Kasia Niewiadoma clings onto yellow to win Tour de France Femmes as Demi Vollering denied in Alpe d'Huez classic

ByEurosport

Updated 18/08/2024 at 20:33 GMT

The Tour de France Femmes has a new champion. All eyes were on Demi Vollering ahead of the final stage, but it was Kasia Niewiadoma who held on to deliver the biggest title of her career. Vollering won the day but was left to rue her crash on Stage 5 - and her team's meek response - that saw her lose the yellow jersey. Pauliena Rooijakkers finished second on Stage 8 to take third spot overall.

Stage 8 highlights: Niewiadoma saves yellow as Vollering denied stunning comeback

Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) gritted her way up Alpe d'Huez as she clung onto the yellow jersey on a thrilling final stage of the Tour de France Femmes.

The Pole held a 1'15" lead over defending champion Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) heading into a monstrous Stage 8, but her hopes of the overall title looked in tatters when her Dutch rival and Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix–Deceuninck) disappeared away on the penultimate climb.

Vollering and Rooijakkers rode away to a one-two but could never extend their advantage much over a minute as Niewiadoma came home in fourth for a famous win.

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Niewiadoma won the overall title by just four seconds from Vollering, with Rooijakkers climbing into third - just 10 seconds back - after a superb display.

Tears flow as Niewiadoma discovers she has won Tour de France Femmes

It was a stunning finale which kept viewers on the edge of their seats until the very end as the clock ticked after Vollering’s finish before Niewiadoma’s title was confirmed.

SD Worx-Protime seemed to struggle with cohesion at points in the Tour, especially after Vollering’s crash on Stage 5, which ultimately proved costly in their yellow jersey hopes.

In addition, they failed to win any other classification, but did take three out of eight stage wins with two victories from Vollering and one from Blanka Vas.

The team worked well on Stage 8, namely Niamh Fisher-Black, who put in a tireless effort to set Vollering up perfectly for her attack on Col du Glandon. They also commited four satellite riders to an early breakaway.

Vollering’s move to drop Niewiadoma took place with 53.7km remaining, 3km before the summit of the penultimate climb, as the two sat in a chase group behind breakaway rider Valentina Cavallar (Arkea-B&B Hotels Women).

Vollering attacks on penultimate climb as Niewiadoma loses the wheel

After Fisher-Black’s pinpoint domestique ride, Vollering turned the screw as the road steepened to drop all but Rooijakkers - who would remain with her until the final metres.

The two caught Cavallar before the summit and began the descent together. The Dutch duo were able to drop the Austrian as they descended at breakneck speed, and from that point onwards would remain together.

The gap to those behind rose and fell behind as the yellow jersey group worked well together. With 20km to go, the gap was at under a minute. Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek) was a powerhouse at the front of Niewiadoma’s group, later earning special praise from the general classification winner for her efforts.

Vollering and Rooijakkers started their acsent up the infamous Alpe d’Huez with a gap of 43”, the GC still in Niewadoma’s grasp. The defending Tour de France Femmes champion looked frustrated at points as she urged Rooijakkers to take over, but the Fenix-Deceuninck rider remained locked on her wheel.

'Getting a bit spicy' – Vollering taps rival Rooijakkers as strain shows

It wasn’t long into the final climb that a group of three formed as Evita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ) and Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) went with Niewadoma, dropping Cavallar, Fisher-Black and Cedrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit-WNT).

The gap ballooned to a minute at points, but the three chasers continued in pursuit of the summit and the two leaders.

Muzic attacked within the final 2km which spurred the yellow jersey on to one last push for the title, and the two dropped Realini.

Despite a close battle between the Vollering and Rooijakkers at the front of the race, it was the former who triumphed as she went clear within metres of the line.

Rooijakkers’ efforts were not in vain, and her second-place finish on the final stage saw the 31-year-old take third place overall.

With the stage winner decided, eyes then turned to the clock to see Niewadoma’s deficit. She crossed the line after Muzic to take fourth place on the stage, but more importantly, four seconds ahead on the general classification to be crowned champion.

Niewiadoma admits she 'lost faith' when Vollering pulled away

Niewiadoma, who finished third in the GC in 2022 and 2023, became the first non-Dutch rider to win the Tour de France Femmes.

Earlier in the year, she achieved her first road victory in five years as she beat Vollering to win La Fleche Wallonne.

Stage 4 winner Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) took the best young rider classification ahead of Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek). It was also a Dutch one-two in the points classification as Marianne Vos won the green jersey, her second at the Tour, ahead of Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime).

Belgium’s Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) won the mountains classification by 12 points and Vollering and Pieterse finished second and third.

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Tour de France Femmes