The opening stage of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes attracted 2.17 million viewers to France 2 on Saturday, August 1, representing a 27.6% audience share.
That put the women's race surprisingly close to the men's Tour opener, which drew 2.70 million viewers and a 30.1% share on France 2 in July. The Femmes attracted roughly 80% of the men's overall audience, while its share was only 2.5 percentage points lower, although the different routes and broadcast windows prevent a direct like-for-like comparison.
The Médiamétrie figures published by Puremedias cover the Lausanne-to-Lausanne stage won by Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime). The 138km loop finished on Place Saint-François following three classified climbs.
France 2 then retained 1.65 million viewers for the first 2026 edition of Vélo Club, giving the post-stage programme a 15.5% audience share. Presented by Cécile Grès, it finished ahead of programmes on France's two main commercial channels during the access-time slot.
TF1's 50’ Inside, l'actu drew 990,000 viewers and an 11.4% share, while M6's La roue de la fortune recorded 803,000 viewers and a 9.5% share. That meant a post-race analysis show outperformed established magazine and game-show formats on France's two main commercial channels.
Opening weekend stays close to 2025 levels
The first-stage audience was lower than the 2.34 million recorded for the 2025 opener, although its share rose from 24.1% to 27.6%. The figures are affected by different broadcast windows: the 2025 stage was shown later in the afternoon, between 17:10 and 19:50.
Viewing figures increased on Sunday for stage two from Aigle to Geneva. Wiebes made it two wins in two stages by winning the sprint ahead of Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and Marianne Vos (Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women), with 2.51 million viewers watching on France 2. The stage secured a 28.6% share between 15:49 and 18:14.
Grès presents Vélo Club after each stage alongside Typhaine Laurance and Paul Brousse, the selector of France's women's road team. The programme analyses the racing, interviews riders and broadcasts the podium ceremony live.
Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez), runner-up to Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women) in 2025, appeared on the opening show to discuss her ambitions. “The Tour de France is the most important stage of the calendar for a French team and I would like to bring back the yellow jersey,” Vollering said. “But there are still eight days left.”
France Télévisions has scheduled close to three hours of live coverage per day across the nine-stage race, which runs until August 9. The remaining route includes an individual time trial in Dijon and a summit finish on Mont Ventoux.
You can see how to watch the Tour de France Femmes in any region in our race viewing guide.
Cover image credit: Gaetan Flamme
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