Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) collapsed on the pavement in a state of exhaustion and shock atop Alpe d'Huez as she learned that she had won the overall title at the 2024 Tour de France Femmes, beating her nearest rival Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) by just four seconds to secure her first yellow jersey.
It was a significant moment in cycling that marked the smallest margin of victory in the women's or men's Tour de France history, as Greg Lemond beat Laurent Fignon by eight seconds to win the 1989 Tour de France.
"Four seconds seems magical now. I'm super happy, and to be honest, I feel like, throughout my whole career, there were so many times that I would miss out on victories because of something, and I feel like this was perfect for me and my team," Niewiadoma said.
"Everything was going our way, and despite a few crashes at the beginning of the stage race, we stayed focused on our goal. To win big races, you need everything on your side.
"I haven't had enough time to let everything sink in or think about all we accomplished or what kind of history we wrote. It feels amazing to be at the top step. Besides putting in hard work, you also need the stars aligned on your side, so we all wrote history this week."
Niewiadoma took the overall lead after finishing second on stage 5. On the same day, overnight leader Vollering was involved in a mass crash that caused her to lose 1:19.
However, Niewiadoma's general classification bid truly started on stage 4, which combined the best climbs of the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Niewiadoma was part of the winning breakaway and finished third behind a photo-finish between stage winner Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Vollering.
"Stage 4 was a nice combination of the Ardennes Classics, and I love these kinds of races; shorter, punchy hills, so I was targeting that stage. Of course, I'm not known for being the fastest, so in this opportunity, I lost the sprint, but I was happy we were able to create some gaps on others on that stage."
Vollering clawed two four seconds back on the roads to Le Grand-Bronand on stage 7, and coming into the finale stage 8's 149.9km race to Alpe d'Huez, Niewiadoma had 1:15 on Vollering and 1:13 on Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck).
Vollering surged over the penultimate climb of the Col du Glandon, and Rooijakkers was the only rider to respond as a chase group hovered at about one minute behind which included Niewiadoma along with Pieterse, Evita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ), Gaia Realini and Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Cédrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit-WNT) and Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal).
"On that point, it was terrible. The climb was hard, and I felt like I was losing my legs, and then Demi attacked, so it wasn't ideal. I had to stay patient, keep my pace," Niewiadoma said.
"On the descent, I was able to refuel and get my power back. Maybe I overlooked the importance of fuelling on such a long climb. I knew that I had to push and do my best on the final ascent."
In a dramatic race up the 21 hairpins of Alpe d'Huez, Vollering and Rooijakkers played a tactical battle for the stage victory. In the end, Vollering crossed the line with the win, securing a 10-second bonus seconds toward the overall. She also made history as the first woman to have her name etched on a bend of the fabled ascent after winning on Alpe d'Huez.
But with the clock still ticking in the race for the general classification, Niewiadoma desperately tried to make it to the finish line with enough time on Vollering to keep the yellow jersey.
"I knew that the gap was around a minute. I was sure they were pushing hard, but we were also pushing hard. There was nothing else I could do other than my best. At that point, it was a crazy sufferfest. I went all out, and I just wanted to finish because it was terrible," she said.
In what she called one of the toughest races of her career, Niewiadoma finished fourth just behind Muzic, 1:01 behind Vollering, and with just four seconds to spare in the overall classification, but that was all she needed to secure the victory at the Tour de France Femmes.
"In racing, you need good legs, but you also need luck, and to be in the right place. I feel like, very often, I lost because of something that wasn't going my way, and I was hard on myself," said Niewiadoma, who is having her career-best season, having won Gravel Worlds last autumn, La Flèche Wallonne this spring and now the Tour de France.
"With the help of my team and my family and friends, I was trying to stay patient and hoping that things would go my way. This week, it was also about luck, being in the right place and having good legs. That is what you need to win a stage race."
Asked what it meant to her to win the yellow jersey, Niewiadoma said, "It's absolutely remarkable. It's hard to describe the feeling. I feel like I can't comprehend it myself."
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