French Tour de France Femmes winner boosts TV viewership

It’s forty years and counting since a Frenchman won the Tour de France. Until yesterday, it was 36 years since a French rider - Jeannie Longo - won the equivalent women’s race, then called the Tour de France Feminin. On Sunday 3rd August, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot broke that national losing streak, taking the race by three minutes 42 seconds ahead of her Dutch rival, Demi Vollering.  

And she did it in some style. Ferrand-Prevot won both of the last two stages of the 1,165km, nine stage race, crossing the line on Sunday in the yellow jersey. The French rider had moved into the lead by winning the previous day’s queen stage on the summit of the Col de la Madeleine.

Heading into the final stage on Sunday with a two minute 37 second lead, Ferrand-Prevot would have been forgiven for playing it safe. Instead she finished the race in exuberant style, jumping clear with six kilometres of the 124km stage left, finishing 20 seconds ahead of Demi Vollering and widening her winning margin. The victory caps a remarkable season for the French rider, having also won Paris-Roubaix this year and withing 12 months of taking the Olympic gold medal in mountain biking.

The significance of a French victory in the Tour de France Femmes was underlined by the phone call that Ferrand-Prevot received from the country’s President, Emmanuel Macron, soon after crossing the line.

Public interest in the event was reflected in record domestic TV viewing figures. France Télévision reported record-breaking average viewership of 2.7 million viewers per stage, with a 31.6% audience share, a 500,000 viewer increase compared to previous editions. In total, 25.7 million unique viewers tuned in across France, a 7.4 million increase compared to 2024.

Enjoy the highlights of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift by clicking on the link below. 

https://youtu.be/BAi5_VkcOA4?si=FIeDVfoili28tAzm