The toughest, but also the most beautiful women's stage race in Europe, that is the Tour de Feminin, according to many managers of the participating teams.
The 2026 edition will take place from May 14 to 17. The planned composition of the stages differs from this year's only by minor adjustments. It was presented by the route director, Roman Horký, at a meeting with partners and supporters at the Falkenštejn Brewery in Krásná Lípa.
It will start again with a team time trial, which will be held on the same, quite technical circuit, with the start and finish in Krásná Lípa via Doubice and Kyjov. And despite this, or perhaps precisely because of it, this format was very positively received by the teams, due to its uniqueness and rarity among organizers of stage races.
On Friday, the race will pass through the Bohemian Switzerland National Park. Krásná Lípa will again be the center, and the female racers can expect a demanding route, where they will only enjoy flat sections exceptionally, evidenced by more than 2,000 meters of elevation gain over 120 km.
On Saturday, the cyclists will head towards the Šluknov Foothills for a circuit centered in Rumburk, which is notoriously known to everyone who has ever started the now iconic Zeleňák race. Profile-wise, it will theoretically be an easier stage, but as is well known, the profile is not the only factor determining difficulty. After all, even 1,450 vertical meters over 110 km is by no means little, especially when the ride is – and in these parts, there is no other way – essentially either uphill or downhill.
Sunday was, and will again be, reserved for the stage with the most difficult profile, although the previous ones are not far behind it. Especially since the organizers have slightly softened its profile. Still, with roughly 1,800 meters of elevation over 105 km from Varnsdorf to Krásná Lípa, it will be a proper grind.
"For the future, we are toying with the idea of creating a stage with a summit finish. In the vicinity, Luž seems the most suitable, but it is in the Liberec Region, which would mean abandoning our current practice of operating exclusively in the Ústí Region, so let's be surprised," Roman Horký said regarding future editions.
"We have one more significant goal, and that is to bring the start to Ústí nad Labem. Firstly, it is the regional capital, and most importantly, we have its significant support. It would benefit the promotion of the race and, at the same time, it would be a form of thanks for their support. It won't happen next year, however, because ongoing and planned construction work on the roads essentially makes it impossible. But we definitely do not intend to give up on the idea of such a Grand Départ," added Simona Davídková.
Simona then spoke about the economic contribution of the race to the Šluknov Hook region, about the numerous compliments and enthusiastic reactions from the participants, and especially the heads of foreign teams, who only had words of praise for the race, describing it as perhaps the toughest but also the most beautiful women's race in Europe, and who booked their participation for the next edition immediately after the current one finished.
The result is that for the next edition, the organizers' concern will not be filling the starting list, but which teams to turn away, as the maximum number of participating teams is 29, and that limit is fixed. And if this year the level of competition for a Category 2.2 race was very high, with teams even coming from New Zealand and Mexico, the enthusiasm for the race is so high that if World Teams cannot compete here, Pro-level teams should be present for the first time.
"The feedback on our race is naturally spreading through the cycling community, so not only do those who have tried the race want to repeat their participation, but a significant number of teams that would be making their debut here are also signing up," Simona Davídková said proudly.
However, she simultaneously did not hide the fact that while the race was financially covered, it was by the skin of their teeth, so she hopes that the state, represented by the National Sports Agency, which can be very generous to other organizers, will find corresponding support for this region and this beneficial event for women's cycling.
Especially since the connection with the Alliance of Women with Breast Cancer significantly transcends the purely sporting dimension. "We are an organization that supports women affected by breast cancer, providing them with information, education, and assistance during treatment. Thanks to the Tour de Feminin, we were able to visit many secondary schools in the region, where we had the opportunity to spread much-needed and very beneficial awareness among girls," praised the cooperation between the two organizations JUDr. Magdalena Vošalíková, a representative of the Alliance, and concluded with a firm conviction: "I have fallen in love with this region. I hope the cooperation will continue. A big thank you!"
Let's take this opportunity to remind you that the Alliance of Women with Breast Cancer, founded in 2002, currently covers 38 patient organizations. It serves as an information and educational center for the public, cancer patients, and their organizations. Simultaneously, it provides methodical assistance to cancer patient organizations, coordinates projects and campaigns for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer, unifies the efforts of patient organizations and individuals to promote the rights and equal conditions for the treatment and convalescence of women with breast cancer, and represents Czech oncology patients in international structures.
Among others, Senator Zbyněk Linhart also praised the connection: "It's a great idea to meet at this time, when things are relatively quiet, and discuss common interests, including the connection with the Alliance of Women with Breast Cancer. If we focus on the organizational side, I must confess that in the recent past, I had concerns about the existence of this beautiful race. But the current organizers have not only managed to revive the race, but they are raising its level every year, perhaps not by one, but rather by two classes," he expressed his admiration for the organizing team, while also highlighting the contribution to the promotion of the entire wide region and specifically praised the idea of organizing a joint ride and stopping to visit Jiří Vích, whose health no longer allows him to personally attend such meetings.
Among the invited guests, former excellent cyclist Jirka Polnický, who currently works for the Posedla company, sat at the "presidential table" alongside those already mentioned: "Our company is based in this region, we support cycling, and the Tour de Feminin is a great race. Our specialization is the creation and manufacture of custom saddles, which is doubly true for the specificity of saddles designed for women. The mutual connection with Feminin is also beneficial for us, because it is a world-class event, and we thus enter the public space and general awareness, not only through cooperation with the VIF women's team, but also the Tour de Feminin."
Then, after immortalizing themselves at the "breast wall," all participants first set off to see Jiří Vích, with Simona Davídková herself, in cycling gear, not missing from the peloton: "I last sat on a bicycle about fifteen years ago. This great Superior was also lent to me, so I'm a little nervous about how I'll do," the head of the organizing team, and as is known, an international referee and owner of Roadcycling.CZ, rightly worried. It took her a while to stop stubbornly shifting into a heavier gear on the borrowed Superior RR 9.8, which she only managed to overcome with the active help of willing team members, and to get used to the latest electronic shifting technology before reaching Jiří Vích's house, located on the uphill outskirts of Krásná Lípa.
After the meeting with the race founder, the peloton divided into two "performance" groups, and after sitting in chairs and the warmth, the participants set off on their bicycles into the autumn chill, and subsequently rain, after which the sun symbolically came out at the end, to experience firsthand how persistently the rain had soaked this year's Tour de Feminin peloton without having the power to spoil the great experience of a race that significantly transcends the purely sporting dimension, even though the latter was extraordinarily successful in itself.
"We naturally have gaps. We see them especially in media coverage and marketing. Our goal is to refine the race in the form we have now achieved. One of the strongest stimuli is the extremely positive feedback from foreign participants. With optimal support, including from the National Sports Agency, our path from a still significant proportion of volunteer work to even higher professionalization should be much easier," concluded Simona Davídková after taking off her soaked cycling kit, like all the participants in the ride, and changing into a dry example of the jersey intended for the best racers of the next edition. These had arrived just a few hours before the meeting, which connected this year's edition with the 2026 edition, already prepared in its most essential outlines, serving as another link in the chain.