tour de france 2023 femmes

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Tour de France Femmes 2023: riders face individual time trial on final stage – as it happened

Marlen Reusser triumphed in the individual time trial as Vollering secured her yellow jersey by finishing second

• 30 Jul 2023 Top five on the General Classification after stage eight
• 30 Jul 2023 Demi Vollering wins the Tour de France Femmes 2023
• 30 Jul 2023 Marlen Reusser wins stage seven
• 30 Jul 2023 Yara Kastelijn has been awarded the super combativity award
• 30 Jul 2023 Stage eight is go!
• 30 Jul 2023 Who’s wearing what jersey?
• 30 Jul 2023 Tour de France Femmes: Demi Vollering climbs to stage win and yellow jersey
• 30 Jul 2023 The top five on General Classification
• 30 Jul 2023 Stage eight: Pau to Pau (22.6km ITT)

On the podium:

One last message before we say goodbye to the Tour de France Femmes: Alan has emailed in to say that now the Tour has concluded, he is off for a bike ride. Seems like a good idea. I hope you have better weather than I do here in rainy London (I’m currently sat sheltering inside Herne Hill Velodrome with a bunch of racers).

Alan writes: “I usually ride before catching your live commentary. Sundays are a bit slower, but gotta ride now! Thanks for the great coverage. Good result, although I was hoping Niewiadoma would pull off a faster time, cool though!”

Vollering speaks … “I still cant believe it,” she says. “ Of course I worked hard, but it’s not just working hard… it’s believing in it. It’s so much together, and in the end you have a dream. You work really hard for it but you need to keep yourself a bit calm and find a good balance in your life also. You have to find a relaxed way to do it. This year I feel really comfortable and good in what I’m doing.”

Van Vleuten has spoken also … asked how she feels after today’s time trial, she answers with one word: “disappointment”. She goes on to explain that she already thought she wouldn’t do well in today’s stage as she didn’t feel great last night, but she had hoped for better anyway. “I was not good the last two days,” she says.

Top five on the General Classification after stage eight

1. Demi Vollering (SD Worx) 25hr 17min 35sec 2. Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) +3min 03sec 3. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//Sram) +3min 03sec 4. Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) +3min 59sec 5. Juliette Labous (DSM-Firmenich) +4min 48sec

Demi Vollering wins the Tour de France Femmes 2023

Vollering secured her win yesterday really, but this is the official confirmation that she’s held on to the maillot jaune and is crowned Tour de France Femmes 2023 winner. Kopecky has overhauled both Niewiadoma and van Vleuten to finish second. Niewiadoma finishes in third. Unbelievably, she has the same time gap as Kopecky at 3min 03sec, but loses out on tenths or hundredths of seconds on the time trial. Van Vleuten has dropped off the podium and finishes her final Tour in fourth place.

Marlen Reusser wins stage seven

None of the big names that followed could beat the European time trial champion. She’s taken the win on stage seven by setting a time of 29min 15sec over the 22.6km time trial course.

Van Vleuten has finished 12th . She grimaces, gets out of the saddle for one more push but it’s not enough. She’s crossed the line 1min 14sec behind Reusser’s time.

Kopecky is second fastest so far … She’s just crossed the line 37sec behind Reusser. That was a great effort. Think she’ll be pleased with that and it should give her a spot on the podium.

Labous crosses in fourth place … She’s 1min 17sec behind Reusser and looks to climb the final GC rankings. Kopecky has passed Moolman Passio, while van Vleuten is looking sure to slip off the podium.

🔥P4 on the line for @JulietteLabous ! There's a 5th place in GC on the cards here ! 🔥4ème place pour @JulietteLabous ! Il y a une 5ème place au classement général à la clé ! #TDFF2023 #WatchTheFemmes @Gozwift pic.twitter.com/5yModeyHyf — Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 30, 2023

Vollering is putting in a stellar effort … She passes through the intermediate time check down by 12sec, putting her into second place for the moment.

Niewiadoma is flying … she might well hold on to second place on the podium. After yesterday’s valiant effort, it would seem cruel for her to slip off at this stage.

Not looking so good for van Vleuten: She’s 1min 01sec behind Reusser’s time.

Looking good for Kopecky: She is third fastest at the intermediate time check. Kopecky is 30sec behind Reusser.

Riejanne Markus: The Jumbo-Visma rider has slotted into third place with a time of 30min 05sec. She’s 50sec behind Reusser.

Reusser is the one to beat ... Will anyone go faster than the European time trial champ?

🇪🇺Marlen Reusser had ambitions to win, she certainly did everything in her power to claim a second #TDFF stage win! 🇪🇺Marlen Reusser pour ambition de gagner, elle a fait le maximum pour remporter une deuxième victoire d'étape au #TDFF . #TDFF2023 #WatchTheFemmes @Gozwift pic.twitter.com/8wRN6cvNG2 — Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 30, 2023

Van Vleuten: With 16km left of her time trial, van Vleuten is 16sec behind Reusser according to the live timings.

Demi Vollering: The yellow jersey, or should I say yellow skinsuit wearer, is off. Kasia Niewiadoma started 2min earlier and van Vleuten set of at 3.57pm.

Current standings: Here is how the ITT times compare so far.

Here is how the race stands so far : Le classement provisoire : 1️⃣🇨🇭Marlen Reusser (29’15’’, 46,3 km/h) 2️⃣🇦🇺 @GLBrown321 , +40" 3️⃣🇨🇦Olivia Baril, +1'17" 4️⃣🇮🇹 @VittoriaGuazzi1 , +1'21" 5️⃣🇳🇱 @lucinda_brand , +1'30" #TDFF2023 #WatchTheFemmes @Gozwift pic.twitter.com/N1suO5FbnV — Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 30, 2023

Kasia Niewiadoma: Clad in a polka-dot skinsuit and red aero helmet, the Canyon-SRAM rider has ridden down the ramp and begun her bid to hang on to a podium place.

Lotte Kopecky: The Belgian rider, who was seen earlier warming up on a green road bike, has just swatted a bee off her helmet and is on her way …

“Yesterday’s race up the Tourmalet was iconic,” writes Toby. He’s emailed in to share his Tour highlight. “The fog, the altitude, the end of the Annemiek van Vleuten era,” he writes. “I was so happy to see Kasia Niewiadoma, one of my favourite riders across both pelotons, attack and be able to hold it to the end, finishing second.” He’s also shared this set of images by photographer Justin Britton. “The first one, particularly, encapsulates so much about the theatre of bike racing,” writes Toby.

MADNESS @demivollering pic.twitter.com/xehTyNpGbE — Justin Britton (@Justin_Britton) July 29, 2023

We’re coming up to the business end now … there are only six riders left to start and they include Juliette Labous, Moolman Pasio, Kopecky, van Vleuten, Niewiadoma and Vollering.

Liane Lippert: Stage two winner, Lippert has just descended the ramp and is out on the road. Cordon-Ragot clocked a time of 30min 48sec and can be seen pouring water over her head as she sits on the floor. Unfortunately for Cordon-Ragot, her aero helmet doesn’t have any vents.

Reusser pushes Brown out of the lead: We just had a new leader, but it wasn’t for long. Reusser has trumped Brown by 40sec and finishes her ITT in 29min 15sec. I wonder how much time she lost due to the motorbike and team car debacle earlier …

Brown has gone into the lead: We have a new leader. Brown has beaten her teammate Guazzini to first place. She was 40sec faster, with a time of 29min 55sec.

Marlen Reusser: As the SD Worx rider was catching another rider on the course, she was slowed down by a motorbike and a team car in her way in to a corner. That’s not great.

Grace Brown: The Aussie is flying and 29sec faster than Cordon-Ragot at the intermediate time check.

Yara Kastelijn has been awarded the super combativity award

Stage four winner, Kastelijn, has won the super combativity award for this year’s Tour de France Femmes . In case you need a reminder: Kastelijn won the longest stage of this year’s Tour, from Cahors to Rodez, after spending just under 160 kilometres on the front of the race, much of it in a 14-rider move that went clear on the day’s first climb, the Col de Crayssac. Here’s Jeremy Whittle’s report on that dramatic day …

Lizzie Holden and Lucinda Brand: The British national time trial champion has finished in sixth place, while Brand has jumped into second place and is 9sec behind the leader.

A fan of the time trial: Andrew from Cambridge has emailed in to share his appreciation of today’s stage. “I think it’s a neat touch to end the tour with a time trial, it gives every contender a chance in the telly limelight on the day everyone will be watching,” he writes. He adds: “And a chance for many to be in the lead for a couple of minutes, which I imagine is good for the individuals, the teams and the tour itself. Something for a near-future men’s TdF to consider?” Well, Andrew, happily for you, next year’s Tour de France will end in an individual time trial from Monaco to Nice.

Audrey Cordon Ragot and Grace Brown: The multiple French time trial champion is off, closely followed by Australian national TT champ, Grace Brown. The latter also won a silver medal in last year’s world champs in this discipline.

Henderson is second in the standings: A really strong ride for Henderson but she couldn’t quite manage to beat Guazzini’s time. She’s finished just over 15secs slower, with a time of 30min 51sec, but that does mean she is in second place overall

Anna Henderson: The Jumbo-Visma rider has set a new best time at the intermediate time check of 13min 37sec. That’s 3sec faster than Guazzini. Will she be in the hot seat next?

🇫🇷 #TDFF2023 Provisional fastest time for Anna at the first intermediate point! 👊 — Team Jumbo-Visma Women (@JumboVismaWomen) July 30, 2023

Arianna Fidanza: The Ceratizit-WNT has just been shown on the coverage with a bloodied knee and looking a bit worse for wear after having crashed. She’s standing up and being checked over.

Mischa Bredewold: The SD Worx rider is out on the road. Her helmet is giving me Star Wars vibes.

Emma Norsgaard: Stage six winner, Norsgaard is the Danish national TT champion. She’s just set off for her go on this 22.6km route. Will she bump Guazzini out of the hot seat? She’s currently sat there smiling and checking her phone.

An email: “I’m looking forward to today’s time trial,” writes Peter. “But I think I have to agree with Demi Vollering from her interview yesterday. This race has been so good. It deserves a glass of champagne and a bike ride into Paris.”

Vittoria Guazzini: As mentioned earlier, the FDJ-Suez rider is the U23 time trial world champion. She’s set a time of 30min 36sec at a speed of 44.3km/h.

The bump in the road: Today’s 22.6km time trial features a climb at roughly halfway. The Côte de Bosdarros is 1.38km and has an average gradient of 6.7%. While some of the riders won’t welcome the bump in the road, it’s likely to suit Kopecky.

Coming roughly halfway through today's route, the 1.38km Côte de Bosdarros averages 6.7%. @ashleighcycling is the current holder of the @Strava QOM but after 7 hard days of racing, can anyone better her time? 👑⏱️ #TDFF2023 #TDFFdata pic.twitter.com/cAW6fiUNUJ — letourdata (@letourdata) July 30, 2023

Josie Talbot: The Cofidis rider set off second, after van ‘t Geloof, but is the first to finish the ITT. She has set a time of 31min 42sec.

As always, please send in your thoughts , predictions and questions via email or Twitter. I would love the company …

The live TV coverage began at 2pm and there’s a lot of shots of riders warming up, walking around in aero helmets and prediction chat from the commentators. I’m yet to see it cut to the actual live footage, but when it does these updates will hopefully become more frequent.

Mavi Garcia: The Liv Racing Teqfind rider will not start today’s stage due to illness. The Spanish rider is 15th in the overall rankings.

[ #TDFF2023 ] A bummer for @mavi_at : she will not start today due to illness. Get well soon! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/25Y5jgC8Ql — Liv Racing TeqFind (@LivRTeqFind) July 30, 2023

There is one time check , located at 10.6km to go. Also, in case you’re interested, there are 10 national individual time trial champions taking part in today’s stage. Antri Christoforou (Team Human Powered Health), a national ITT champion for Cyprus, has already set off, as has U23 world champion Vittoria Guazzini (FDJ-Suez). The next ITT champ to go down the ramp will be Emma Norsgaard at 2.29pm. The other national ITT champions to look out for are Elizabeth Holden (2.39pm), Georgia Williams (2.41pm), Christine Majerus (3.42pm), Agnieszka Skalniak-Sojka (3.47pm), Grace Brown (4.08pm), Cédrine Kerbaol (France, 4.37pm), Riejanne Markus (4.39pm) and Lotte Kopecky (4.55pm). European ITT champion Marlen Reusser is up at 3.12pm.

Stage eight is go!

Two riders have begun their bid at the individual time trial. Marjolein van ‘t Geloof (Human Powered Health), as the lanterne rouge , set of first at 1.38pm. Josie Talbot (Cofidis) goes second.

🚩First start of the day, it's @MGeloof ! 🚩Premier départ de la journée, c'est @MGeloof ! #TDFF2023 #WatchTheFemmes @Gozwift pic.twitter.com/Phz0yhMkd3 — Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 30, 2023

There are 123 riders left in this year’s Tour but the main focus of today’s time trial will be on just a handful that could upset the podium standings. After Demi Vollering’s victory on the Col du Tourmalet yesterday pushed her into the GC lead, it’s difficult to see anyone challenging her for the yellow jersey. She has a 1min 50 sec lead over second placed Kasia Niewiadoma. So, the real battle will be for the final two podium spots: the gap that separates Niewiadoma in second and Ashleigh Moolman Passio in fifth is just 49 sec.

Will Annemiek van Vleuten dig deep for a stage win given her TT chops? Or, will Lotte Kopecky claim a second podium spot for SD Worx? They do have form on the one-two victories after all.

Who’s wearing what jersey?

Yellow: Demi Vollering (SD Worx) 24hr 48min 10sec

Green: Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) 228pts

Polka-dot: Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) 27pts

White: Cédrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling) 24hr 58min 16sec

Tour de France Femmes: Demi Vollering climbs to stage win and yellow jersey

Stage seven report: Demi Vollering took a spectacular and career-defining win at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees, to take over the lead in the Tour de France Femmes , with only Sunday’s 22km time trial remaining.

The SD Worx rider emphatically shattered the stalemate with her Dutch compatriot, Annemiek van Vleuten, attacking with a little over 5km of the stage remaining. At the finish line, Vollering had pulled out more than two and a half minutes on Van Vleuten. Jeremy Whittle reports from Tourmalet Bagnères-de-Bigorre …

The top five on General Classification

Demi Vollering (SD Worx) 24hr 48min 10sec

Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) +1min 50sec

Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) +2min 28sec

Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) +2min 35sec

Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance–Soudal–Quick-Step) +2min 39sec

Stage eight: Pau to Pau (22.6km ITT)

Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift race director, Marion Rousse on stage eight: “Between Pau and Gan, this stage will initially follow the route of the final part of the 2019 Tour de France time trial, but running in the opposite direction. After topping the climb (1.8km at 5.5%), the winding course will demand multiple accelerations. The slightly uphill approach to the finish will offer a magnificent panorama, and perhaps some final suspense before the presentation of the Yellow Jersey.”

The first rider will roll down the ramp for today’s individual time trial at 1.38pm (BST).

⏱️ The only Time Trial on the #TDFF2023 sees the riders start and finish in Pau for a 22 km course. Enough to change the GC? ⏱️ Le seul contre-la-montre du #TDFF2023 démarre et finit à Pau pour une boucle de 22 km. Assez pour changer le classement final ? #WatchTheFemmes pic.twitter.com/1e9ZX79zD5 — Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 30, 2023

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Tour de France Femmes 2023 preview: Full schedule and how to watch live women's Grand Tour cycling action

Reigning champion Annemiek van Vleuten is targeting another Tour de France Femmes crown, as the second modern edition of the stage race takes place on 23 July to 30 July. Here is all you need to know before the start in Clermont-Ferrand.

The second edition of the most prestigious stage race on the women’s cycling calendar is billed as being the biggest yet. Tour de France Femmes 2023 is offering a diverse route starting in the highland region of Massif Central and finishing at the foot of the Pyrenees in Pau.

The big question before this year’s race has been whether anyone can challenge defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten , who is also an Olympic gold and silver medallist and four-time world champion.

The 40-year-old Dutchwoman has already claimed La Vuelta Femenina and the Giro d’Italia Donne this season, and victory in the Tour de France Femmes would complete the set of 2023 women's Grand Tour race wins.

22 teams will be at the start line to battle over 8 stages, not just for the yellow leader’s jersey, but also the green points classification jersey, the polka-dot jersey for leader of the mountain classification and the white jersey for the best young rider under 23 years of age.

Read on to find everything you need to know about the Tour de France Femmes 2023.

• How to qualify for road cycling at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained

Tour de France Femmes 2023 route

Tour de France Femmes 2023 consists of eight stages with a total of 956 kilometres of racing. The peloton starts with a fairly flat stage around Clermont-Ferrand, and from the second hilly stage, the riders slowly move towards the southwest of France.

A mix of flat and hilly stages follow until the seventh stage, where the big battle among the GC favourites will be fought on the mountainous route to the iconic Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees.

The race will conclude with a 22 kilometres individual time trial around Pau.

Day-by-day route of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes stages

• Sunday 23 July: Stage 1 - Clermont-Ferrand - Clermont-Ferrand (124 km)
• Monday 24 July: Stage 2 - Clermont-Ferrand - Mauriac (152 km)
• Tuesday 25 July: Stage 3 - Collonges-la-Rouge - Montignac-Lascaux (147.2 km)
• Wednesday 26 July: Stage 4 - Cahors - Rodez (177.5 km)
• Thursday 27 July: Stage 5 - Onet-le-Château - Albi (126.1 km)
• Friday 28 July: Stage 6 - Albi - Blagnac (122.1 km)
• Saturday 29 July: Stage 7 - Lannemezan - Col du Tourmalet (89.8 km)
• Sunday 30 July: Stage 8 - Pau - Pau (22.6 km individual time trial)

Riders to watch at the Tour de France Femmes 2023

Two-time road race world champion Annemiek van Vleuten is the big favourite for the Tour de France Femmes 2023. In the Giro d’Italia Donne that finished earlier this month, the Olympic time trial champion claimed three stages and won the general classification by almost four minutes to Juliette Labous of France in second place.

The Movistar rider is in the middle of her last season before retiring, but after having claimed both the overall in the Giro d’Italia Donne and La Vuelta Femenina, the defending champion has proved that she isn't finished yet.

Last year, van Vleuten clinched the yellow jersey by taking the last two stages of the Tour de France Femmes. 3 minutes and 48 seconds was the gap to second place Demi Vollering .

The second placed rider from last year’s edition could also be the biggest threat for van Vleuten this year. Vollering completed the Ardennes hat-trick of one-day races earlier this season, winning the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes.

The 26-year-old SD Worx rider is currently leading the UCI World Rankings, as she has secured an incredible 13 victories already this season, and the Dutch road race champion has taken a big step up since last year’s second place at this race.

At the La Vuelta Femenina, Vollering looked like she was about to be crowned the overall winner, but van Vleuten capitalized on a toilet break and gained more than a minute on the penultimate stage to ultimately win the race.

By the looks of this season’s results, we can hope to see a breathtaking Dutch battle between van Vleuten and Vollering.

Other riders, who potentially can fight for the overall victory are Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy, Juliette Labous of France, and Katarzyna Niewiadoma of Poland.

In the battle for the green jersey, the European road race champion Lorena Wiebes will be the woman to beat. The Dutchwoman has a strong team to support her in SD Worx.

Her 24-year-old compatriot Charlotte Kool of dsm-firmenich has showed earlier this season that she has the top speed to beat Wiebes in a bunch sprint.

Last year’s winner of the green jersey and arguably the greatest female cyclist of all time, Marianne Vos , also needs to be mentioned among the contenders for the points classification.

As the general classification riders will most likely battle it out on the decisive mountain stage to Col du Tourmalet, they will also be the favourites to claim the polka dot jersey after the final stage in Pau.

How to watch the 2023 Tour de France Femmes live

The Tour de France Femmes 2023 will be shown live in numerous countries. Here is a list of the official broadcast partners across different territories.

• Various European countries - Eurosport and GCN
• Belgium - RTBF and VRT
• Denmark - TV2
• France - France 3
• Ireland - TG4
• Netherlands - NOS
• Norway - TV2
• Spain - RTVE
• Switzerland - SRG-SSR
• Canada - FloBikes
• South America - ESPN
• United States - NBC Sports and Peacock

Asia Pacific

• Australia - SBS
• China - Zhibo TV
• Japan - J Sports
• New Zealand - Sky Sport
• South-East Asia - Global Cycling Network

Middle East and Africa

• The Middle East and North Africa - BeIN Sports, SSC and GCN
• Subsaharan Africa - Supersport

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Results and Highlights From the 2023 Tour de France Femmes

Stage-by-stage updates, results, and highlights from this year’s race.

Read below for stage-by-stage updates, results, and highlights of each stage.

Stage Winner: Marlen Reusser

The 22.6 kilometer time trial that capped off the final day of the Tour de France Femmes was mostly flat, save for one small climb, and while it seemed unlikely that anyone would unseat Demi Vollering as GC leader thanks to her 1:50 lead she developed in the final kilometers of yesterday’s climb up the Tourmalet, the rest of the podium was separated by small enough margins that every second over the 13.9 mile course.

The course had some damp spots, making handling slightly more technical, but there were no surprises after the morning storm had passed.

As riders took to the course, there were few surprises early on, with times hovering between 30 and 32 minutes. There were some minor crashes, including Arianna Fidanza (Ceratizit-WNT), but compared to the wild attacks early on in stages the rest of the week, this time trial had a much calmer feel to it as fans waited for the real fireworks to come from the top time trialers in the group, like SD Worx’ Marlin Reusser, Human Powered Health’s Audrey Cordon Ragot and silver medalist from World Championships Grace Brown (FDJ Suez).

Brown started directly behind Cordon Ragot, giving her a huge advantage with someone to chase. Cordon Ragot was a woman on a mission, and by the midway point, she was 3 seconds ahead of the fastest time, but then Brown sped through even faster, by a whopping 29 seconds. But then, once Reusser took to the course, she took another 28 seconds out of Brown’s intermediate time as she waved at motorbikes and cars to get the hell out of her way. Vans screeched off the road, struggling to get out of her way as Reusser charged forward, but the UAE van cost her time in a corner.

Brown became the first to finish the TT in under 30 minutes at 29:55, but she only held the fastest time for a brief window before Reusser charged into the finish with a time of 29:15. Her time seemed unbeatable as the top 10 in the GC took to the course.

Third through fifth in the GC were separated by only 11 seconds, with Van Vleuten, Lotte Kopecky and Ashleigh Moolman Pasio all fighting for that third place (or second if any was able to finish 38 seconds faster than Niewiadoma), and every single second counted as they hit the course. In fact, Juliette Labous was only a minute behind them and as a great time trialist herself could potentially work her way into the top 5, possibly even the podium.

While the top riders were still on course, Cédrine Kerbaoul (Cerazitit) secured the white young rider GC jersey with her time trial, and Riejanne Markus came in with a 30:05 finish, moving her into third position with only a few riders left on course.

At the intermediate mark, Moolman Pasio was behind Labous, but Kopecky put in the third best intermediate time of the day. Van Vleuten came through far behind Kopecky, 31 seconds behind Kopecky’s time—which meant that Kopecky could move into the top 3 if she was able to hold the pace to the finish if Van Vleuten couldn't come back. Meanwhile Niewiadoma in the queen of the mountain polka dots hit the intermediate marker just trailing Kopecky by seconds.

Then, Vollering raced through the intermediate with the second fastest time of the day, improving her gap over the rest of the top 5 by a huge amount, trailing only her teammate Reusser.

Kopecky caught Moolman Pasio opening a lead of two minutes, almost certainly moving her up into third in the GC as they raced towards the finish. Kopecky’s time trial of 29:53 moved her into second place for the stage and third in the GC, having also secured the green sprinter’s jersey for the race.

Moolman Pasio’s time wasn’t fast enough to hold off Labous in the GC, and she dropped behind her. Van Vleuten struggled in the final meters of the race, pushing to hold onto her podium finish, but she slowly faded and dropped down in the GC standings, finishing more than a minute behind Kopecky’s time.

Even Niewiadoma was at risk of losing her second place as she raced towards the finish, battling to beat Kopecky’s time to hold onto her GC second place, and she came in with not even a second to spare—so close that it was unclear if she would hang on to her second place GC finish.

The final standings for stage 8 saw a podium sweep from SD Worx with Reusser taking the win, followed by Vollering in second, Kopecky in third, Brown in fourth and Markus in fifth.

The second place overall was down to thousandths of a second, time bonuses and stage wins, since they had the exact same overall time, leading riders to watch the results with bated breath. The final standings for the GC at the end of stage 8 and the Tour saw Vollering with the GC overall win, Kopecky in second and Niewiadoma in third with the exact same time down from Vollering, with Van Vleuten in fourth and Labous in fifth.

The Biggest Winner of the Day: Demi Vollering

After getting the 20 second time penalty for drafting a car in stage 5, a lot of people wrote Vollering off for the overall win, and for legitimate reason. Whether you believe the penalty was justified or not, coming back mentally and physically from that blow would have been a Herculean task. But Vollering displayed superhero-level climbing skills on the Tourmalet yesterday, powering away from the world’s best climbers like they were standing still. To see Van Vleuten that unable to counter a move like that? Unreal. (Van Vleuten graciously said that Vollering was simply on another level following that stage.)

SD Worx had plenty of issues during the week: A frustrated peloton around them, Lorena Wiebes leaving due to illness, the time penalty, the expulsion of their DS due to his driving… but they never seemed to be phased by it, and still played the race with what can only be described as tactical brilliance.

Hats off to SD Worx and to Vollering for taking the win and lighting up the second edition of the Tour de France Femmes!

The Dumbest Moves of the Day: Drivers, AGAIN

UAE’s van and the race motorbikes were simply not expecting Reusser’s ridiculous speed. Or rather, they simply weren’t paying attention to what was happening behind them. It was frustrating to even watch Reusser motioning for them to get out of her way, and she was forced to slow down massively to pass around the team van, costing her momentum and serious seconds. Super frustrating to see so much bad driving in this race all week!

Gutsiest Ride of the Day: Marlen Reusser

We have to give her the gutsiest ride, because as we just said, she was stuck motioning at vans to get out of the way as she charged downhill and passed the van without freaking out. She managed to stay calm and focused despite those potentially disastrous circumstances, and the move she made to get around the van and pick her pace back up was as smooth as you could hope for in such ludicrous circumstances.

Stage Winner : Demi Vollering (SD Worx)

Stage 7 was almost certainly going to be the stage that decided the Tour de France Femmes 2023, with 90 kilometers of racing in the mountains, including the famed Col du Tourmalet. We expected to see Annemiek Van Vleuten make her move in today’s stage with the full support of Movistar, while Demi Vollering would be trying to eke back seconds in the GC after losing a devastating 20 seconds to a time penalty in stage 5.

Trek Lidl had a rough start to the day, with both Elisa Balsamo and Elisa Longo Borghini (who had been sitting in fourth overall) both opted to DNS due to medical issues. EF Education’s Veronica Ewers also had to abandon after breaking her collarbone in a crash yesterday. Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) unfortunately abandoned the race mid-way through this stage as well.

Liane Lippert had an early crash towards the back of the peloton early on as small attacks attempted to create early separation, but nothing stuck in the early kilometers—SD Worx and Movistar seemed to be finally be working to cover attacks and bring them back. Lippert was back up and riding quickly and was quick to cover attacks. Riders like Trek Lidl’s Lizzie Deignan made valiant efforts to create separations but continued to be reeled back in.

With only 90 kilometers of racing and the two major climbs starting at 40 kilometers to go, riders were all keeping their eyes on Van Vleuten—and all of the teams were focused on protecting their climbers ahead of the Col d’Aspin and Tourmalet.

At 36 kilometers to go, Movistar came to the front, with Van Vleuten and teammate Lippert controlling the pace. With five kilometers left to go up the Col d’Aspin climb, Van Vleuten made her move, but Vollering (SD Worx) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) were instantly on her wheel. Last year’s top three in the overall were clearly planning to be there again. Behind them, the peloton was already spread thin, and this attack caused even more separation. Juliette Labous (DSM) and Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance) took on the mantle of leading the peloton, hoping to bring back the leaders.

Van Vleuten tried to get her breakaway counterparts to work with her, but they seemed content to let Van Vleuten lead. Behind her, current yellow jersey holder Lotte Kopecky was clearly working hard to hang in with the main peloton, though they were quickly separated from the three leaders, who gained 20 seconds in a kilometer of climbing. The gap stuck at under 30 seconds for the next kilometer, as close up footage of the riders showed how hard the women at the front were working.

Niewiadoma made a move to the front to try to add more separation. With none of her teammates in the peloton behind her, the Canyon//SRAM rider would want the break to stick. Vollering, however, would have no reason to work, with teammate Kopecky sitting in the peloton behind them in the yellow jersey.

At the top of the climb, the three riders tactically fought for the best position to take the points at the top. Niewiadoma snagged the max points over the Col d’Aspin, meaning if she could win the stage, she’d take over the Queen of the Mountain jersey from Yara Kastalijn.

Niewiadoma led into the descent, separating herself from Van Vleuten and Vollering, who struggled to match her blistering pace. Niewiadoma and Van Vleuten were even in the GC standings ahead of this stage, so if Niewiadoma could hold it, she could take the entire thing.

Meanwhile, SD Worx’ Vollering refused to work with Van Vleuten as Niewiadoma blazed up the road. With two SD Worx riders—Kopecky and Marlen Reusser—in the peloton just a minute behind Niewiadoma, Vollering decided to play a dangerous game, and Van Vleuten addressed it by brake checking her. With 20 kilometers to go on the most critical stage of the day, the team tactics could be costing the two biggest teams their chance at the overall win. Niewadoma extended her lead to 53 seconds, while the Movistar and SD Worx riders came within 8 seconds of the chasing peloton, which contained two of Vollering’s teammates.

There are very few moments in women’s cycling where an attack from Van Vleuten has been caught, but today was one of those days as the riders hit the Tourmalet climb, which would account for the last 17 kilometers of racing.

Niewiadoma climbed alone with Reusser pushing the pace and Van Vleuten, Vollering and Moolman Pasio on her wheel with about 10 other racers in the lead group. Kopecky also managed to hang on despite the blistering climbing pace—something no one would have expected ahead of this stage. The gap dropped quickly to 40 seconds by 15 kilometers to go, and was down to 30 a kilometer later, and 20 another kilometer after that.

Lidl-Trek’s Amanda Spratt was the first to be dropped from the lead group as they hit 12 kilometers to go. The group made contact with Niewiadoma, and she was nearly absorbed back into the group as Reusser drifted to the back of the pack. But after they closed to 2 seconds, the gap actually reopened and Niewadoma re-increased her gap to 15 seconds with 11 kilometers to go.

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig moved to the front of the group as Niewiadoma’s lead re-extended to 30 seconds at 10 kilometers to go. As she created a lead of 45 seconds, Spratt actually reconnected with the peloton as Labous attacked up the road, immediately covered by Vollering, Van Vleuten and Moolman Pasio. Kopecky also managed to just make it onto Van Vleuten’s wheel.

The group seemed to relax back into their pace, and Labous attacked yet again. And again. And again. The group chasing was reduced to Vollering, Van Vleuten, Kopecky, Labous, and Moolman Pasio.

Labous continued her style of big attacks at 6 kilometers to go, but could not manage to shake any of the riders. Van Vleuten appeared to be tired, while Niewiadoma looked calm and controlled with a 45 second gap at 5.5 kilometers to go.

Finally, at 5.6 kilometers to go, Vollering attacked and this time, Labous struggled to respond. Kopecky also seemed to struggle slightly, but Van Vleuten marked Vollering and hung on to her wheel as fog made it almost impossible for spectators and viewers to see what was happening. As the fog started to lift, Van Vleuten started to fall off of Vollering’s wheel, and Moolman Pasio tried to bridge that gap.

In just a few hundred meters, Vollering closed the gap to Niewiadoma to under 7 seconds, catching her at 5 kilometers to go and riding right around her. The group behind her shattered entirely, with Moolman Pasio chasing down Van Vleuten, Labous and Kopecky behind her.

Niewiadoma lost 43 seconds to her by 2.7 kilometers to go, and Van Vleuten’s gap increased to over a minute. Vollering was simply unstoppable on the climb, smiling at fans (possibly grimacing) as she hit the final kilometer and a half.

Vollering had plenty of time to celebrate her win but she still chose to sprint out every second to add to her overall GC standings. Behind her, Niewiadoma managed to hang on for second place 1:57 down from Vollering. Behind her, Van Vleuten just managed to hold off Moolman Pasio, 2:34 behind Vollering, with Labous right on their wheels. Kopecky came in afterwards, to an emotional moment with her and Vollering.

This finish moves Vollering into the GC lead heading into the final stage, a 22 kilometer time trial.

The Biggest Winner of the Day : Demi Vollering

She also won the stage, obviously, but the move into the GC makes Vollering the biggest winner on the day by far. After getting the 20 second time penalty for drafting a car in stage 5, Vollering certainly would have been feeling a bit down and like the GC was beyond her reach. Today, Vollering knew she not only needed the win by 1:07 to move into the GC overall top spot, she needed to finish at least 12 seconds ahead of Van Vleuten to secure that position.

By 3.8 kilometers to go, Vollering’s lead after her huge attack had extended to 30 seconds to Niewiadoma, 39 to Van Vleuten, and 1:25 to Kopecky: Exactly where she would want to be at the finish.

There is simply no way to not point out how happy Vollering must be feeling right now: Not only has she all but guaranteed a GC win if she can have a solid time trial tomorrow, her team played this stage to tactical perfection (more on that below) and has done so down one of their lead riders—Lorena Wiebes dropped out due to illness two stages ago—and down one of the directors (Danny Stam, who was expelled after the driving situation on stage 5).

The Smartest Tactical Moves of the Day : SD Worx

Vollering and Van Vleuten’s game of chicken on the Col d’Aspin was wild. Vollering’s attack at 5.6 kilometers to go? It couldn’t have been better played, thanks to teammates like Kopecky and Reusser’s efforts in the lead group, and a perfectly timed attack. She took Niewiadoma’s 45 second gap down to zero in under a kilometer. She broke Van Vleuten on a climb.

The most math done on a Tour de France stage ever surely came today with Kopecky managing to stay in the lead group along with Vollering. With only a time trial left on Sunday, with Vollering’s time penalty, and with Kopecky’s 53 second lead on second place in the GC heading into the stage, the SD Worx staff must have been struggling to decide what Vollering should do, since she would likely bring Van Vleuten along on any attack, but would need to beat Van Vleuten by more than 12 seconds in order to take the GC lead from Van Vleuten if they came in together. But could Kopecky hold the pace in the final kilometers? Yep, we wouldn’t want to be the one making those tactical decisions.

Gutsiest Ride of the Day : Kasia Niewiadoma

That attack on the Col d’Aspin descent was absolutely stunning, and perfectly played. Did she sense that SD Worx and Movistar, and Van Vleuten and Vollering, would struggle to work together, giving her the best possible chance of success? Possibly. Was she just kind of screwed tactically as the rider who didn’t have any help coming from behind her? Or is she just a baller descender who picked her moment to attack perfectly?

Then, there was the poise with which she climbed the Tourmalet, even as the group came within seconds of her, was beautiful to watch. She rode so smart, rather than using all of her matches to try to stay away when she was assuming she would be caught. This level of smart, tactical use of effort is about as gutsy as it gets.

Then, when she wasn’t caught as the group closed the gap to mere seconds, she didn’t smash an acceleration, she did it gently. This has been a race for solo feats of strength, and this certainly was one for the record books.

Stage Winner : Emma Norsgaard (Movistar)

Stage 6 from Albi to Blagnac covered 122 kilometers of fairly flat racing. With two stages left in the race after today—a 90-kilometer mountain stage and a 22-kilometer time trial—the clock was ticking for the sprinters who prefer the flats to add to their time gaps, while climbers and time trialists prepping for the next two days knew they just had to not lose more time.

And of course, the big story of the day yesterday was SD Worx’ Demi Vollering’s unfortunate 20 second time penalty, which left fans wondering if she’d be able to recoup those precious seconds or if her GC dreams were over. The team DS Danny Stam was also expelled from the race, following his commentary on her penalty (official reason: Dangerous Driving). The need to make up seconds and the staffing shakeup surely would change how SD Worx approached the stage—right?

At the team introductions, it was all jokes for the Trek Lidl squad. This race truly brings out the joy in cycling, and it is nice to see a bit of levity amongst the racers when Elise Longo Borghini accidentally waved at the crowd a bit too soon…

The stage started with breakaways and attacks being attempted by many riders, but were repeatedly reeled back by the peloton. After yesterday’s surprise solo win for Ricarda Bauernfeind, the peloton clearly isn’t willing to risk any surprise breakaways sticking. Riders like Lotte Kopecky, Charlotte Kool and Marianne Vos will surely want this race to come down to a bunch sprint, and that means the big teams will be covering moves to ensure the best chance for their best sprinters.

Three riders were able to make a breakaway stick after 45 kilometers, with Emma Norsgaard (Movistar), Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Canyon//SRAM) and Sandra Alonso (Ceratizit-WNT). They increased their lead to nearly two minutes as many riders in the peloton seemed to be struggling with lingering fatigue from the week. Even DSM’s top sprinter Charlotte Kool was strung out in a chase group behind the peloton.

With under 60 kilometers to go, though, the gap had dropped to a minute as riders began to attack off the front, with big teams like Trek-Lidl and FDJ leading the charge.

Midway through the stage, more drama from team cars ensued as Lotta Henttala of AG Insurance-Quickstep was disqualified for holding on to the team car. The driver was also expelled from the race. Other drivers were also spotted making—there’s no other way to say it—weird choices around when they elected to pass the peloton.

Unfortunately, four riders had a crash. Veronica Ewers of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB went down the hardest at 52 kilometers. KOM leader Yara Kastalijn also had a tumble but was quickly back on her bike, while Ewers stayed down, though remained conscious. Kastilijn needed a bike change, while Ewers first was presumed out of the race, but did get back onto her bike and started pedaling.

Meanwhile, the three woman breakaway maintained their gap, extending it back out to 1:45 as the peloton’s pace normalized ahead of the second climb of the day. After the climb, the peloton had lost another 15 seconds to the leaders.

With 35 kilometers to go, DSM took control of the pace, once Kool made her way back into the peloton.

At 28 kilometers to go, calamity ensued for top race contender Annemiek Van Vleuten, who was having a problem with her radio. She signaled for the team car several times, but it took a while for a response from the team. She didn’t lose any time from the peloton, however.

The pace started to pick up more as the kilometers ticked down and teams with strong sprinters starting to try to bring the group back together for a bunch sprint. But the group at the front were working hard to maintain their gap, which dropped to just around 1 minute.

Another crash took a few riders down towards the back of the peloton with 21 kilometers to go, but no rider seemed injured badly. Still, it was clear that the race was becoming more tense by the minute. The gap stubbornly remained at around a minute between the peloton and the breakaway.

At 8 kilometers to go, riders in the peloton began to organize for the sprint, while also trying to close the gap, which had dropped to 25 seconds. As the seconds dropped from the breakaway to the peloton, the three riders began to quickly rotate positions at the front, but they were clearly fatigued. Norsgaard attacked as hard as she could, shedding Alonso. Skalniak-Sójka and Norsgaard continued to power away, holding 18 seconds as a gap ahead of the charging peloton.

With 1.5 kilometers to go, Skalniak-Sójka and Norsgaard hung onto an 11 second gap—could a breakaway once again hold off the entire peloton this close to the finish?

At 1 kilometer, a huge crash took out nearly half of the peloton, though riders were quickly up and riding, with Jumbo Visma nearly bridging the gap.

But with 500 meters, Norsgaard unleashed her sprint with Skalniak-Sójka right on her wheel.

Norsgaard won the stage in the most impressive 500-meter sprint we’ve ever seen, holding off a hard-charging peloton by a matter of meters. Kool sprinted into second place, followed by Kopecky and Vos. Skalniak-Sójka was caught by the peloton and managed to finish in 10th.

The big question came after the stage: would the three-kilometer rule come into effect when it came to timing? With the crash in the final three kilometers of the race, the huge crash would cost second place GC rider Ashleigh Moolman Pasio a significant amount of time. The preliminary standings didn’t use the rule and moved her down to fourth, Vollering up to second, and Van Vleuten into third with Kopecky maintaining the GC overall. But when the results were finalized, the judges had instituted the rule, moving Moolman Pasio back into second place behind Kopecky.

The Biggest Winner of the Day : Demi Vollering, almost, but Ashleigh Moolman Pasio and Annemiek Van Vleuten, ultimately.

As we’re writing this right after the finish and before we’re positive how the standings in the GC will be updated due to this crash… Vollering was almost doing a happy dance because the big crash ahead of the finish cost her key rival, Van Vleuten, 22 seconds, while she finished in the lead pack. No one was injured in the crash, thankfully, it just seemed to cost riders only seconds in the stage as they untangled bikes. This would have put them nose-to-nose in the GC heading into the final two stages.

Wild. But unfortunately for SD Worx, the excitement was short-lived.

The jury decided that the three-kilometer rule would be put into effect, leaving Moolman-Pasio in second place in the GC at 53 seconds down from Kopecky, while Van Vleuten moved from fifth into third—perfectly poised to take over the lead in the mountains. Vollering sits 12 seconds down from Van Vleuten, and will have to have a huge solo effort to take the GC lead.

The Dumbest Moves of the Day : Team drivers

Between SD Worx Danny Stam’s expulsion for dangerous driving yesterday, the AG Insurance driver being expelled for allowing a rider to hang onto the team car to pace her back to the group, and that truly bizarre team car decision to pass on the second climb, the driving is clearly getting dangerous in this race.

Yesterday also saw other fines levied to drivers: Charlotte Kool and her driver were both fined 100 Swiss francs for some ‘sticky bottle’ riding.

Seriously, could we have some safer driving?

Gutsiest Ride of the Day : Emma Norsgaard

That huge effort in the final 500 meters after spending so much time at the front of the three-person breakaway was unreal. She could literally feel the peloton breathing down her neck with the world’s best sprinters right behind her. She won by less than a few meters after having a 2-minute breakaway for 72 kilometers… and she was the only rider to bridge the gap up to the two-person breakaway.

The Movistar rider showed us today that Van Vleuten’s retirement is not going to mean the end of the team’s dominance. Rather, there will just be different Movistar riders at the front.

“I’m lost for words,” she said emotionally in her post-race interview, thanking her team, family and husband for standing by her while she was out with an injury all Spring. “I took a chance today, I reached out for the stars, and here we are.” (We’re not crying, you’re crying.)

Stage Winner : Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon // SRAM)

Stage 5 shifted focus back to the sprinters, and with Lorena Wiebes of SD Worx out of the race due to illness, the points competition opened up for other riders to go for the green. The relatively flat route runs from Onet-le-Château and to Albi and covers 126.1 kilometers—more than 50 kilometers less than yesterday’s long stage. Temperatures were high at the start, forcing riders into ice vests and making bottle feeds even more critical throughout the day.

The race played out in a surprising way, with more separations starting early on, in addition to several abandonments.

Without Wiebes on the start, SD Worx made a surprising tactical shift, attacking early rather than staying hidden and protected in the peloton. A group of 11 riders made an early break at around 50 kilometers in, but with none of the heavy hitters in the lead group save for SD Worx Mischa Bredewold, the peloton remained under a minute back. Fenix-Deceuninck and EF-Education-Tibco-SVB worked to bring the gap down, dropping it to under 30 seconds with 75 kilometers to go. Riders seemed tired from yesterday, though, and the group seemed to split early, with many top riders, including Elisa Balsamo (Trek Lidl), more than four minutes down from the lead group.

With 64 kilometers to go, Demi Vollering had a rear flat that needed a full change, but a quick swap had her up and moving quickly to bridge back up to the peloton. SD Worx received a warning for allowing Vollering to draft for so long, but it was unclear whether or not the rider would be penalized.

By 50 kilometers to go, the lead group was reeled in by the peloton, though the peloton itself had splintered with sprinters like Marianne Vos falling behind on the climbs. The lead group added top contenders including yesterday’s winner Yara Kastelijn and GC contender Kasia Niewiadoma, who went 1-2 for QOM points at 49 kilometers, and swelled to about 25 riders.

Current GC leader Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) took the lead heading into the steep Côte de Laguépie climb at 42 kilometers, but didn’t break away from the group right away.

Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick Step) began to make herself known on this stage, taking sprint points and staying tight in the peloton with the other top GC contenders including Annemiek Van Vleuten, who has also stayed relatively quiet the last few days.

Next, Canyon//SRAM’s Ricarda Bauernfeind attacked and built up a solid lead on the peloton, taking an intermediate sprint as Kopecky took second in the sprint behind her with 25 kilometers to go. Behind her, Marlen Reusser (SD Worx) attacked to try to bridge the gap.

As the riders hit 14 kilometers to go, the gap to Bauernfeind had dropped to just under a minute, with Reusser on the front closing the gap. But by 5 kilometers to go, 23-year-old Bauernfeind maintained her 35 second gap. This is her first year on a WWT team, and this attack is a career highlight.

Reusser attacked the peloton with Lianne Lipert (Movistar) marked her and stayed tight to her wheel as the rest of the peloton fell back. With 2 kilometers to go, Lippert began to work in earnest, Reusser then on her wheel, just 24 seconds behind Bauernfeind. Lippert motioned for Reusser to pull through, but Reusser sat tight on her wheel. Behind them, Kastelijn led the chase group 40 seconds behind.

At 1 kilometer to go, Bauernfeind maintained her 25 second lead, and began to race in earnest towards the finish line for a dramatic solo victory. She had plenty of time to celebrate as Lippert and Reusser lost the stage in part because they were so focused on each other rather than chasing Bauernfeind.

Reusser took the sprint over Lippert, with Kopecky winning the bunch sprint for fourth behind.

At the finish, it was dramatic and emotional as Bauernfeind sobbed and was greeted with hugs and high fives from her teammates after her 41 kilometer long solo attack. This marks the first stage win of the Tour de France Femmes for Canyon//SRAM, a huge success for the team.

This was also unfortunately a big day for riders to abandon the race, and the Tour as a whole: three riders DNSed, and three riders abandoned during the stage.

The Biggest Winner of the Day : Ashleigh Moolman Pasio

The true sleeper in the race is definitely Ashleigh Moolman Pasio of AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step. She’s been quietly sitting in the top 5 in the GC at the same time gap as Niewiadoma and Longo-Borghini, despite being supported by a relatively young team. The 37-year-old switched to AG Insurance this season from SD Worx, and has had a fairly quiet season thus far—clearly waiting for this moment.

Today, she took sprint points and bonus seconds as her teammates rallied to put her in optimal position in the peloton. She finished in the large chase group, and moved into second place in the GC standings with three stages left in the Tour.

The Biggest Loss of the Day : SD Worx

SD Worx received a blow this morning when the team announced that Stage 2 winner Lorena Wiebes wouldn’t be on the start line due to illness. Considering how well she’s done even while being sick, this comes as a major loss to the team. SD Worx is obviously pushing for Vollering to take the GC, but Wiebes was just trailing teammate Kopecky in the Points standings, and could be counted on to help move Vollering into position when needed.

The SD Worx squad is likely still strong enough to execute their tactics without her, but it won’t be easy. While it’s a loss for the race to see Wiebes go, though, it’s a win for the team to prioritize health over results.

However, the team also mismanaged Reusser’s chase down of Bauernfeind, as she focused so much on sprinting Lippert at the finish that the two missed out on potentially riding down the young Canyon//SRAM rider in the final kilometers. Kopecky was also disappointed with her fourth place finish on a stage she was projected to win. With Wiebes out of contention, is the team falling apart?

Kopecky maintains her GC lead, but Vollering is now down in seventh, losing 20 seconds today to her primary nemesis, Van Vleuten. She was presumably penalized with a 20 second time penalty for taking too much time behind the team car earlier in the stage after a wheel change—a huge blow for the team.

Gutsiest Ride of the Day : Ricarda Bauernfeind

“I did it. I mean, we did it,” Bauernfeind said in a post-race interview, pointing out the importance of teamwork and team tactics, thanking and crediting the Canyon//SRAM team for her victory.

She was the stage winner as well, but she also just became the youngest rider to win a stage of the Tour de France Femmes at 23 years old. Second year as a pro. First year on the Women’s WorldTour. First Canyon//SRAM rider to win a stage of the Tour.

She attacked for 41 freaking kilometers . She held off an attack from two of the best sprinters and the biggest teams in the peloton. Yep, that’s gutsy as hell. To not get freaked out or drop back when she saw the motos swarming her as the peloton closed? That takes so much courage.

Stage Winner : Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck)

The longest stage of the Tour de France Femmes clocked in at just over 177 kilometers of racing—the longest in the Women’s WorldTour ever—which meant breakaway after breakaway from the start of the race. But it wasn’t until towards the final kilometers of the race that the climbing started, covering more than 1800 meters of climbing in the back half of the race.

The vibes were good on the start line, with team presentations arguably culminating with this bit of joy from Ali Jackson :

At the first climb, a super-powered breakaway of 14 formed including all the heavy-hitting teams and many of the top riders: Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Christine Majerus (SD Worx), Sheyla Gutiérrez (Movistar), Coryn Labecki (Jumbo Visma), Marthe Truyen and Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck), Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Human Powered Health), Romy Kasper (AG Insurance-Soudal QuickStep), Anouska Koster (UnoX), Célia Le Mouel (St Michel - Mavic - Auber93), and Kathrin Hammes (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB).

By the time the live coverage started, the peloton was nearly 10 minutes back from the breakaway group with around 65 kilometers of racing left. Human Powered Health moved towards the front, as did Jumbo Visma and Movistar in order to control the pace and keep riders from the other big teams with riders high up in the GC—like Canyon//SRAM—from bridging the gap.

But Canyon//SRAM began to push the pace with 50 kilometers to go, swarming to the front of the peloton and taking charge. This is to be expected, since their GC racer Kasia Niewiadoma wasn’t in the breakaway and the need to close the gap became more and more urgent as the clock ticked down.

UAE also began to push riders to the front to chase, and even SD Worx committed riders to closing the gap (for reasons we get into below). Even Jumbo Visma joined the front, despite Labecki in the breakaway group.

In 10 kilometers, the pace had ratcheted up in the peloton and the gap had dropped from over 10 minutes to just under 8. But with 40 kilometers to go, the riders were starting to hit the biggest three climbs of the day. This meant riders shedding off the back of the large peloton, but also a stretching of the breakaway group at the front.

Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx) and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl Trek) attacked the peloton, swiftly climbing. The peloton stayed close behind, and the gap to breakaway dropped drastically, down to 6 minutes with only 37 kilometers to go.

Meanwhile, Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma) and Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) struggled on the climb as the peloton began to stretch out. This stage isn’t just the longest—it’s also the first stage with significant climbs, and will upset the GC standings that have been favoring the strong sprinters like Vos and Wiebes.

SD Worx’ Kopecky was the next to attack, with Niewiadoma on her wheel. The rest of the peloton surged behind to stay tight to these riders while at the front, with just under 5 minutes between the peloton and the breakaway, riders fought hard for QOM points.

Lizzie Deignan of Trek-Lidl shut down the attack, but the constant surges in the peloton were also serving to shut the gap down to the chasers significantly.

At the front, Kastelijn and Cordon-Ragot sprinted for the time bonus at the top of the climb, with Cordon-Ragot taking a six-second time bonus and Kastelijn scored four. The two continued their attack on the breakaway, and the two began to climb away from their group—knowing that they needed to keep at least a two minute gap on the main peloton in order to move to the top of the GC. Unfortunately, the breakaway group closed on them and seemed less organized in the final 25 kilometers.

But with Van Vleuten (Movistar) attacking at the front and two climbs to go, the peloton continued to eat into the breakaway’s lead. SD Worx’ Vollering and Ashleigh Moolman (AG Insurance) marked her and stayed tight to her wheel.

Still, Kastelijn wouldn’t be denied, and on the next climb, Kastelijn attacked, creating a gap between her and the breakaway, moving into the ‘virtual’ yellow jersey as the race dropped to under 20 kilometers to go.

SD Worx’ Kopecky took a turn at the front, dropping the gap to three minutes to the leaders, 20 seconds ahead of the peloton as she rocketed up the climb.

With five kilometers to go, Van Vleuten and Vollering fought for the lead in the peloton, with Niewiadoma in the mix as well.

Juliette Labous attacked as well, chasing after Kopecky and trying to eke back as many seconds as possible. Van Vleuten and Vollering caught the back of the breakaway with less than two kilometers to go, but was nowhere near stopping Kastelijn.

Kastelijn took a dramatic solo victory after holding onto the attack for 42 minutes, over a minute ahead of Vollering. “This is our best Tour de France ever,” she said in the post-race conference, grinning the entire time.

Behind her, Vollering sailed in for second after a dramatic shutdown of the breakaway, followed by Koster and Van Vleuten.

Kopecky remains in the GC lead, with Vollering close behind.

Vollering’s smart riding and huge push at the finish was definitely the ride of the day. She stayed fairly protected by a smart SD Worx squad all day, and then left it all on the table in the final five kilometers. She rode up to Koster and managed to get around her in the final moments of the stage—and likely still has plenty of energy for tomorrow.

This move also put her into second in the GC, only eight seconds ahead of Van Vleuten, but certainly with a psychological advantage.

The Smartest Team of the Day : SD Worx

We’re giving SD Worx all the credit for their surgical handling of the peloton over the last couple of stages. They get riders into the breakaways as needed, while also ensuring that the team manages the peloton’s pace without doing a heck of a lot of work—until it’s necessary.

As pro cyclist Chloe Hosking put it, the peloton really needed to force SD Worx to do more work. She tweeted, “When I was young I would never put my dishes in the dishwasher. Mum would do it & then tell me I should do it. But she did it so I didn't. One day she stopped & I had no clean dishes. So I started loading the dishwasher. In conclusion, the peloton should let SD Worx chase.”

Perhaps today’s stage served as a lesson for them: SD Worx was forced to chase down the leaders despite having Marjerus in the breakaway. In fact, even Marjerus didn’t seem keen on keeping the breakaway away, skipping some turns at the front.

Why would they do this? Simple: Lorena Wiebes and Lotte Kopecky are sitting in the top three in the GC (and are 1-2 in the points competition) and a 10-minute loss would drop them way down in the standings. Out of all the teams, they had the most to lose if the breakaway was allowed to stay ahead.

They also perfectly protected their GC contender Demi Vollering, making sure she marked Van Vleuten, her key competition for the overall win.

This stage was great for team tactics: The same strategy as SD Worx used was applied by Jumbo Visma, with a twist—despite having a rider in the break, they couldn’t afford to lose much time in the GC standings.

But Jumbo Visma would also want the breakaway to stick so Labecki could go for a stage win, so they need to tighten the time gap but not close it entirely.

Gutsiest Ride of the Day : Henrietta Christie and Audrey Cordon-Ragot

Ahead of the race, the 21-year-old New Zealander told Bicycling , “For me, it's about trying to put that in the past and move on to the next chapter of this year. I really want to help my team as much as I can— I just want to give it my all for my teammates.”

And she did, with the first breakaway of the day. It’s unlikely she thought it would stick, but as they say, no guts, no glory.

We also have to give props to Audrey Cordon-Ragot. Before Stage 4, Cordon-Ragot was sitting 2:21 down in 28th in the GC. She pushed the pace, especially on the descents, and wasn’t afraid to work to keep the break away, even as the peloton was closing in the final 40 kilometers.

Her heroic ride at the front meant that for much of the day, she was in the “virtual” yellow jersey, meaning that if the break stuck, she would move into the GC lead.

Perhaps Christie’s work at the front early inspired her teammate, Cordon-Ragot, and the rest of the squad, who put in huge efforts trying to keep the pace controlled at the front of the chasing peloton.

To be quite honest, Human Powered Health rarely is spotted this far ahead in the standings, so this performance today truly is remarkable for the young WWT squad. Really, the gutsiest ride goes to Human Powered Health as a whole!

Stage Winner : Lorena Wiebes

Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) made no secret that she and her team were targeting the stage win today. But for much of the stage fans were left scratching their heads as it seemed like SD Worx was content to sit in the middle of the bunch today. That is, until the last 1 kilometer.

That’s when the super team switched on and Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) shot off the front like a missile with Wiebes on her wheel. Blowing past Julie Van de Velde (Fenix-Deceuninck), who had managed to hold her solo breakaway for almost half the stage, the team delivered the European champion to her first win of this year’s Tour as she sprinted going 61 km/hr over the line.

The Biggest Winner of the Day : Julie Van de Velde

Julie Van de Velde (Fenix-Deceuninck) attacked and opened a gap on the last climb of the stage up the the Côte des Andrieux, claiming two QOM points, putting herself in a three way tie with Anouska Koster (Uno-X) and Kathrine Hammes (EF Education-Tibco-SVB), respectively, at 7 points, just one point behind the polka dot jersey holder Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck).

After taking two additional points at the top of the Côte de Saint-Robert, she captured the polka dot jersey for herself.

And she didn’t stop there, eventually opening up an almost two minute lead with about 37K to go. This is when the course shifted directions and Van de Velde turned into a tailwind, at which point she gained another 10-second advantage.

The peloton didn’t start to chase her down in earnest until about 22K to the line, when they realized that Van de Velde could hold the gap and win the stage, if they let her.

During the absolute nail biter of a finish Van de Velde entered the last kilometer with about 15 seconds advantage, when the machine that is SD Worx launched yellow jersey holder Lotte Kopecky off the front to hunt her down and deliver her teammate Lorena Wiebes to the line first. It was heartbreak as Van de Velde was overtaken 400 meters ahead of the finish line.

Van de Velde’s race today was reminiscent of Lizzie Deignan’s winning strategy during the inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femmes in 2021, when she soloed all the way to the finish, dropping the peloton and never looking back. Several riders commented ahead of the race that each stage of this year’s Tour de France Femmes is akin to an individual one-day classics race; Van de Velde certainly threw down and raced the stage that way today.

The Other Winner of the Day : Katherin Hammes

Katherin Hammes of EF Education-Tibco-SVB launched a solo attack almost immediately, and by the 21km mark she had increased her lead on the peloton by almost two minutes by the time she hit the first climb of the day, the Côte du Peyroux.

The 34-year old German rider took the two QOM points on offer at the top, while stunningly holding her two minute lead as she crested the summit. It was a repeat performance as she flew up and over the Côte de Pératel, bagging two more QOM points.

Several riders, including American Coryn Labecki (Jumbo-Visma), tried to bridge the gap to Hammes and join her at the front, but they were all quickly reeled back in by the bunch as Hammes maintained her considerable lead.

While Hammes was eventually caught after leading the race over the first three climbs, she scored seven QOM points today.

Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) attacked over the last points climb of the day and no on was able to respond. Seeing Niewiadoma, last year’s third place finisher, take on the race like this was exciting, though it’s clear that she’s a marked woman. The peloton led by SD Worx didn’t let her get far before they caught and reabsorbed her—a smart move. Letting a rider like Niewiadoma get a gap of any real significance would not be a good idea.

Stage winner: Liane Lippert (Movistar)

Riding the train that was Demi Vollering’s lead out of teammate Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx), German national champion Leanne Lippert (Team Movistar) was able to kick around Kopecky 150 meters ahead of the line, snatching the stage win out of Kopecky’s hands in a thrilling sprint finish.

Lippert outsprinted the yellow jersey holder going 38.2 km per hour to capture what was a very meaningful win for her—while Lippert has been a fixture on the podium, this is her first WorldTour win in three years.

“I always race well in the rain so I was actually happy when (the rain) started. No, I didn’t think I was going to win. I just focused on Lotte the whole final (stretch), and I stayed really calm. My qualities are more on the uphill and longer harder sprints,” Lippert said after the race. “I’ve been waiting so long for a win and to win at the Tour de France [Femmes]…I couldn’t wish for more.”

The Biggest Winner of the Day: Kasia Niewiadoma

Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) dropped the hammer with 4.3K to go, forcing all the other riders who want to stay in GC contention, including race favorites Van Vleutan and Demi Vollering along with yellow jersey holder Lotte Kopecky, to react. The next move came 1K later when Niewiadoma instigated her second big attack.

While she didn’t end up winning the stage as she no doubt hoped she would, she has definitely put the rest of the peloton on notice.

The Biggest Loss of the Day: The Fans...Again

Anthony McCrossan and ex-pro cyclist turned commentator Hannah Walker are worlds better women’s cycling commentators than what Phil Liggett and Bob Roll had to offer during Stage 1 yesterday (Liggett at one point referred to the National Road Race Champion from Poland Marta Lach (Ceratizit-WNT) as “that polish girl up the road” after she launched a solo attack. Yes, it was that bad), so in terms of commentating we’ve had a huge improvement today.

However, we are once again only getting the last two and half hours of each stage this year, and we missed the chess moves earlier in the stage.

Fans were able to watch full stages for the men’s race and have come to realize how much happens during the early parts of every stage. What NBC/Peacock is offering fans for the Tour de France Femmes is analogous to broadcasting NBA games in their entirety while dumping us into a WNBA game at the start of the second half.

There have been gains made in the coverage of women’s racing in the last year, but there is much more to be done.

Gutsiest Ride of the Day: The three-woman breakaway of Eva van Agt, Anouska Koster and Yara Kastelijn

This trio launched an attack about 30K to the line. Yara Kastelijn (Fenix–Deceuninck) was clearly hunting the Queen of the Mountains polka dot jersey and she had the kick needed to take the points at the top of the 1.9km climb of Côte de Merlhac.

The two other riders in the breakaway, Eva van Agt (Jumbo Visma) and Anouska Koster (UNO-X) were seemingly focused on conserving energy to stay away, going for the stage win, so they didn’t put up much of a fight.

The trio made it to the last 20K mark with a gap of 45 seconds to the peloton when they were pummeled by a sudden downpour, right before the last descent to the finish. Kastelijn misjudged her line during a wet turn with about 10 km to go, and while she was able to stay upright despite the amount of water on the road, van Agt and Koster continued drilling it, dropping Kastelijn in the process. All three riders were eventually caught by the lead group after Kasia Niewiadoma’s first attack.

Sadly, Eva van Agt suffered a terrible crash on the descent to the finish after the group was caught. According the her team Jumbo-Visma she was taken to the hospital and it's unclear if she will start tomorrow.

Stage winner: Lotte Kopecky

Normally marked as a sprinter, Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) surprised the peloton by launching the perfectly-timed and definitive attack mid-climb with just under 10K to go. The team of the Belgian road race and time trial national champion, SD Worx, kept the peloton at bay behind her, as she powered to her 30th career win, leaving her mark on the 2023 Tour de France Femmes on day one.

She’ll start tomorrow in the yellow jersey. And the green sprinters jersey (which will be officially worn by second place green jersey winner Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio of AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep since Kopecky will be in yellow). And the polka dot Queen of the Mountains jersey (which will be worn by second place points holder and last year's third place finisher, Kasia Niewiadoma .)

The Biggest Winner of the Day: Lizzie Deignan

Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek) recently returned to racing in April after having her second child, when she cut her maternity leave short in order to race with her team in La Flèche Wallonne . She threw down and drove the tempo at the front of the peloton, setting a punishing pace as she took an impressive pull to set her team up for the climb to the stage finish line. The Lidl-Trek team has brought a stacked squad to take on the Tour, and they’ve already made it clear that they’re determined that this race won’t be the SD Worx show many are predicting.

The Biggest Loss of the Day: The Fans

By all accounts, the broadcast options for the men’s Tour available for us in the U.S. through NBC/Peacock was pretty great. The NBC broadcast featured multiple in-studio experts explaining the race tactics, we had ex-pros on a moto reporting from within the race, and another announcer dedicated entirely to roadside color—interviews with fans and even some of the parents of riders in the race.

For those of us who prefer a more traditional style of race announcing that focuses primarily on team tactics, analysis, and in-depth insights into what’s happening in the race in real time (not to mention zero commercials), the “World Feed” broadcast of the men’s Tour was available on Peacock, giving fans options.

After three weeks of stellar coverage of the men’s Tour de France, it was jarring to tune in to this first day of the Tour de France Femmes only to realize that none of that was happening for the women’s race. No in-studio experts, no substantive analysis, no moto announcers, no World Feed option, no pre- and post-race studio shows.

NBC/Peacock did bring in American ex-pro cyclist Megan Guarnier in as a commentator to accompany Phil Liggett and Bob Roll, both of whom are clearly not well-versed in women’s racing, but it was mentioned that she’s calling the race virtually from upstate New York, while Bob and Phil are in France since they have been calling the men’s race for the last three weeks.

It’s beyond disappointing. There is plenty of evidence of the audience size for the Tour de France Femmes , yet it’s still getting the second-class treatment by NBC/Peacock. We here at Bicycling don’t normally encourage watching international bike racing using a VPN option, but it seems like that route is the only option if we want to enjoy the same level of coverage for the Tour de France Femmes.

The Other Winner of the Day: Marta Cavalli

After suffering a horrific crash during the 2022 Tour de France Femmes, it’s been a long road to recovery for Marta Cavalli (FDJ-Suez). She was very open about the mental challenges she experienced post-crash, and in another sign of how much modern bike racing has evolved, her team stood behind her taking the time she needed to completely recover. She’s back at the top of her game heading into the Tour and will be one to watch during this year’s race.

Gutsiest Ride of the Day: Marta Lach

Marta Lach (Ceratizit-WNT), the Polish national road race champion, launched an impressive solo attack about 46K from the finish. She was drilling it out in front and managed to hold about a 30-second lead until the peloton decided to reel her back in as it got organized for the intermediate sprint, catching Lach about 31K ahead of the finish. While it was doubtful that she would be able to stay away to the finish, she definitely showed that she has matches to burn.

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2024 Could Be a Make-Or-Break Year for the Tour de France Femmes

I f there’s one depressing fact I’ve learned in nearly two decades of covering women’s cycling, it’s that, sadly, there’s rarely a moment to rest on one’s laurels in this sport—and that’s particularly true for race organizers, and team owners.

Just because a race does fantastically well one year in terms of unprecedented levels of viewership and media coverage or because a team is arguably the absolute best in the world doesn’t guarantee anything. It’s all easy come, easy go. That’s why I’m nervous about the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and why I believe that this year could be the most pivotal year for the race.

But why am I worried about the Tour de France Femmes in year three? After all, viewership numbers have been high, enthusiasm hasn’t waned, and sports bars are full of fans screaming for Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma. And yet... There are a few important factors to consider.

Last year, Zwift’s Kate Verroneau told me that the second year of the TDFF was scary for her: The first year, you’re riding a wave of hype. In the second year, the race has to stand as a great race, not just a “first.” What about the third year?

“There’s no kind of resting on the fact that last year was really successful,” Veronneau said then. “I look at it and think, ‘Last year was pretty easy sell: It was the first women’s Tour de France in over 30 years. That was easy to get the media on board, easy to get sponsors on board. It was the first time that that huge of an audience watched women’s racing.”

Year two was hugely successful, but what about year three?

The sponsorship dynamics at play

First, there’s the simple fact that this is year three of Zwift’s four-year commitment to the Tour de France Femmes in partnership with ASO. That means if Zwift isn’t planning to continue its support or is going to cut back its sponsorship budget, this is the year the race needs to look for a new sponsor.

Leaving it entirely to next year, the final year in their contract, is foolhardy. So I have to imagine that there’s some buzz happening behind the scenes already. I haven’t heard any scuttlebutt about them giving up their title sponsorship position, to be clear, but considering Zwift just had a round of layoffs and a shuffle in their C-suite , who knows where they’re heading? Hopefully into another lengthy contract, but it’s unclear. My fingers are crossed.

Viewership challenges

Viewership this year will also be more important than ever. High viewership numbers mean a better chance of securing new or renewed sponsorship dollars, and TdFF viewership has been undeniably impressive. But this year is going to make that tricky. The men’s Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes are separated this year by the Olympics. That means three weeks between the races, rather than the men’s race ending on the day the women’s race began.

In the past two years, it was easy to just continue tuning in if you’d been watching the men’s race. This year, viewers will have to actively seek it out starting August 12—the day after the Olympics finish. That is a lot of TV watching for cycling/sports fans to contend with. While serious fans will still tune in, those ‘medium’ fans may not.

The state of the cycling industry

Then, there’s the cycling industry landscape. Brands like Trek and Specialized are slashing budgets , and Shimano is reporting quarter after quarter of losses . To blithely assume that there’s a cycling company capable of taking Zwift’s place as title sponsor in the current landscape is a mistake.

I say all this not to be discouraging. It’s meant to be a rallying cry. What does this all mean for you, the person reading this?

I want to believe that this race will survive and thrive in the same way that Le Tour has for over a century. But I also know that it takes more than love to keep a race of this magnitude running. It takes cold, hard cash. It takes commitment from big businesses that often see women’s cycling as a line item that they can scrap when it’s time to tighten up their belts. It took decades to get back to a point where we have this race. It’s happened before, it’s been lost before. Let’s not let it happen again.

It’s time to get fired up and ensure that the Tour de France Femmes isn’t just a blip in the cycling history books. Mark your calendars, set a Google alert for the Tour de France Femmes, follow racers on social media, and plan watch parties—let’s make this the loudest Tour de France Femmes yet.

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ÇA COLLE ENTRE BOSTIK ET LE TOUR DE FRANCE FEMMES AVEC ZWIFT

Bostik, filiale du groupe Arkema et acteur mondial des adhésifs de spécialité pour les marchés de la construction, de la consommation et de l'industrie, développe des solutions d’étanchéité et de collage innovantes et multifonctionnelles.

Soucieux de s’engager pour la promotion du sport féminin et de favoriser l'inclusion et la diversité, Bostik s’associe au Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, La Flèche Wallonne Femmes et Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes.

Au-delà de ces rendez-vous féminins, Bostik est également partenaire de Paris-Roubaix, La Flèche Wallonne et Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

L’arrivée de Bostik en tant que partenaire officiel est un signal fort de soutien au développement du cyclisme féminin. Avec ce partenariat, Bostik souhaite contribuer à la belle dynamique que connait actuellement le cyclisme féminin porté notamment par le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Ce partenariat est une plus-value technique pour les courses. Les produits Bostik, axés sur la performance, utilisent des adhésifs intelligents pour fixer les numéros de dossard. Grâce à ces adhésifs sensibles à la pression, les numéros peuvent être retirés sans laisser de résidus, garantissant ainsi la réutilisation des maillots et réduisant les déchets. Bostik est fier de soutenir non seulement le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, mais aussi des courses cyclistes emblématiques telles que Paris-Roubaix et les Classiques Ardennaises. Ces épreuves font partie des plus emblématiques dans le cyclisme féminin et masculin. En tant que partenaire de performance pour ces courses, Bostik est déterminé à faire avancer le sport et permettre aux cyclistes féminines d'atteindre leur plein potentiel. 

Marion Rousse, directrice du Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift :

« Je salue le parti-pris fort de Bostik de soutenir le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift et le cyclisme féminin dans sa globalité. Au-delà d’un apport technique fondamental grâce à leurs solutions, ce choix d’accompagner le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift traduit la crédibilité et la force prise par le cyclisme féminin depuis quelques années. Gageons que cet engagement continuera de faire grandir l’ensemble de nos épreuves féminines, en pleine croissance. »  

Vincent Legros, PDG de Bostik:

« Le partenariat avec A.S.O est une opportunité unique de contribuer à l'évolution du sport féminin. En renforçant la visibilité à travers des événements prestigieux comme le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, en présentant des modèles féminins puissants et en brisant les stéréotypes de genre, Bostik renforce son engagement en faveur de l'inclusion et inspire la prochaine génération de cyclistes.»

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8 striking moments that defined the 2023 Tour de France Femmes

Team SD Worx go 1-2 on rough road to yellow, French riders flash positive performances, strict rules, incredible fans and other takeaways

To summarise the eight days of racing at the 2023 Tour de France avec Zwift in one word could be attempted with 'thrilling'. From the first decisive breakaway by Lotte Kopecky that put her in yellow to the final weekend with a winning attack on Col du Tourmalet by eventual champion Demi Vollering , it was a full week of action with unexpected story lines each day. 

The punctuation mark of the Tour was delivered by the Dutch squad in the stage 8 time trial in Pau, as Vollering finished second and stood on the stage podium between her teammates Marlen Reusser and Lotte Kopecky . All eight days saw the yellow jersey on the shoulders of just two SD Worx teammates, and Kopecky also took the green jersey and second overall. Team SD Worx won four of eight stages with four different riders.

However, the race had a plethora of pivotal moments and an abundance of unpredictable outcomes, including Vollering overcoming a 20-second time penalty, two race directors being tossed from the race, and sprinter Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich) and defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) remaining winless.

Positive stories included Kasia Niewiadoma's strong performance to claim the mountains classification and a spot on the podium, finishing just 21 hundredths of a second behind Kopecky for third overall. There was a different stage winner each day, with some even scoring their first professional win on the world's biggest stage. 

And French fans proved they love Le Tour, be it the men's race or the women's race. They were rewarded with exciting performances by French riders such as Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Human Powered Health), who was the virtual leader on stage 4, Juliette Labous (Team dsm-firmenich), who finished fifth overall, and Cédrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit-WNT), who won the best young riders jersey.

Cyclingnews  Women's Editor Kirsten Frattini and contributor Lukas Knöfler were on the ground at the Tour de France Femmes to capture the highlights of the race.

SD Worx race through controversy, end up on top

Team SD Worx came into the second edition of the Tour de France Femmes with one goal - to win the yellow jersey. However, their road to get there was not as smooth as many might have expected.

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Off to a winning start, Lotte Kopecky, who said she initially was added to the roster as a support rider, made a late-race attack and held off a chasing peloton to win the opening stage in Clermont-Ferrand, taking the event's first yellow jersey.

Minutes after crossing the finish line, however, rival teams expressed disappointment in the SD Worx tactics, accusing their riders of blocking the chase behind Kopecky.

Members of the peloton also accused SD Worx of not taking up the chasing responsibilities while in yellow on stage 3, on a day that worked out entirely in SD Worx's favour, with Lorena Wiebes winning the bunch sprint into Montignac-Lascaux.

"If we were not the team, but a different team was winning everything, I would be frustrated, too. That's, of course, what is happening to the other teams," SD Worx Director Anna van der Breggen said of the complaints made against her riders in the open stages.

Then on stage 4 into Rodez, Vollering crossed the line in second place but thought she had won. She raised her arms in a somewhat hesitant victory salute, but officials soon informed her that breakaway rider Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) had already won the race over a minute earlier. The silver lining was that Demi Vollering had gained eight seconds on rival Van Vleuten.

Vollering's task was made exponentially more challenging given the controversial circumstances surrounding her team after she was docked 20 seconds on stage 5 and her director Danny Stam was kicked off the Tour. Although Kopecky was still in the yellow jersey, the controversy and stress on the team began to show in the mood outside the team bus.  

However, come stage 7, when Vollering crested the summit of the iconic Col du Tourmalet, all complaints and controversy appeared to be forgotten as she gained nearly two minutes on her rivals and all but secured the yellow jersey ahead of the final day of racing.

The team's celebrations peaked when Marlen Reusser, Vollering and Koepcky went 1-2-3 in the closing time trial, and Vollering sealed the overall victory at the Tour de France Femmes. In total, the team won four stages and Kopecky won the green points jersey and finished second overall.

"We got a lot of shit about us, sometimes not correctly, but sometimes correctly. But I'm very happy that Demi has 'put the dots on the i'. I'm glad it's not about the 20 seconds," Kopecky said. (KF)

The defining moment: La Géante Demi Vollering emerging from the mist on the Tourmalet

The mountaintop finish on the Col du Tourmalet, the first Pyréenées climb ever included in the men’s Tour de France, was the most-anticipated stage of the race. And it held up to expectations with a panache-powered solo attack from Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) on the descent from the Col d’Aspin before Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) destroyed her competition on the Col du Tourmalet to take the stage and the yellow jersey. The weather with low-hanging clouds and extremely limited visibility on the final climb only served to increase the momentousness of the stage. When Vollering emerged from the mist and pushed through the last hairpins on the final kilometre, her mouth wide open as she was gasping for air at over 2000 metres of altitude. She looked like Le Géant (The Giant), the famous statue of a climbing cyclist that is installed at the top of the Col du Tourmalet – she was La Géante. This image has already become part of the legend that surrounds the Tour de France and will be talked about for decades to come. (LK)

Race jury cracks down

After each of the eight stages of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, the official race communique included long lists of team staff and riders who had violated the rules of the race. Fines were handed out for riders' carelessly disposing of waste or directors maneuvering incorrectly among the caravan.

In other more severe incidents, the race jury held a strict stance on regulations surrounding drafting and riders' safety that saw time penalties and even disqualifications at this Tour de France Femmes.

An incident on stage 4 into Rodez saw two motorbikes try to pass the day's breakaway on narrow roads. The first passed Kathrin Hammes (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB), but the second clipped her handlebars with its large rigid plastic panniers.

The CPA Women initially urged that the moto driver and photographer be removed from the race after anger and critical comments swept across social media. However, some of the riders in the breakaway defended and forgave the photographer's motorbike; they received a 200 CHF fine instead.

The most dramatic incident during the eight days of racing happened on stage 5 when the race jury handed Demi Vollering (SD Worx) a 20-second time penalty for drafting back into the caravan after a flat tire. The following day, the race jury notified the team's director Danny Stam that a decision had been made to remove him from the race for dangerous driving and inappropriate comments he made toward the commissaires panel.

The race jury also disqualified Lotta Henttala for holding onto the team car during stage 6 into Blagnac. AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep's director sportif Servais Knaven, who was driving the team vehicle then, was also excluded from the race. The team later admitted that Henttala held onto a water bottle for 10 seconds, which they regretted, but denied that she held on to the team car.

Stam argued that these types of violations happen daily at the men's Tour de France and mostly go unnoticed by the race jury. However, just because it happens all the time in men's racing doesn't make it right, and the race jury at the women's Tour de France showed they were serious about the race rules. (KF)

'Play the game, but also play the poker'

At this Tour de France Femmes, some moments illustrated why patience and being able to 'play the game of poker' could lead to a successful outcome.

Team dsm-firmenich was one of the teams that missed out on a victory at this Tour de France Femmes. Their sprinter Charlotte Kool came close with a third place on stage 1 into Clermont-Ferrand and was second on stage 6 into Albi, but she had prepared all season for a victory.

She and her team will likely reflect upon her seventh place on stage 3 into Montignac-Lascaux the most after this race. There will also be some learning lessons on navigating a race against a powerful team like SD Worx, including their former rider and world's best sprinter Lorena Wiebes.

SD Worx and Wiebes used their inside knowledge to outfox Team dsm-firmenich and gambled on the likelihood that they would chase lone attacker Julie van de Velde (Fenix-Deceuninck).

In a masterful game of poker, SD Worx let Team dsm-firmenich burn their matches in the chase, only coming through to close the gap entirely in the last moments of the race, with Wiebes winning the bunch sprint.

"Sometimes, you have to gamble. We also found ourselves in this situation many times where we had to lead the chase. It's part of the game," Wiebes said.

Movistar's Annemiek van Vleuten later praised SD Worx for their success in the Tour de France Femmes' opening stages but said she hoped to see more teams active and reacting to the dominant Dutch team during the eight-day race. But she also noted the importance of holding back and allowing the team to do the work.

"In the end, it always surprises me that some teams are going to help SD Worx for the victory. It's happening during the races, but it makes you think, 'play the game, but also play the poker.'

"SD Worx are good at poker, and I have to shout out to them because they are good at the poker game. It may be time for the other teams to play the poker. It would be more smart." (KF)

Annemiek van Vleuten gracious in defeat

Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) went into the season with an ambitious goal of winning all three grand tours. While she succeeded at La Vuelta Femenina and the Giro d'Italia Donne, she was upset to have finished just off the podium in fourth place at the Tour de France Femmes.

Despite feeling disappointed in her own performance, of which she said she felt unwell with stomach problems in the decisive final two stages, Van Vleuten was gracious in her defeat, congratulating and praising Demi Vollering and SD Worx on their overall success.

"Demi Vollering was super good, the whole [SD Worx] team, they did super well. She is a young rider, and it is not easy to have so much pressure on your shoulders. I can also feel the pressure. I'm 40, and I can also feel the pressure, and I'm a bit more used to it," Van Vleuten said.

"She can deal with the pressure, and it's not easy in the Tour de France; there's a lot of tension, so shout out to her that she can handle it already at such a young age. She had an amazing performance."

Van Vleuten also praised her teammates - Liane Lippert and Emma Norsgaard - for their two stage wins at the Tour, calling them memorable moments. "I think we achieved a lot of beautiful memories," she said of the team at the Tour de France Femmes, and her last three seasons at Movistar.

Van Vleuten will next compete at the World Championships in Glasgow, where she lines up as the defending champion but revealed that she will not be the Dutch team leader. She will instead work for Vollering and Lorena Wiebes in their pursuit of the road race world title.

Van Vleuten is set to retire at the end of this season after a sparkling 16-year career in pro cycling. (KF)

French riders excel

The French riders may not have been the main characters as the race played out on the biggest stage of women’s cycling, but they took on important supporting roles without which the 2023 Tour de France Femmes would not have been the same.

Marie-Morgane Le Deunff (Arkéa Pro Cycling Team) was the first rider to attack in the 2023 Tour de France Femmes, and the French riders kept on attacking to join breakaways. Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Human Powered Health) was one of them and was in the maillot jaune virtual for much of stage 4 when a 14-rider breakaway was given a huge advantage on the longest-ever stage in Women’s WorldTour cycling. \

In the end, Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) dropped Cordon-Ragot to briefly take the virtual lead herself and win the stage, but the Frenchwoman was happy with her performance after a crazy year. After winning the French championships in June, Cordon-Ragot suffered a stroke in late 2022, the team she had signed with for 2023 collapsed in December, and when Zaaf Cycling Team, the team she signed for in the last minute, turned out not to have funds to pay their riders, she moved to her current team in April.

“When we had ten minutes, I really thought about it. But I knew I would have to drop or follow Kastelijn. She went for the stage win, but I gave it all I had, and I have no regrets. I’m always bouncing back from big difficulties, but that’s what I do and will continue to do. There are people who have it way worse than me, there is a war in Ukraine, they are suffering much more than I am,” Cordon-Ragot put things into perspective the day after she made every French cycling fan dream.

Cédrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit-WNT) took the white jersey of the best U23 rider on stage 1 and defended it all the way to Pau, becoming the first French rider to win a classification jersey in the resurrected women’s Tour. And last but by no means least, Juliette Labous (Team dsm-firmenich) finished fifth overall after being runner-up at the Giro d’Italia Donne, confirming once more that she is France’s big stage race hope. (LK)

A well-designed parcours

Clermont-Ferrand was proud of hosting not one, but both Tours de France in 2023, with banners in the city announcing "2 Tours sinon rien" (2 Tours or nothing). The parcours from the city in the Massif Central to Pau crossed varying terrain and was designed very well, not giving any one type of rider a big advantage over another and favouring complete riders for the general classification while also offering opportunities for three breakaway victories. And despite the large time gaps on stage 7 to the Tourmalet, the finishing ITT in Pau still played a role as Lotte Kopecky moved from fourth to second overall after losing the maillot jaune to her teammate Demi Vollering the day before.

In the 2022 edition, the race visited the Vosges and the Jura. In 2023, it came to the Massif Central and the Pyrénées, with the queen stage finishing on the Col du Tourmalet. The logical next step would be the Alps, more specifically the Savoie, Haute-Savoie, and Isère départements. The 2024 edition features the race’s first foreign Grand Départ in Rotterdam, and the southern Alps would simply be too far away for the race to reach without exorbitant transfers. La Super Planche des Belles Filles in 2022 and the Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet in 2023 suggest that the ASO is keen to include at least one very famous climbs every year, so the race might come to Alpe d’Huez next year. The success of the finishing ITT could even mean a final ITT up the famous hairpins like the one in the men’s Tour de France in 2004.

Other Alpine climbs like the Col de Galibier (ideally from the Valloire side with the Col de Télégraphe as an ‘appetiser’) or Col de la Madeleine, the Mont Ventoux in the Provence, a return to the Pyrénées, but climbing the Port de Balès or other more easterly cols, and maybe even a finish on the Puy de Dôme may be in the future for the Tour de France Femmes. (LK)

To the French public, it's simply the Tour de France

Everyone we spoke to during these nine days in France referred to the race as simply “the Tour de France”. No distinction was made between the men’s and women’s race, whether it was the signs outlining parking restrictions in the start and finish towns, the postman in Maurillac who was overjoyed to have the race come to his hometown, or the riders themselves. A bike race is a bike race is a bike race, and the Tour is the Tour is the Tour.

The roadside crowds waved to every car that came through on the race route and cheered on every rider with the same enthusiasm, and children like Antoine on stage 6 had an even better chance to meet their stars up close and personal than they would at the men’s Tour. All this shows that the argument that women’s cycling isn’t as attractive as men’s races simply doesn’t hold up: If you build it, they will come. (LK)

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Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.

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