Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is the first French winner in four editions of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, securing her yellow jersey by triumphing on Sunday’s final stage. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider abandoned road cycling for mountain biking before returning this season and winning Paris-Roubaix. Last year’s champion Katarzyna Niewiadoma jumped on the final podium at the expense of Sarah Gigante. Canada’s Nadia Gontova was top Canadian in 10th.
The GC Situation Overnight
In earning France’s third consecutive stage win, Ferrand-Prévot took a 2:37 lead over impressive Aussie Gigante. Niewiadoma wanted Gigante’s podium spot and would attack her on the descents. Vollering might be worried about EF Education-Oatly’s demon descender Kerbaol nicking her fourth.
1) Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France/Visma-Lease a Bike) 26:16:11
2) Sarah Gigante (Australia/AG Insurance-Soudal) +2:37
3) Demi Vollering (The Netherlands/FDJ-Suez) +3:18
4) Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland/Canyon-SRAM) +3:40
Vallieres was sitting in 18th place and had a great chance of eclipsing Clara Emond’s best GC result for a Canadian in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, 23rd.
The Course
Sunday’s menu? Three climbs, none of them averaging less than 7.1 percent. The Col de Joux Plane was smack dab in the middle of Sunday’s final stage and featured a dodgy descent, and the final 25-km stretch was a long uphill drag which grew steeper near the finish in Châtel Les Portes du Soleil.
Having dropped from fifth to 12th on the Col de la Madeleine, Anna van der Breggen broke away with a teammate. When Lotte Kopecky and Lucinda Brand bridged over, SD Worx-Protime had a trio out front.
Sixteen kilometres into the race, Gigante already had a descending deficit. Niewiadoma and Vollering and their teams worked to distance both Gigante and Ferrand-Prévot. The GC battle doomed the SD Worx breakaway.
Gigante and PFP’s group merged with Niewiadoma and Vollering’s before the first categorized climb. At the 28 km mark came Cat. 1 Côte d’Arâches-la-Frasse. Van der Breggen continued to make moves. These attacks popped the yellow jersey’s teammates off the back, Visma having worked hard to close the gaps between the groups. Finally, van der Breggen got loose and took a minute on the Ferrand-Prévot set by the crest. Vallieres fell away…
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