side that begins in Bédoin. First come the characteristic and seemingly endless kilometres through the forest towards Chalet Reynard. From there, around six kilometres of exposed, lunar-looking landscape remain before the riders finally reach the summit of this iconic ascent.

“It is the hardest climb in the country. Even when it is not scorching hot, it is still like an oven. There is no mercy,” Lance Armstrong said ahead of the stage. He also pointed to the absence of hairpin bends, which normally give riders a momentary opportunity to recover as the road briefly flattens. On Ventoux, the road simply continues straight upwards.

Times
Start: 12:50 p.m. CEST
Finish: around 5:33 p.m. CEST

Mont Ventoux is already notorious for its heat, and conditions in France are expected to be extremely hot. In Bédoin, where the final climb begins, temperatures will rise well above 30 degrees Celsius. The riders will therefore need to cool themselves and keep drinking for as long as possible before the decisive ascent begins.

The seventh stage of the Tour de France Femmes should be one for the strongest climbers, should it not? From a Dutch perspective, that immediately brings Demi Vollering of FDJ-SUEZ to mind. This is the day on which she will hope to take control of the Tour de France Femmes, as she starts the stage only 12 seconds behind the yellow jersey.

Vollering will once again face the two riders with whom she went clear two days earlier: Movistar’s yellow jersey Marlen Reusser and Canyon//SRAM rider Kasia Niewiadoma. On paper, Reusser’s rider profile may be less naturally suited to the steep gradients of Mont Ventoux, while Niewiadoma has looked particularly dangerous whenever the road has gone uphill. Reusser, however, is excellent at setting and maintaining her own pace, and that is an extremely useful quality on such a long and unforgiving climb.

And what about the riders who have already suffered setbacks, including Pauline Ferrand-Prévot of Visma | Lease a Bike and SD Worx-Protime’s Anna van der Breggen? Both are a long way down the general classification, but if they want to make another major statement, this would be a beautiful opportunity to do so. Elisa Longo Borghini of UAE is slightly closer overall and would also be a worthy winner on the Giant of Provence.

Elsewhere, Niamh Fisher-Black and Isabella Holmgren of Lidl-Trek, Canyon//SRAM’s Antonia Niedermaier, UAE pair Paula Blasi and Dominika Wlodarczyk, and SD Worx-Protime’s Nienke Vinke are all riders whose climbing ability makes them worth watching.

Top Favorites: Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM)
Outsiders: Marlen Reusser (Movistar), Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE), and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Long shots: Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek), Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon//SRAM), Paula Blasi, Dominika Wlodarczyk (UAE), Anna van der Breggen, and Nienke Vinke (SD Worx-Protime)