"I'm ready to break the KOM on Mont Ventoux" - Kasia Niewiadoma hyped up for the legendary summit's debut
CyclingSaturday, 01 August 2026 at 09:00
The 2026 Tour de France Femmes finally starts on Saturday with an opening stage around Lausanne. The favourites will have to be on their toes already since day one because the opening stage is anything but a calm stroll through Swiss scenery.
There are mutliple favourites to claim the overall throne; among them 2024 champion Katarzyna Niewiadoma, and former world champion Anna van der Breggen.
The Polish rider eyes in particular the Friday stage with summit finish atop Mont Ventoux. The "windy mountain" witnessed many legendary battles in men's variant, and now is set to debut in women's race too. "It's definitely a very iconic climb. It's going to be hard. It's a lot," Niewiadoma-Phinney said at a pre-race press conference.
"The steepest part is in the forest. I feel like I don't believe anyone will be waiting for the final kilometres to make the decisive move. So I think even like watching the guys race, we can all expect a hard start and then survival till the top."
And then there's a side quest; whoever is fastest will set the time for future generations to compare with atop the Ventoux. Niewiadoma would love to claim that privilege. "The race will show it, but I feel fit, I feel prepared, and I feel like I'm ready to break the KOM on Mont Ventoux."
Anna van der Breggen bets on consistency
Against Niewiadoma will stand among others Anna van der Breggen. The returnee to professional cycling enjoyed a great 2026 season leading up to this point when she finish 2nd overall at Vuelta a Espana Femenina and 3rd overall at Giro d'Italia Women.
"I’ve had a good Vuelta and a good Giro, and if I can compete for a top-five here, I’ll be satisfied," said Van der Breggen regarding her ambitions. "It is very important to stay in good form during this Tour, because from stage 4 onwards, it is essentially nothing but tough stages."
Consistency will be the deciding factor, Van der Breggen believes, drawing on her experience. "If you are in a good position and you have a bad day, things can turn around just like that. You have to stay good until the last day; if you manage that, you can go a long way."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Look at the management. How many changes haa there been in the last 3 years??? Thomas briliant rider but what did he do with the team at the TDF. All that money spent on an unproven rider as a team leader who followed wheels in the TDF last year but has not won anything or really been a team leader🤔🤔🤔paultryan200201-08-2026
- Breaking the KOM, well that's certainly a tough ask
Rafionain-Glas01-08-2026 - García Cortina: "I didn't want to finish my career without trying to be part of one of the best teams in the world" Unzuè: 😠 😡 👿Rafionain-Glas01-08-2026
- He should extend his contract as far as Pogi remains in the team. He's not going to get better GT GC results outside of UAE as long as Pogi is still there.
KerisVroom01-08-2026 - He's doing the right thing. UAE will hire Seixas as their post-Pog leader if they can get him. Good to see Del Toro is being well advised.Renz01-08-2026
- Del Toro would be the outright leader at any team other than UAE and possibly Visma, Red Bullmobk01-08-2026
- That ending was bonkersmij01-08-2026
- Good oneRafionain-Glas01-08-2026
- Roglič was never going to recover from the bigger problem, which is that he's almost 37. I do hope he gets his freedom in breakaways though.Rafionain-Glas01-08-2026
- Since almost every GC rider occasionally crashes out of major races, maybe he's keeping his Vuelta shot for a year when he drops out of the TDF for some reason, hoping it's not too bad of an incident.Ride197401-08-2026
Loading
1 Comments