The Australians racing 2024 Tour de France Femmes

With barely time to draw breath after the excitement of the Paris Olympic, the Women’s WorldTour turns its attention to the biggest stage race on the calendar: the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

Nine Australians will be at the start line this year as they take on the third edition of the race.

Starting on Monday in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, the peloton will tackle 946km in seven days and across eight stages before finishing atop the iconic Alpe d’Huez.

 Find out about those nine Aussies below. 

Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez)

Grace Brown won the 2024 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

This Tour de France will be the Olympic time trial gold medallist’s last before she retires at the end of the season, and she will want to go out on a high.

While there is an opportunity to go for a stage win with a time trial on the second day, at just 6.3km it may be too short for our Olympic champion who usually targets longer races around 30km.

Look for Brown to try her chances on stage 4 from Valkenburg to Liège and stage 5 from Bastogne to Amneville. The up-and-down routes resemble the one-day Monument Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which Brown won earlier this year.

Outside of these opportunities, Brown will support her team’s GC contenders Évita Muzic and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig.

 Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM)

Neve Bradbury finished third overall at the Giro d'Italia.

The 22-year-old from Melbourne is having a year to remember.

Bradbury put the women’s peloton on notice when she stomped her way to victory on the hardest stage of the Giro d’Italia in July, and rode herself into third on general classification.

The savvy climber will no doubt bring a huge amount of confidence into this year’s Tour.

In her Tour de France Femmes debut, she will play a key support role for the experienced Katarzyna Niewiadoma, but if Bradbury sees the opportunity in the mountains, make no doubt she will take it.

Sarah Gigante and Anya Louw (AG Insurance-Soudal)

Two words: Alpe d’Huez!

Sarah Gigante’s eyes would have lit up during the Tour’s route announcement when she saw the mountaintop finish up the iconic Alpe d’Huez on the last stage.

The 23-year-old from Melbourne may be tasked with supporting the experienced Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, but we expect to see her going toe-to-toe with the best climbers in the peloton in the mountains.

Anya Louw won the combativity prize on stage seven of La Vuelta Femenina.

Anya Louw will line up for her second time at the Tour after making her debut in 2022.

The 23-year-old is a consistent and reliable rider and will play a support role for her teammates.

She’s also a handy option for a breakaway.

Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek)

Amanda Spratt brings a wealth of experience to her third Tour de France Femmes.

Set to make her third consecutive appearance at the prestigious French race, Amanda Spratt is a key climbing domestique for her powerhouse team Lidl-Trek.

Spratty will surely empty herself to set up her GC leaders Gaia Realini and Shirin van Anrooij once the roads start to point uphill.

Look for Spratty to make her mark at the back end of the Tour on Le Grand-Bornand and Alpe d’Huez. 

Amber Pate and Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv AlUla Jayco)

National road champion Ruby Roseman-Gannon nabbed her first WorldTour win at the Tour of Britain two months ago and will be hungry to add more to her palmarès at her second time racing the Tour.

A solid sprinter, she will likely have her opportunities early in the race on the flat stages in The Netherlands, going up against the likes of Lorena Wiebes (Team SD-Worx Protime).

Like her Victorian teammate, Amber Pate is back at the Tour after making her debut last year.

Since joining the GreenEdge Cycling outfit last year, the South Australian has proven herself as a workhorse for her teammates. So far this year she has 40 race days under her belt. She will again support Roseman-Gannon on the sprint stages, and the team’s GC ambitions in Mavi Garcia.

Sarah Roy and Josie Talbot (Cofidis)

Did somebody say breakaway?

Both Sarah Roy and Josie Talbot have wins on the board this season, and will have their eyes on getting in the breakaway for a chance to add a win at the Tour.

The French team has made its intentions clear to be opportunistic throughout the week, so expect to see Talbot and Roy, who both made their Tour debut in 2023, taking the opportunities when they can and trying to get up the road.