Stage 8 - Lure to La Super Planche des Belles Filles - 123.3km - Sunday, July 31

The final stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift—a mountainous one—is tomorrow. Is there something a little bit cliche about ending such a historic women's event in a town that has the phrase 'beautiful girls' (Belles Filles) in the title? Maybe a little. But since it also ends with a grueling eight kilometer climb up to the finish, we'll let it slide.

tdffaz stage 8
ASO

The course hits three major climbs, including one that leads into the finish: Côte d’Esmoulieres, Ballon d’Alsace and the finish at the summit of La Super Planche des Belles Filles... An intermediate sprint before the climb starts along with some seriously long descents should make for exciting racing all day.

In many editions of the Tour de France, the final stage is a bit more of a parade than anything else, with the GC pretty solidly locked up. But with a mountain finish, anything can happen, and we'll be at the edge of our seats.

More From Bicycling
 
preview for HDM All Sections Playlist - Bicycling

Riders to Watch

1st tour de france femmes 2022 stage 7
Tim de Waele//Getty Images

We knew that while Movistar’s Annemiek van Vleuten had been fighting off illness in the early stages of this race, she was always a contender, hovering quietly in the top ten, but to see her absolutely smash this stage and move into the lead? Incredible. We'll see how well she recovers from her intense solo effort off the front—will she be able to do the same tomorrow? Demi Vollering of SD Worx is also right there in the standings 3:14 back, having soloed behind Van Vleuten for much of the race. Riders including Juliette LaBous (DSM), Elisa Longo-Boghini (Trek-Segafredo) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon / SRAM) will be ones to watch as well. SD Worx' Ashley Moolman-Pasio didn't have a great day, so we'll see if tomorrow she's working for Vollering in the flat sections, or if she tries for a solo attack of her own to make up time.

And while you're watching the race, the big change-up is that Vos is out of the yellow jersey—not unexpectedly, she's not known as a climbing expert—but she'll finally have a chance to wear the green points jersey tomorrow.

When to Watch

The last stage of this historic race will be one to watch, and remember, viewership numbers are critically important for the future of women's cycling, so if you can tune in, tune in!

The race will begin at 7:55AM EST and take roughly 3.5 hours to complete. Stream it on the Peacock App starting at 9:20AM EST or watch the replay later. (Your NBC credentials should allow you to log in, or if you don't have cable, a month-long subscription to Peacock is reasonably cheap!) For those in Canada, FloBikes will be broadcasting the race.

Note: Each day, only two and a half hours of the race will be broadcast, hence the difference in the start time of the race and the start time of the broadcast.

If you're concerned about missing some pedaling time while you spectate the race, you can always hop on Zwift and ride sections of Zwift Island created to mimic parts of each stage—and join other Tour de France Femmes-obsessed fans while you ride!