Zonneveld names Tour de France Femmes favorites and identifies major dark horse: ‘Exceptionally good climber’

The Tour de France Femmes is about to begin. In Switzerland, we’re kicking off nine grueling days of racing. Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is hoping to win the yellow jersey for a second consecutive year, but several rivals are ready to challenge her. Dutch analyst Thijs Zonneveld has explained who he believes can win the race — and why. Can anyone find a way to beat the Visma | Lease a Bike star?

Zonneveld saw an extremely vulnerable Ferrand-Prévot in the mountains during the Vuelta Femenina. She was unable to make an impact and eventually finished only 35th in the general classification. “But that is part of the Pauline plan: after the Vuelta, she retreated to her mountain in Andorra for an endless training camp,” he explained in his Substack. “Just like last year, she has lost weight again and is completely focused on the Tour.”

That is why Zonneveld once again places Ferrand-Prévot at the top of his list of contenders for the yellow jersey. However, he does add a note of caution, pointing towards a potential weakness for the 34-year-old superstar. “The route of this Tour is different from last year’s. This time, there is a time trial — a discipline in which PFP does not normally excel.”

Zonneveld sees Demi Vollering as the defending champion’s biggest challenger, just as she was last year. He describes the European champion of FDJ United-SUEZ as “the best rider in the peloton over the course of the entire year. But the first week of August is not the entire year.” That was demonstrated in 2025, when Ferrand-Prévot beat Vollering by almost four minutes.

The 29-year-old Dutchwoman has already won the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the Tour of Flanders, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège this season. She also won the Giro d'Italia for the first time in her career. “But for several stages in the mountains, she was unable to drop Van der Breggen, Niedermaier and Holmgren.”

As a result, Zonneveld does not place Vollering on the same level as his leading favorite. “She has the best team of them all, but that only helps her if they ride completely for her — something that did not happen last year because FDJ also wanted to win stages, the polka-dot jersey and the team classification.”

Behind Vollering and Ferrand-Prévot, Zonneveld sees Anna van der Breggen as the next major contender, but his inclusion of Paula Blasi may be more surprising. The UAE Team ADQ Spaniard has enjoyed a remarkable breakthrough this year. “An exceptionally good climber,” the Dutch analyst called her. “Three years ago, she was still a duathlete, and two years ago she was riding for a small amateur team.”

The 23-year-old Blasi won the Vuelta Femenina, the Tour of Catalonia, the Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées and the Amstel Gold Race this season. “But her own UAE team does not even see her as a leader — probably because she is moving to another team. Oh, and there are also rumours that she may already have signed for several different teams,” Zonneveld added. UAE Team ADQ has instead designated Elisa Longo Borghini and Dominika Włodarczyk as its leaders.

Zonneveld does not view either of those two riders as a major threat to the leading favorites. However, he believes Marlen Reusser could still spring a surprise during this Tour, particularly because of the individual time trial. “She can also suffer the occasional minor mental meltdown along the way. But she is always strong in races at home — she won the Tour de Suisse in June. That is a useful boost, considering the Tour begins with three stages in Switzerland.”