Mont Ventoux awaits as Tour de France Femmes reaches defining queen stage

It ain’t called the queen stage for nothing.

Tonight’s Stage 7 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift marks a significant milestone for the women’s race, with the peloton taking on one of cycling’s most iconic climbs for the first time.

Mont Ventoux has long been a symbol of the sport, and you could argue its inclusion this year represents another step in the growth of the Tour de France Femmes, bringing the same legendary terrain that has helped define the men’s race into the women’s event.

La Voulte-sur-Rhône to Mont Ventoux

It’s also the stage everyone will be watching. The race finishes atop Mont Ventoux, with riders tackling the classic ascent from Bédoin, the Southern side, and the same route that has been the scene of countless epic battles over the years.

It’s the hardest climb in the history of the Femmes, and the numbers alone are enough to make even the strongest climbers tremble in their knicks:

• 15.7km
• 1,354m of elevation gain
• 8.8 per cent average gradient
• Summit altitude of 1,910m

The climb will also be the highest point of the 2026 Tour and is likely to prove decisive in the fight for the overall title.

What’s so unique about Ventoux is unlike many Alpine climbs, which often feature changes in gradient and brief opportunities to recover, Ventoux is a relentless, sustained effort. It is a climb where pacing is crucial, and where any weakness is quickly exposed.

British hill-climbing specialist Illi Gardner is the current holder of the QOM on Strava’s verified Bédoin segment with a time of 1:09:29, a blistering time she set during a dedicated record attempt in 2025.

For those riders with ambitions of winning yellow in Nice, Ventoux stands as the moment when following the favourites will likely no longer be enough.

The battle for yellow

The stage arrives with Marlen Reusser still wearing the yellow jersey after a tense opening week of racing. The Movistar rider holds a 12-second advantage over one of the pre-race favourites, Demi Vollering.

Movistar knows it faces a major challenge from Vollering and FDJ United-Suez, but the team is confident heading into the biggest climbing day of the race.

Reusser’s team director Kelvin Dekker has outlined their approach clearly: “She’s going to try and follow Demi, and then we’re going to try and beat her. Because I think if we want to win the Tour, we want to beat her on the Ventoux. But it’s going to be hard,” he said.

The other rider relishing the challenge is Puck Pieterse, who told SBS after stage 5 she returns to Mont Ventoux with a childhood memory of the climb and the polka dot jersey on her shoulders.

“I rode it up when I was 10, I think, on my mountain bike,” Pieterse said. “I looked it back. My time was one hour and 58 minutes, so I hope to break that.”

With the general classification already so closely contested, Ventoux will likely bring the strongest climbers to the fore and could create the first significant gaps between the main contenders.

A mountain built on cycling history

Mont Ventoux is arguably one of cycling’s greatest symbols. The barren, windswept summit has produced some of the sport’s most memorable battles, but also some of its most tragic moments.

The mountain’s most famous tragedy came during the 1967 Tour de France when British rider Tom Simpson died during the ascent.

Simpson, one of Britain’s biggest cycling stars and the reigning world road champion, collapsed around 1.5km from the summit. His death became one of the most recognised and sombre moments in Tour history and remains part of Ventoux’s enduring legacy.

A different experience for spectators

While riders will face one of cycling’s most famous tests, unfortunately spectators will not have the usual access to the mountain.

Race organisers and the Vaucluse department have announced restrictions around the finish, with no spectators or hikers permitted inside the Dentelles de Montmirail massif or alongside Departmental Road 90 due to safety and environmental concerns.

For the riders, however, there will be no escaping the significance of the climb.

For decades, the mountain’s biggest stories were written by men. Tonight, the Tour de France Femmes gets the chance to add a new chapter.

Tour de France Femmes 2026 – GC after Stage 6

Rank	Rider	Team	Gap
1	Marlen Reusser	Movistar Team	—
2	Demi Vollering	FDJ-SUEZ	+0:12
3	Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney	Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto	+1:17
4	Elisa Longo Borghini	UAE Team ADQ	+1:43
5	Dominika Włodarczyk	UAE Team ADQ	+2:02
6	Niamh Fisher-Black	Lidl-Trek	+2:25
7	Juliette Labous	FDJ-SUEZ	+2:44
8	Puck Pieterse	Fenix-Deceuninck	+2:52
9	Kimberley Le Court	AG Insurance-Soudal	+2:58
10	Pauliena Rooijakkers	Fenix-Deceuninck	+3:04