The Tour de France Femmes, a popular success driven by the prowess of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and the French riders

The mountain streams. On Saturday, August 2, the rain, fine but stubborn, crashes against the rocks, seeps between the fir trees, and hurtles down the sodden slopes of the Col de la Madeleine (Savoie) , as if the sky refused to give up. In this damp grayness, the scenery seems almost unreal: sheets of mist clinging to the switchbacks, drowned peaks, waterlogged grass. "The weather has been beautiful all week," remarks Dominique, a fifty-year-old from Saint-Pierre-d'Albigny, about fifty kilometers away. "The conditions are terrible, but I brought the whole family and the cooler back. The road wasn't easy because the road is slippery."

Like him and his tribe, the spectators braved the elements. They erected their umbrellas like colorful banners in the gray of the day, donned garish raincoats, and laid makeshift tarpaulins on the embankments. Between gusts of wind and puddles, the fervor resisted, stubborn, ready to greet the riders of the eighth stage of the Tour de France Femmes 2025 , which linked Chambéry to the formidable Col de la Madeleine (18.6 km at 8.1%) and saw the triumph of the Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike). "I came from the Basque Country to encourage the riders," said Jorice, 25, who, like the other people interviewed, did not wish to give her last name.

You have 75.58% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.