That’s the lot for today, thank you for reading and emailing in, and congratulations to Puck Pieterse of Fenix-Deceuninck on a superb win, especially after she missed out on a cross-country mountain bike medal at the Olympics. We’ll have a race report coming up soon and will be back for more live blogging fun tomorrow. Bye.
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Tomorrow’s stage five is 152.5km long, between Bastogne and Amnéville, with over 2,000m of climbing in five categorised climbs and plenty of uncategorised ones. Amnéville is actually in France, which seems fitting, as we’re now halfway through the eight-stage race.
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Top 5 GC after stage four
2) Vollering 7hr 40min 10sec
1) Pieterse +22sec
3) Niewiadoma +34sec
4) Faulkner +47sec
5) Labous +56sec
Top 10 on stage four
1) Pieterse 3hr 12min 28sec
2) Vollering (same time)
3) Niewiadoma (same time)
4) Le Court all +29sec
5) Ruegg
6) De Jong
7) Muzic
8) Van Anrooij
9) Fisher-Black
10) Meijering
“When you win you always say the plan was working,” the Fenix–Deceuninck sports director, Michel Cornelisse, tells Eurosport. “But today we executed our plan.”
“It means a lot. We had some bad luck in the beginning of the season. But we always believed in the team.
“It was the plan. A lot of times the plan is not working. But not today. I’m a very proud sports director. I think the car is a bit damaged on the inside [due to their celebrations]. I think it’s more than one bottle of champagne [to celebrate with] … but we try for more.”
“It’s quite unbelievable,” says Pieterse. “The last few days I had really good legs. Today I did not feel my legs at all. To take a win here against Demi, it’s a dream come true.
“I knew they [Niewiadoma and Vollering] were riding for GC. I knew Kasia would attack, and Demi would have to follow. I just tried to keep a poker face. I went quite early. I haven’t been here before – and I didn’t know where the finish line was.”
“I worked up so much to the Olympic Games. When you have good legs there, you have good legs here.”
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The winning moment for Pieterse.
🇳🇱 Puck Pieterse wins stage 4 in Liège under the rain!!
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) August 14, 2024
🇳🇱 Puck Pieterse remporte la 4ème étape à Liège sous la pluie !!#TDFF2024 #WatchTheFemmes pic.twitter.com/qcru48VHAX
Puck Pieterse wins stage four!
Vollering was coming through fast, but what a brilliant win for the 22-year-old Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck). That is a first big win on the road for the mountain bike and cyclocross specialist.
Pieterse counterattacked after Vollering reeled in the move by Niewiadoma … and Vollering was coming through fast at the line, but in the end, Pieterse just had enough of an advantage to hold on for a magnificent win.
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I think perhaps Pieterse just held on for the win. Vollering, the race leader and reigning champion, was coming on strong though.
Photo finish between Pieterse and Vollering!
What a finish! Niewiadoma went early on the final straight but was reeled in. She didn’t have the gas to fight Vollering and Pieterse to the line, and it’s a photo finish between those two …
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500m to go: Niewiadoma attacks!
2km to go: The leading trio power towards the final sprint. Vollering (SD Worx–Protime) must be feeling confident of another stage win because she looks fearsomely strong.
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5.5km to go: Pieterse took five points on the last climb, which was a category two. Niewiadoma, Vollering and Rooijakkers took three, two and one respectively. As a result Pieterse leads the QOM competition by a point from Persico, 10 points to nine.
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6.5km to go: The front three have 29sec. Given their ability it would be a big surprise if they don’t make up the final podium for today.
8km to go: Vollering, Niewiadoma and Pieterse are now out front on their own after Rooijakkers was dropped. They are holding nothing back and flying around the corners despite the treacherously wet conditions.
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9.5km to go: Now there’ll be a long downhill section before the road flattens out before the finish in Liege.
10km to go: Indeed the top three for the bonus seconds (six, four and two) were Vollering, Niewiadoma and Pieterse.
10.5km to go: It looked like Vollering won the bonus seconds. That isn’t going to hurt her chances of winning the GC. Niewiadoma was second I think, will confirm.
11km to go: There’s a sprint coming up for some bonifications.
12km to go: The race has broken into pieces and as expected we’ll see some very significant time gaps today.
13km to go: Ghekiere is caught. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon–SRAM) is right up there in a four-rider group at the front now. Vollering is there. Fenix–Deceuninck teammates Pieterse and Roojiakkers are also there. A big strategic advantage for them to have two riders in this newly formed four-rider group.
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13.5km to go: Vollering, setting the pace at the front of the lead group, is demonstrating how strong she is. She is putting pressure on her companions and making sure the pace is high enough that no one can attack.
14km to go: Up front, Ghekiere is still leading, and the gap is 24sec. This is the final, nasty climb of the day for the riders. Eight out of eight nearly completed …
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16km to go: Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ–Suez) has crashed on the descent but it didn’t look to be a particularly bad one, she is back on the bike. Now she is stopping for a bike change.
17km to go: Ghekiere is tucked behind her handlebars and turning the biggest gear possible down the descent.
18km to go: Ghekiere is going all out for this stage win. She has 17sec. This is a dangerous situation for the bunch chasing behind because there is so much pressure on the riders to produce a result for their team. And the roads are soaking wet.
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22km to go: Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance–Soudal–Quick-Step) nabs the points on the Côte des Forges and then takes her opportunity to attack solo. She quickly builds a gap of 17sec.
25km to go: Here comes the Côte des Forges. The racing is stressful and hectic. There is a group of three riders – Koch, Brown and Vas – behind the front group.
29km to go: Rain has reappeared. It’s chucking it down in fact, but the good news for the riders is that the fastest descents of the day have already been negotiated. We have a big group of 96 riders up front. Wiebes and Deignan, notably, are both in the group behind (the third on the road) nearly 2min down.
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30km to go: The race has splintered into five groups. There are 86 riders up front and Vollering, of course, has not missed the cut.
32km to go: The Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, the final climb of the day, is a beast. It has an average gradient of 10.2% and is 1.26km long … and that is going to hurt after 100km plus of one-day Classics style racing.
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34km to go: Vollering, in yellow, is prominent up at the front, and there is a fierce fight occurring on the sixth climb of the day.
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35km to go: The front group is battling up the Côte de la Redoute. They may have had a brief bit of respite earlier, following Martin’s solo attack, but overall this has been a punishing stage for every rider in the pack.
36km to go: The front group contains 98 riders. The group behind contains Wiebes – she is with 14 other riders – and the third and final group has 11 riders in it.
38km to go: To give an idea of how hectic today has been overall, the fastest time schedule on the official website banked on an average speed of 35km/h. The current average speed is 38.5km/h.
42km to go: The favourites’ teams are now massed at the front and the pace and intensity has picked up in readiness for the final. There is now a very fast descent down to the foot of the Côte de la Redoute, the sixth categorised climb of the day.
“The atmosphere is crazy … it’s so much fun,” says Slappendel on Eurosport from that next climb.
Thankfully the roads are looking dryer now which will make this descent somewhat less treacherous.
47km to go: Martin blew up on the climb, by the way, and was caught in double quick time by the chasing pack. Yara Kastelijn (Credishop–Fristads) has attacked off the front after taking maximum points on Mont-Theux.
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48km to go: The final kilometre of this climb kicks up significantly, to something more like 8%, and you can see the effort it’s requiring from the riders.
49km to go: The gap for Martin is 53sec. She is on the fifth categorised climb, Mont-Theux, which is 2.8km long, at an average gradient of 5.6%.
51.5km to go: A closed level crossing intervenes! Martin, the lone breakaway rider, is forced to stop with a train due to pass by. The train appears, the gates open, and Martin races off – with the peloton obliged to wait by race organisers until the previous gap is restored.
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Intermediate sprint result
The day’s intermedia sprint, at Pepinster:
1) Martin 25pts
2) Kool 20pts
3) Wiebes 17pts
4) Vos (15pts)
5) Barbieri (13pts)
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59km to go: Kool, Wiebes and Vos contest an all-out sprint on the wet roads of Pepinster – and Kool takes 20 points for placing second behind Martin, the lone escapee.
56km to go: There’s been a crash (I think) and it seems like two Canyon–SRAM riders, including Chloe Dygert, have hit the deck. They are trying to get back to the bunch. Neve Bradbury is the other rider involved. Both seem to be OK, thankfully.
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57km to go: “The first two stages were covered in full by FranceTelevisions, it is true, and Laurent Jalabert is commentating,” emails George, in response to Jeremy’s email earlier.
”However, from the time trial yesterday to stage 7 on Saturday, they are only covering the last two hours or so of racing; with the last three hours or so on Sunday.
“Also, Thomas Voeckler is not one of the commentators on this tour; his place has been taken by Marion Hérault-Garnier.”
There you have it.
61km to go: “The roads are shit,” observes Slappendel on the Eurosport bike.
The former pro rider also mentions that it’s hectic in the peloton, even if the pace isn’t that high just at the moment.
62km to go: Of course, Martin will be set to win the sprint when she rolls through on her own, but the riders behind with an interest in the points classification will still be keen to take second.
63km to go: After a brief lull things suddenly look more animated. That will be because the intermediate sprint isn’t far away.
64km to go: Tomasi is about to be caught after her solo attack. Martin has 57sec on the bunch. The weather is – what’s the word? Wet. Lizzie Deignan (Lidl–Trek) is pictured on the right of the main bunch, working hard.
68km to go: The combination of grey, wet weather and the industrial landscape of north-west Europe is giving the unmistakable feel of a spring classic.
Tomasi is pictured turning a big gear on the flat, with the bunch in sight behind, while Martin drops back for a quick chat with the team car.
69km to go: Laura Tomasi (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) has attacked from the peloton and seems to be trying to bridge across to Martin up front. She is 46sec up on the main bunch.
71km to go: “We have left the sun in the Netherlands,” says Iris Slappendel out on the Eurosport motorbike. “It’s not raining super hard, and it’s not too cold … but the roads are really wet and that’s something to pay attention to, for the riders.
“The first hour was very aggressive … but as soon as Sara Martin attacked, the peloton slowed down. We’ve had the first signs of fatigue in some riders.”
Martin’s solo attack will also have been welcomed by the riders who were dropped. It’s enabled them to regain contact with the main bunch.
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73km to go: The intermediate sprint, at Pepinster, is the next significant point on the route. It arrives with 55.3km to go.
Martin’s advantage drops slightly but is still holding at over a minute.
75km to go: Live TV pictures!
The gap between Sara Martin of Movistar, the lone escapee, and the peloton is 1min 10sec.
The rain is lashing down and it does look like the peloton are happy enough for Martin to have her day in the sun (rain) in that one-rider breakaway.
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78km to go: Five riders have been dropped from the main bunch. The main peloton consists of 134 riders and there are a few stragglers in between.
80km to go: The average speed has crept up to 37.8km/h for the day.
81km to go: According the official site Martin is 1min 14sec up, while the back markers are over 3min down. We are going to see some big time gaps today.
82km to go: Martin of Movistar now has 1min 20sec on the peloton. That’s an awesome effort to build a gap of that size. Unless of course the peloton has eased off, which seems unlikely but not impossible. If I had live pictures (which appear to be imminent) it would be easier …
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85km to go: Sara Martin (Movistar) has attacked off the front of the bunch on her own. The kilometres are ticking by incredibly quickly. The average speed is up to 37.5km/h.
Meanwhile, here is the top five on GC after stage three:
1) Vollering 4hr 27min 54sec
2) Wiebes +03sec
3) Dygert +05sec
4) Adegeest +05sec
5) Kool +05sec
The top 10 is separated by just 10sec.
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95km to go: It looks like the race is all back together so the pace is going to stay extremely hot.
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97km to go: Persico has mopped up no fewer than seven QOM points today.
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99km to go: You guessed it, Persico makes it four out of four on the second ascent of the Bemelerberg. There is a breakaway ahead of the main bunch but no data on the official site as to who is in it, apart from the details of the riders who have won climbing points. Things will be much clearer shortly when we have live TV pictures.
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104km to go: The race will head over the Bemelerberg again, after which there is a long section with no climbing points available. It’s over 50km of racing, across the border into Belgium, before the next categorised climb.
105km to go: Persico mops up another two points on the Geulhemmerberg. Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance–Soudal–Quick-Step) is second.
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107km to go: Persico has her climbing legs on today, and wins three points atop the Cauberg, to add to the two she won on the Bemelerberg:
1. Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ), 3 pts
2. Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck), 2 pts
3. Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ), 1 pt
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110km to go: The peloton has now hit the Cauberg, and already some riders are losing touch at the back. The average speed so far is 35km/h, which is extremely quick, factoring in the climbing they’ve already done.
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116km to go: Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) takes two points on the Bemelerberg, the day’s first climb. Quinty Ton (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) is second to win the other QOM point on offer.
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“Here in France (where I live) they are giving the Tour de France Femmes full coverage,” emails Jeremy Boyce. “Every minute of every stage televised, helicopters, cameras on bikes, star commentators (Laurent Jalabert and Tommy Voeckler brilliant as usual), the women are starting to get the support and recognition they deserve.”
Neither Discovery nor Eurosport have any live pictures until 12.30pm UK. A shame, because the start of today’s stage is bound to be spicy.
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The riders – 144 of them after this morning’s three abandonments – have rolled out for the neutralised start.
🚩 Here we go! Next stop @VilledeLiege!
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) August 14, 2024
🚩 C’est parti ! Direction @VilledeLiege ! #TDFF2024 | #WatchTheFemmes | @GoZwift pic.twitter.com/n5b63i2YQX
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Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Deceuninck), Elise Chabbey (Canyon–SRAM) and Clara Emond (EF–Oatly–Cannondale) have all abandoned the race before stage four.
The time schedule on the official site states that the stage begins at 11.25 UK / 12.25 BST.
The TV schedule now states live coverage begins at 12.30 UK, so I’ll be relying on the official site updates until then.
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Here’s the lineup for today’s eight climbs. It promises to be a very hard day in the saddle:
Bemelerberg (category four)
Cauberg (category three)
Geulhemmerberg (category four)
Bemeleberg (category four)
Mont-Theux (category three)
Côte de la Redoute (category two)
Côte de Forges (category three)
Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons (category two)
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“I hope we can keep this up,” Lorena Wiebes told Eurosport yesterday, after her SD Worx–Protime teammate Demi Vollering won the individual time trial. On which note, today looks like it could be a tough one to control, as it combines some of the terrain from the Amstel Gold Race and Liège–Bastogne–Liège.
Preamble
Today’s stage begins in the Netherlands and finishes in Belgium, taking in some famous one-day Classics territory on the way. The area around Limburg and Valkenburg includes those rare things – significant hills within the Dutch border – before the race rolls south and into the northern reaches of Belgium.
There are eight categorised climbs on a very up-and-down route, 122km in length, with one intermediate sprint coming at Pepinster after 67.5km of racing. Three cat-fours, three cat-threes and two cat-twos are included in the day’s climbs and there will be plenty of riders hoping to get in a breakaway.
More on that to follow shortly, but for now, here is Jeremy Whittle’s report of Tuesday’s stages two and three, a road race and time trial combo in which the reigning champion, Demi Vollering, took a step towards back-to-back Tour de France Femmes titles:
Stage start time: 11.25am BST
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