Date: Saturday, July 17
Distance: 166.5km
Start location: Champagnole
Finish location: Le Grand-Bornand
Start time: 10:30 CEST
Finish time: 15:27 CEST
The ski village of Le Grand-Bornand is nestled in the Aravis mountain range of the French Alps in the Haute-Savoie department. With the mountains on the village's doorstep, all year round Le Grand-Bornand offers a plethora of outdoor activities, including skiing, hiking, cycling and paragliding. The upper part of Le Grand-Bornand, also known as Le Chinaillon, sits 1,300 metres above sea level, making it the perfect spot for cyclists, with plenty of metres to climb. This is perhaps why many professional races have visited Le Grand-Bornand, including the Tour de France and La Course. The men’s Tour de France first visited the ski village in 1995, when Alex Zuelle won a stage which started in Le Grand-Bornand. Since then, it has both been the start and finish of many editions of the men’s race.
In the Women’s WorldTour, La Course by Le Tour de France visited the Alpine climb in 2018, the fifth edition of the one-day race. The route ran from Duingt on the shores of Lake Annecy and finished atop Le Grand-Bornand after also climbing Col de la Colombière. It resulted in a battle between Annemiek van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen on the final climb, but in the end, it was Van Vleuten who took the glory, passing her Dutch rival in the last 20 metres. The 7km-long climb will be the battleground once again for the women’s peloton as the Le Grand-Bornand is the first mountain top finish of the 2024 edition of the Tour de France Femmes. And this won’t be the only climb they would have had to have hauled themselves over, with the category one Col de la Croix de la Serra (12km at 5.1%) coming after 45 kilometres of racing. Sandwiched between the first and last climb are three other climbs – Côte de Bois d'Arlod, Côte de Cercier, and Col de Saint-Jean-de-Sixt.
The climbers of the peloton will be happy to see the first mountain test featuring over 3,000 metres of climbing, as the previous stages so far have favoured the puncheurs and sprinters of the bunch. Stage seven, however, is the first of two stages in the mountains and we expect to see to see another tense battle between the general classification riders before the final stage of the race.
Stage profile sourced via ASO
Contenders
Not only is this the first of two stages in the mountains, but it is also the longest stage of the race. There will already be a lot of fatigue in the legs from the past six stages, and this one will divide the cream from the crop in the general classification before the grand finale atop the Alpe d'Huez on Sunday.
Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) continues to lead the GC, with Cédrine Kerbol (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team) 16 seconds behind her. Both will need to be on guard for any attackers from their rivals if they want to remain in their top spots before the final stage. Niewiadoma is one of the peloton's strongest climbers, but Kerbol needs her best legs this weekend.
Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) is currently in 10th place on the GC and could look to make some time back on the final climb. We know she is an exceptional climber, and the gradients of Le Grand-Bornand will not faze her. She's here to defend her title, and this stage is where she can ensure that happens. Juliette Labous (Team DSM-Ferminch PostNL) is another of the peloton's strongest climbers vying for a podium spot on the GC at the end of the eight-stage race. The French rider has looked consistently strong, so we expect a similar performance in the first mountain test.
Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) is a pure climber and has been kept safe by her teammates until this big weekend. Only her second year in the Women's WorldTour peloton, this is her Tour debut, and making the top 10 on the GC would be an excellent result, as would a stage win. The parcours haven't suited her yet, so seeing what she can unleash in the mountains will be interesting.
Now in the polka-dot jersey is Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance–Soudal Team), but Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), whose form is completely unknown in the mountains, sits just three points behind her. She'd looked excellent so far, even taking a win against Vollering on stage four, so we can't count her out, especially with so many points up for grabs throughout the day. For the AG Insurance team, Sarah Gigante could be an option for them. At the start of the season, she won the Tour Down Under and is 2:55 down on the yellow jersey, so could be allowed to go for the stage win.
Other riders in contention for the stage may be Mavi García (Liv Alula Jayco), Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ), or Neve Bradbury (Canyon//SRAM).
Stage seven winner prediction
We think Demi Vollering will win the stage, closing the gap between herself and the yellow jersey before the final stage.
