Thank you for reading our coverage of this year’s Tour de France Femmes, and thank you to all of you who got in touch via email or Twitter.
It was heartening to see the appetite for women’s cycling, both from fans out on the road and the many of you who have tuned in to read our live blogs, reports and more. It was a long wait for a proper multi-stage women’s Tour de France, 33 years, but this race looks well set to go from strength to strength.
Now, there is a football match of quite some significance happening at Wembley: join Sarah Rendell for minute-by-minute coverage of England v Germany in the Euro 2022 final right here:
Congratulations to all the riders who finished a gruelling race – and indeed congratulations to all of those who didn’t. Everyone played their part. It was a fantastic performance from Silvia Persico, third on today’s stage, and fifth in GC.
3rd place for Silvia Persico in #tdff last stage 😍
— Valcar - Travel & Service (@valcar_ts) July 31, 2022
Second podium in this Grande Boucle, sixth top 10 in eight stages, fifth place in GC and best italian athlete of the peloton. So proud of you 😍😍😍😍😍
Huge congratulations too to Vollering, Niewiadoma and Labous for finishing second, third and fourth respectively in GC. Vollering was pictured after today’s stage seemingly in tears – perhaps illustrating the sheer amount of effort she put in to try and reel in Van Vleuten today.
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Jeremy Whittle reports:
The top five on stage 8:
1) Van Vleuten (Movistar) 3hr 37min 23sec
2) Vollering (SD Worx) +30secs
3) Persico (Valcar Travel & Service) +1min 43secs
4) Niewiadoma (Canyon/SRAM) +1min 52secs
5) Labous (Team DSM) +1min 56secs
The final top five in GC:
1) Van Vleuten (Movistar) 25hr 55min 44sec
2) Vollering (SD Worx) +3min 48secs
3) Niewiadoma (Canyon/SRAM) +6min 35secs
4) Labous (Team DSM) +7min 28secs
5) Persico (Valcar Travel & Service) +8min
Van Vleuten speaks: “That’s actually a dream that comes true. Winning in yellow on the top ... wow. And it was not an easy stage. It was not an easy week. It’s been a super-big rollercoaster for me, and even today it was not easy. To finish here, solo, it’s the best way.
“I’m super proud to be the first winner of the Tour de France for the women when it’s back on the calendar, in this new version ... wow, I hope it’s a big start, and we can build this event to a bigger event for the women ... I think it’s a milestone to win this first one.
“I think it now can all sink in, and I can finally enjoy it. Yesterday was an unbelievable day but I still wanted to keep the focus ... and now I can finally ... YES! ... go only ice cream and pizza tonight, and celebrate with this team ... tonight I can celebrate without thinking abouut tomorrow.”
The Tour de France Femmes official Twitter chips in with a Van Vleuten video:
🏆 💛 🏆
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 31, 2022
🇳🇱 @AvVleuten 👑#TDFF #WatchTheFemmes pic.twitter.com/g2bYeLdYRx
The camera motorbike that was following Van Vleuten toppled over in the closing metres of the race. That may demonstrate how steep that final bit of the climb is.
Hopefully some reaction coming up from Van Vleuten, among others.
Movistar’s social media team, needless to say, have been busy preparing the victory graphic for Twitter:
💛🐐 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄. 🐐💛@AvVleuten again #MiekItHappen with resounding success atop La Super Planche des Belles Filles as she wins @LeTourFemmes - our 8th Tour de France victory. Incredibly proud of the whole Movistar Team! 🥹🏆#TDFF | #RodamosJuntos | @Telefonica pic.twitter.com/uFaPlzjk2L
— Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) July 31, 2022
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Van Vleuten had a massive lead in the GC after yesterday but that was far from a straightforward day. She had four or five bike changes after some mechanical problems and a puncture, and was attacked left, right and centre by rival teams who chose to try and test her rather than admit defeat in the overall race. At one point she had to take it on herself to chase back into contact with the peloton. But she got the job done, and had the strength to accelerate away on the final climb to seal a dominant stage win, and overall win.
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Ludwig, who won stage three, makes it to the top. Garcia, who did so much to animate the race, is next to finish.
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Persico and Niewiadoma are engaged in a huge battle for third place on the stage ... and Persico takes it!
Annemiek van Vleuten wins stage eight, and the 2022 Tour de France Femmes!
Her rivals simply had no answer. An outstanding al-round performance from the Dutchwoman. Vollering comes home second, and seals second in GC.
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500m to go: The severity of the gradients on the upper slopes is quite hard to appreciate on the TV. Anyway, safe to say that the legs of every rider will be screaming in pain ...
Van Vleuten grinds her way up the final few hundred metres of the race!
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1km to go: Vollering fights on behind. Niewiadoma powers on behind that. But we are not going to see any movement in the podium places.
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1.5km to go: Utter dominance, again, from Van Vleuten. The gap between her and Vollering is now 32secs. She is rounding off this race in style.
She will be joining Lorena Wiebes and Marianne Vos in winning two stages of this eight-stage race.
The fans are packed along each side of the road, and they are urging Van Vleuten on to glory. It’s nailed on now.
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3.3km to go: Vollering of SD Worx, sporting the polka-dot jersey, is doing everything she can to try and close the gap to the incredibly strong Van Vleuten of Movistar, but it seems of little use. In fact the gap grows to 25secs.
At this rate we are not going to see any change in the top three in the GC. Van Vleuten, Vollering and then Niewiadoma will be the order of the top three. Niewiadoma said before the race she was aiming for the podium, so it’s looking likely to be mission accomplished.
4km to go: Van Vleuten now has nearly 20secs on Vollering. Behind them, Niewiadoma is in a group with Labous, Ludwig, Longo Borghini and Persico, among others.
This is another dominant day from Van Vleuten, and she is climbing towards her second stage win of the race and the yellow jersey. It’s 33 years since the women’s peloton had a Tour de France, and Van Vleuten’s name is going to be on top of the standings this evening.
5km to go: Vollering now tries to bridge across to Van Vleuten. Van Vleuten gets out of the saddle and accelerates again ... she does have time to have a look back over her shoulder to see if anyone is in contact. Vollering has her rival in sight but the gap is growing.
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5.5km to go: Scratch that. Garcia comes back, and over the top of Rooijakkers, and she is out front on her own ... but Van Vleuten pumps past her at the front! The yellow jersey, after a stressful day of bike changes and managing attacks from her rivals, leads the final stage of the Tour de France Femmes.
6km to go: Pauliena Rooijakkers (Canyon/SRAM) has attacked out of the breakaway. She puts in a damaging effort that creates a gap to the rest. Mavi Garcia gives chase, but is visibly struggling to find the power to get back.
6.5km to go: A video here via Le Tour data on Twitter that details the final climb –
The final ascent of the day, and in fact @LeTourFemmes, is La Super Planche des Belles Filles.
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 31, 2022
It should be familiar from Stage 7 of @LeTour where @TamauPogi won in the #MaillotJaune💛
Will it be victory for the Yellow Jersey today after the 7km, 8.7% climb? #TDFF #TDFFdata pic.twitter.com/LJVO51U0Yf
8km to go: The breakaway powers towards the foot of the climb, but Trek-Segafredo are doing work to close the gap, and it’s fallen to 38secs.
The group behind consists of 13 riders, according to the live tracker, with Van Vleuten, Vollering, Labous and Longo Borghini all in there.
12km to go: We have less than 5km to race until the foot of the final climb, or at least the official starting point, as the road has already kicked up. Garcia and Brown exchange words at the head of the breakaway group, Brown taking it up at the front.
This final climb will be all about who has managed to conserve the most energy over what has been a punishing week-long race. The escape group has an advantage of a minute, which I reckon is not going to be enough to allow them to fight it out for the stage win with no interference from the chasing pack.
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14km to go: García again tries to up the pace at the front of the race, hoping to forge a decisive advantage before the final climb.
We are definitely going to see a big scrap on the final climb, certainly for podium places. Niewiadoma does have a decent cushion of 51secs on the fourth-placed rider, Labous of Team DSM, however.
17km to go: Out on the road, Manon Lloyd gives an informative update from the final climb for Eurosport. She says that some teams have placed not one but two spare bikes in the closing stages of final climb – those will be set up with different gearing that is more suited to the punishing gradients of the higher parts of La Super Planches de Belles Filles. “It’s going to be savage,” Lloyd says.
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21km to go: Now, Van Vleuten is pictured riding along serenely on a flat section and having a chat with a rider from a rival team. She suddenly looks far more relaxed with the situation. Does she go for the stage win to underline her dominance, or will she sit back and let others fight it out? I reckon the latter, because she said before today’s stage that yellow is the priority and she is not planning to ‘put on a show’.
She certainly had to toil to get back to the main bunch after those bike problems, though.
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22km to go: García attacks from the front group, seeking to make it a more selective bunch of riders by the time they hit the final climb. But her move is reeled in by the other nine riders.
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23km to go: The surviving 10 riders in the break:
Mavi García (UAE Team ADQ)
Paula Patiño (Movistar Team)
Elise Chabbey (Canyon/SRAM)
Liane Lippert (Team DSM)
Riejanne Markus (Jumbo-Visma)
Yara Kastelijn (Plantur-Pura)
Coralie Demay (St-Michel Auber93)
Pauliena Rooijakkers (Canyon-SRAM)
Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo)
Grace Brown (FDJ Suez Futuroscope)
27km to go: The group of favourites speeds down the descent, and Van Vleuten is distanced, but only by a couple of seconds. This isn’t going to be nearly enough to make any kind of dent in the Dutchwomen’s overall lead. That said, her rivals are certainly making her work today.
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31km to go: Marianne Vos of Jumbo-Visma, in the green jersey, is back in the fourth group on the road. The world champion Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) is also there, which according to the live tracker includes 11 riders. They are over four minutes down on the leaders and about 3min 30secs behind Van Vleuten’s group.
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32km to go: Six groups on the road, the last of which is just summiting the Ballon d’Alsace climb now.
33km to go: The riders can start thinking about the final climb, “La Super Planche des Belles Filles”: It’s 7km long, with an average gradient of 8.7%, but it kicks up to 24% in places. As if that wasn’t hard enough, the “Super” bit is the gravel road at the top ...
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38km to go: The breakaway – now 10 riders – crests the climb of Ballon d’Alsace. Van Vleuten and the group of favourites are 1min 15secs behind. Santesteban and Christoforou are between those two groups, 38secs behind.
It’s going to take something spectacular for Van Vleuten to be denied here – she is within 40km of overall victory and has over three minutes’ advantage in GC.
40km to go: It’s 11 riders at the front now as they near the top of the climb. Doebel-Hickok (EF Education-Tibco-SVVB) successfully joined the leaders. But Santesteban and Christoforou have been dropped.
Vollering, in polka-dots, attacks from the group containing Van Vleuten. Are rival teams going to tag-team Movistar and Van Vleuten and see if they can crack her?
One thing’s for certain, this isn’t a largely ceremonial roll to the finish line for Van Vleuten, as she could expect on the final stage of a three-week Tour de France.
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41km to go: The pro rider Lizzy Banks correctly points out that crashes happen in men’s racing as well as women’s.
Wow, men really seem to crash a lot when they do cycling. Maybe they aren't ready for this level of competition yet?
— Lizzy Banks (@ElizzyBanks) July 31, 2022
🤭😉 #TDFF https://t.co/m7ohbS2Sj7
42km to go: On the Eurosport motorbike, Iris Slappendel just explained how many bike changes Van Vleuten has had (five?!), and the problems with the various bikes. I couldn’t quite follow it if I’m honest. But as stated, Van Vleuten has over three minutes to play with in GC, so there is no real harm for her or Movistar in what’s gone on so far.
5 bike changes now. What is the most bike changes a rider has had in a race? #TDFF
— Sadhbh O'Shea (@SadhbhOS) July 31, 2022
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43.5km to go: It’s all a bit fluid up at the front ... looks like 12 riders at the front now, Berteau one of the stage hopefuls who has dropped back.
Now, Van Vleuten decides to have another bike change, and she discards the yellow version for what presumably is her normal bike that she’s been riding all week.
It’s not exactly been a stress-free day for the yellow jersey or for her team, but there is no significant damage done.
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44km to go: The 14-rider breakaway group is as follows:
Mavi García (UAE Team ADQ)
Paula Patiño (Movistar Team)
Elise Chabbey (Canyon/SRAM)
Liane Lippert (Team DSM)
Riejanne Markus (Jumbo-Visma)
Yara Kastelijn (Plantur-Pura)
Coralie Demay (St-Michel Auber93)
Pauliena Rooijakkers (Canyon-SRAM)
Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo)
Grace Brown (FDJ Suez Futuroscope)
Victoire Berteau (Cofidis)
Jeanne Korevaa (Liv Racing Xstra)
Antri Christoforou (Human Powered Health)
Ane Santesteban (BikeExchange–Jayco)
They have stretched their advantage to 44secs as they power up the Ballon d’Alsace.
Two riders, Mischa Bredewold of Parkhotel Valkenburg and Krista Doebel-Hickok (EF Education-Tibco-SVB), are trying to get across.
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46km to go: The lead group is up to 14, so the aforementioned four-rider chase group has joined forces with the original 10. Their advantage over the peloton has shrunk to 32secs. Behind the main bunch, there is a group of eight dropped riders.
Now, Van Vleuten stops to get back on a spare bike. Impressively it’s also an all-yellow paint job so Movistar splashed out on at least two yellow bikes for their GC hopeful. (Unless, now I think about it, they fixed the problem with the original yellow bike?!)
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46km to go: Van Vleuten is back in the bunch, but she’s still on her teammate’s bike. Impressive stuff.
48km to go: Van Vleuten takes it up on the front of the chase group! She is being forced to close this down herself. It looks like she’s now sans Movistar teammates.
It’s a group of six riders, and Van Vleuten seems to be asking them to share the workload and help her get back in touch.
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50km to go: Van Vleuten, after that bike problem, is 25secs down on the peloton. She has two Movistar teammates who are riding as hard as possible to get her back in touch with the main group and all her rivals for the overall.
I suppose this raises a question about Tour de France protocol, as it’s generally considered poor form to attack the yellow jersey when they suffer a mechanical. But the peloton clearly isn’t waiting. The commentators point out that Van Vleuten will still need to switch bikes when she does get back to the peloton.
Van Vleuten is down to one teammate in this chase group, I think ... suddenly the GC race looks to be back on.
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53km to go: The lead group of 10 is now on an uphill section which leads to the foot of the second climb of the day, the category-one Ballon d’Alsace.
A four-rider chase group has now formed behind them: Berteau (Cofidis) is there and she’s with Korevaa (Liv Racing), Christoforou (Human Powered Health) and Santesteban (BikeExchange–Jayco)
55km to go: There’s a bike problem for Van Vleuten! She has abandoned her yellow bike, and quickly takes an alternative from a teammate on the high-speed descent off the Côte d’Esmoulières. It doesn’t look like a huge problem for Van Vleuten at this stage, but no doubt she will want to grab one of her own bikes from the team car, rather than ride one that has been set up for a teammate.
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56km to go: In other cycling news, three riders are in hospital following a big crash in the velodrome, in one of the scratch race heats.
Will Unwin has all the latest here:
60km to go: The gap between break and the main bunch is 1min 33 secs. But that doesn’t tell the whole story: According to the live tracker, there are six groups on the road. Victoire Berteau (Cofidis) is second on the road, alone, trying to get into the break. She is 32secs behind them. Then five riders behind her, also seemingly trying to chase into the escape group.
Behind that, a group of 85 (if the tracker is to be believed) where Van Vleuten and Vos are positioned.
There will be some tired bodies in the peloton after yesterday’s antics, and with groups all over the road now, this is going to be far from a structured/relaxed day for many of the riders.
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62km to go: Groups all over the road. There was a massive scrap to get in the break, and the 10 riders who have succeeded are:
Mavi García (UAE Team ADQ)
Paula Patiño (Movistar Team)
Elise Chabbey (Canyon/SRAM)
Liane Lippert (Team DSM)
Riejanne Markus (Jumbo-Visma)
Yara Kastelijn (Plantur-Pura)
Coralie Demay (St-Michel Auber 93)
Pauliena Rooijakkers (Canyon-SRAM)
Leah Thomas (Trek-Segafredo)
Grace Brown (FDJ Suez Futuroscope)
They have an advantage of 1min 47 secs.
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67km to go: It’s now a 10-rider breakaway and they have a gap of 1min 11secs. Names of the escapees to follow in a second ...
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68km to go: The pack has splintered on the first climb and there is a six-rider breakaway.
Van Vleuten has words [pre-recorded before the stage] with Eurosport, sporting the yellow jersey, and an all-yellow bike to go with it: “It’s a wonderful present to wear the yellow jersey on the last day. I’m the kind of person that is not dreaming about things. I’m the kind of person that is setting goals and making plans, to work towards my goals. It’s not that I’m dreaming of becoming Olympic champion, or of jerseys. I work towards the plan and I enjoy the moment if it’s there.
“Maybe [today’s stage] is more for the puncheurs, like Alaphilippe kind of person, I’m not really like that, and I don’t need to attack. The most important thing is the yellow, I won’t put on a show like yesterday.”
72km to go: Niewiadoma, who is third in GC, had a chat with Eurosport before the stage and was asked about yesterday’s stage: “Definitely it was one of the most brutal days I’ve ever spent on my bike, for sure ... Perhaps today is going to be hard again ... I think it’s going to be more of a breakaway until the last climb.”
“There’s going to be a fight [for the podium] ... I wouldn’t be surprised to see attacks from the start ... the race [overall] has been amazing ... it’s nice to be visible, finally.”
I’m sure Niewiadoma and others might have been happy to see a break go early today, but that’s not been the case. It’s been full-on and flat-out.
72km to go: Rachel Neylan (Cofidis) attacks on the first climb, the Côte d’Esmoulière, which is 2.3km long and has an average gradient of 8.5%.
75km to go: Confalonieri (Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling) wins the final intermediate sprint of this race, and mops up 25 points as a result. Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon–SRAM) is second, Karlijn Swinkels (Jumbo-Visma). Given the gaps at the top of the standings, none of that will have much outcome on the destination of the green jersey.
Today’s stage takes in 2,530m of climbing. The top section of the final climb is a gravel road, and the gradient is at steep as 24% in parts. Ouch.
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77km to go: The bunch is nearly at the intermediate sprint at Faucogney et la Mer. Marianne Vos may not be winning the overall, but in the sprint classification, she is way ahead:
1) Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) 267pts
2) Lotto Kopecky (SD Worx) 164pts
3) Confalonieri (Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling) 102pts
82km to go: The kilometres are ticking down sharpish, and with three categorised climbs to come, this is going to be a seriously draining day for the riders at the end of eight hard days of racing. FDJ Suez Futuroscope are driving it on at the front of the bunch. We are sure to see a very selective group fight for the stage win, because only the strongest are going to survive this.
However, the good news for Kopecky and co. is that they have fought back into contact with the peloton and it’s all back together.
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Via the official Tour de France Femmes website, some quotes from Trek-Segafredo’s Elisa Longo Borgini summing up her experience of the race: “It’s been a very nice week. It’s been fantastic to ride on these roads with so many people. Yesterday was an epic stage. I struggled on the last climb but it was beautiful. I think it was a nice Tour de France.
“This means a lot [for women’s cycling]. I need to thank all the people that were supporting us and also the ones that were not supporting us, because they give us attention, so thanks anyway to the haters! But we love the ones who cheer for us. Today is the end, we need to go full gas on the last climb.”
Worry when they don’t talk about you, as someone once said.
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86km to go: A number of riders have been dropped with the bunch setting a hot pace. Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) is among them. They are currently 47secs down.
90km to go: “Listening to Annemiek van Vleuten this morning (in Dutch), she’ll be more controlling than attacking today,” emails Peter van Balen. “The finish is more for punchers, like Niewiadoma, who will try to win today’s stage. Vollering will try to as well, but her main objective is keep second place and the polka dot jersey. Enjoy the race.”
Thanks Peter, you too.
92km to go: The peloton is still together but it’s by no means relaxed. Plenty of breakaway hopefuls are there or thereabouts at the front of the bunch. BikeExchange-Jayco riders are particularly active as they try to form an escape group.
Meanwhile, below are the stage reports from this week. My favourite stage was number two, when that insanely strong breakaway group went away on the final circuit, and Marianne Vos accelerated away from them all to take the yellow jersey. What was yours?
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96km to go: The peloton is still all together and speeding along at a healthy pace towards the day’s first climb. They have quite a significant, uncategorised climb to tackle shortly, before a long slightly uphill drag, including the intermediate sprint point, to the start of the day’s first categorised climb, the Côte d’Esmoulières.
Any thoughts on the action? You can email me or contact me on Twitter.
100km to go: There are some superb shots in our Tour de France Femmes gallery.
Hats off in particular to Jeff Pachoud of AFP for capturing these wonderful pictures of a French woman and her cat enjoying the action on stage six, somewhere between Saint-Dié-les-Vosges and Rosheim:
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106km to go: The average speed so far is a very healthy 41.5km/h. The temperature is 30.3C in the shade, and therefore considerably hotter than that on the road. It’s going to be a hot one for the riders.
108km to go: The peloton is all together after 15km of racing. The significant points along the route are as follows:
Intermediate sprint: Faucogney et la Mer
Cat 2 climb: Côte d’Esmoulières
Cat 1 climb: Ballon d’Alsace
Cat 1 climb (summit finish): La Super Planche des Belles Filles
Preamble
The Tour de Frances Femmes – back in a new format after a 33-year hiatus – has packed in no shortage of drama across the past week. There was the raw speed of the Team DSM sprinter Lorena Wiebes, who won two stages, beginning in Paris last Sunday when she took the yellow jersey with a fearsome sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées.
Not to mention the unsurpassed race-craft and all-round ability of Jumbo-Visma’s Marianne Vos, who has also won two stages, and who took the yellow jersey for herself until Annemiek van Vleuten’s pièce de résistance for Movistar Team on the first major mountain stage yesterday.
The emotion of Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Suez Futuroscope) after her stunning stage-three victory in Champagne country was another memorable moment, but where does this all leave us? The situation in the classement général going into today’s final stage, after Van Vleuten’s dominance yesterday, is that the Dutchwoman leads second-placed Demi Vollering (SD Worx) by a massive 3min 14secs. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM Racing) sits third overall, 4min 33secs off the pace set by Van Vleuten.
Can any rider or team hope to overhaul Van Vleuten and Movistar? It appears an impossible task but there is always the prestigious prospect of a stage win atop La Super Planches des Belles Filles. The peloton is off and rolling for stage eight. Allez!
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