Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney has put to bed the mystery surrounding the Mont Ventoux Strava QOM, updating her Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift stage upload to prove she shattered the record.

The Canyon-SRAM rider soloed to victory on stage seven atop the mountain, but did not initially log a time on the official leaderboard due to her Strava privacy settings.

The QOM – the fastest time recorded by a woman – for the verified 'Mont Ventoux (par Bédoin)' segment at first went to Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L’IMAD), who finished third on the stage.

Following the race’s finale on Sunday, however, Niewiadoma-Phinney updated her Strava file, turning off her privacy restrictions, to show that she rode the climb more than a minute and a half faster than the Italian.

The Polish rider's record-breaking time for the 20.74km segment was one hour, six minutes and two seconds. Her average speed was 18.8kph – 0.4kph faster than Longo Borghini – on an average gradient of 8.3%.

In a press conference ahead of the Tour de France Femmes, Niewiadoma-Phinney declared herself “ready to break” the Strava QOM on Mont Ventoux, a climb she described as a “very iconic”.

When informed by Cycling Weekly after the race that Longo Borghini had initially taken the crown, Niewiadoma-Phinney said: “I was like nearly two minutes faster. [The QOM] is there, but it's not loading for some reason. I don’t know why.”

The answer, it turned out, lay in the fact the 31-year-old's privacy settings hide the ends of her rides on Strava. As such, her stage seven upload appeared to finish a few hundred metres short of the summit of Mont Ventoux, meaning she did not publicly record a time for the segment.

This has now been updated, as has the leaderboard.

More than 19,000 women have ridden the Strava segment for Mont Ventoux.

Seven of the top-10 best times were recorded last Friday during the Tour de France Femmes stage; alongside Niewiadoma-Phinney and Longo Borghini, the leaderboard counts Paula Blasi (UAE Team L’IMAD), Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal), Marion Bunel (Visma-Lease a Bike), Thalita de Jong (Human Powered Health) and Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal).

Also in the top-10 are former British hill-climb champion Illi Gardner and amateur Victoria Stansfield, who won L’Étape du Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, a sportive event held across one stage of the race.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) holds the men's record – the KOM – with a time of 53 minutes and 47 seconds.

This year’s Tour de France Femmes was won by Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez), who became the first woman in history to earn two titles in the race. Niewiadoma-Phinney finished second overall, followed by Longo Borghini in Nice.

“We came here to fight for the best possible result and, I mean, I won on Mont Ventoux, and I feel like that was the biggest day of my life, cycling-wise,” Niewiadoma-Phinney said in her post-race press conference. “I’m super proud and happy about it.”

The tension that followed a heated Stage 8 finale between Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) and Demi Vollering’s FDJ United-SUEZ team appears to have been settled, despite animated words between the two Tour de France Femmes rivals in the opening kilometres of Stage 9.

TV cameras caught Vollering and Niewiadoma-Phinney riding alongside one another early in Sunday’s final stage having a conversation. Vollering later confirmed that she had approached her rival to clear the air over the previous day’s controversial finale.

"It was good that we had a talk together," Vollering, draped in yellow, said after the stage. "It was all good in the end."

Niewiadoma-Phinney similarly suggested the matter had been resolved between the riders.

"Sometimes it’s nice for us riders to talk through things and maybe leave the media out of it," she said. "At the end of the day, there’s so much going on when you’re full gas.

"We’ve been competing together for years, and we will be competing for the next year or so. None of us ever wants to have any sort of beef."

The discussion followed a bitter end to Stage 8, when Niewiadoma-Phinney was furious with FDJ rider Célia Gery after feeling she had been blocked and pushed into the barriers by the French champion during the finale.

Niewiadoma-Phinney publicly confronted Gery after the finish and subsequently criticised the French rider and FDJ’s actions, saying she had lost all respect for the team over the incident.

Vollering said Sunday that FDJ had never intended to block Niewiadoma-Phinney and that Gery’s line had instead been dictated by the road.

"I went to Kasia this morning to say that we never had the intentions to block her," Vollering explained. "It was also a tricky corner. There was a pothole in the middle, so it was only one way to take this line, and Célia had no other choice.

"Célia also, in this moment, didn’t realise she did anything wrong."

The controversy spiralled overnight on social media, and FDJ-Suez's Director Sportif Lars Boom said that Gery even received death threats.

"[Gery] got a lot of nasty messages, which makes me always very angry, especially because she’s such a young girl still, and we should always protect young people from these kinds of stupid actions from people who don’t think and just send a message," Vollering revealed.

"It’s very sad to think that you go to somebody’s profile and send them threatening messages. I can really not understand this, but it makes me very angry. And she had a really rough time."

The FDJ leader said she had been disappointed by how publicly the criticism had been directed at an individual rider while emotions were still running high.

"I wanted to have a chat with Kasia about this also because I was just a bit disappointed that she let all the emotions out like that about a rider and saying their name," Vollering said.

"You should always try to avoid these kinds of things. First of all, we are riders, and then next to it, we are human beings, we are real persons. If you say somebody’s name or you really attack somebody like this, it really hurts somebody and can really do bad things to people."

There was little time for either rider to dwell on the dispute as the stakes were as high as they can get. Vollering started the 99.2km final stage with a mere eight seconds over Niewiadoma-Phinney on general classification, leaving the yellow jersey still very much in play on a course featuring four ascents of the Col d’Èze.

Asked how she had managed to shut out the controversy with the Tour still on the line, Vollering offered a simple solution.

"Don’t go on social media. That helps a lot," she said.

On the final ascent of the Col d’Èze, Vollering made the decisive move around 800 metres from the summit, with an acceleration to which Niewiadoma-Phinney had no response. Vollering crested the top with an 18-second advantage and continued to extend it to well over a minute on the descent into Nice to claim her second Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift victory.

By the time the celebrations began, any lingering animosity appeared to have disappeared, with the two rivals embracing and chatting amicably.

 "[Demi] makes me work harder and then dream to come back here and get the yellow jersey again," Niewiadoma-Phinney said.

Vollering and Niewiadoma-Phinney have now both finished on the final podium in all five editions of the Tour de France Femmes since its 2022 revival. They've also both won the Tour, so while the tension from Stage 8 appears to have been put to rest, the rivalry between the pair is certainly going nowhere.

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney put in an all-time best climbing performance when she won on Mont Ventoux at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. She dropped the entire peloton, claimed the stage by more than a minute, and rode herself into the yellow jersey.

Fans were confused, then, when she uploaded her ride to Strava, and didn’t have the fastest recorded women's time – the QOM. That honour instead went to Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L’IMAD), who finished third on the day, with a time of 1:07:44 on the official 20.74km ‘Mont Ventoux (par Bédoin)’ segment.

When Cycling Weekly questioned the Italian about the QOM on Saturday, she said she only had it “probably because Kasia didn’t publish yet”. But Niewiadoma-Phinney had published by that point. Why did she not take the crown?

“I think I did,” the Canyon-Sram rider told Cycling Weekly quizzically on Sunday, during her press conference for finishing runner-up overall. “I think so, because I was looking at it also. That’s the one – because there are a few different segments – the one that Longo has right now?

“I was like nearly two minutes faster,” she continued. “[The QOM] is there, but it’s not loading for some reason. I don’t know why.”

The answer, it turned out, lay in Niewiadoma-Phinney’s Strava privacy settings; due to hiding the ends of her rides, her file appeared to finish a few hundred metres short of Ventoux’s summit. This meant her QOM time on the segment was not recorded on the public leaderboards.

Asked if she will now amend the file to secure the QOM, Niewiadoma-Phinney smiled: “Oh yeah.”

A surreal scene then unfolded in the media centre when Longo Borghini, who was waiting for her press conference for finishing third, raised her hand to ask a question.

“Hi Kasia, it’s Elisa Longo Borghini from UAE Team L’IMAD,” she began. “I want to ask you a question: can you not upload your Strava segment? I have the QOM and I’d like to keep it.”

Laughing, Niewiadoma-Phinney said: “It depends how many drinks you buy me for that.” Longo Borghini replied: “It depends how cheap drunk you are… We can make a deal later.”

Seven of the top 10 women's Strava times on Mont Ventoux were set on Friday during stage seven of the Tour de France Femmes.

As it stands, and before Niewiadoma-Phinney has updated her file, Paula Blasi (UAE Team L'IMAD) is second, Kim Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) fourth, with Marion Bunel (Visma-Lease a Bike), Thalita de Jong (Human Powered Health), Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) and Maeva Squiban (UAE Team L'IMAD) also featuring on the leaderboard.

Reflecting on her entire Tour performance, Niewiadoma-Phinney said she was “happy and satisfied” with her second place, because she was confident she had given her “absolute best”.

“We came here to fight for the best possible result and, I mean, I won on Mont Ventoux, and I feel like that was the biggest day of my life, cycling-wise,” she said. “I’m super proud and happy about it.”

Demi Vollering said Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney “is not the one who can really say something about [fair play]”, after the Canyon-Sram rider accused Vollering's team-mate of blocking her on stage eight of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

Niewiadoma-Phinney confronted FDJ United-Suez's Célia Gery beyond the finish line of Saturday's stage, accusing her of forcing her into the barriers when Vollering launched her race-winning attack. “If [FDJ] want to compete, they should compete [with] fair play,” Niewiadoma-Phinney later said. “Honestly, I lost all respect for them for that.”

Ahead of the final stage in Nice, Vollering hit back at Niewiadoma-Phinney during an interview in the mixed zone.

“She really attacked my team-mate, and I think it’s not so fair to do that so high in emotions,” the yellow jersey wearer told TNT Sports.

“I didn’t forget about what she did when I was on the ground two years ago, so if she’s speaking about fair play, then I think she is not the one that can really say something about that.”

The incident Vollering referred to came on stage five of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes, when the Dutchwoman crashed with 6.5km to go, and lost her yellow jersey to Niewiadoma-Phinney, who sprinted to second place on the stage.

The Polish rider said at the time that crashes are “an unfortunate part of racing”. She went on to win that edition of the Tour by four seconds.

Vollering also came out to the defence of her team-mate Gery on Sunday after the 20-year-old received abuse on social media following the blocking accusations.

The incident sparked a debate among cycling fans as to whether Gery had committed any wrongdoing. Some social media users insulted the French champion and called for her to be disqualified from the race.

“I find it really sad that we attack each other like this after the finish line,” Vollering said of Niewiadoma-Phinney's comments.

“Célia never did something on purpose. It was also a very tricky corner – there was a pothole in the middle – so there was only one line to take, and Kasia chose to go into the corner next to Célia.

“I feel really sad about what is happening at the moment and how much shit Célia gets over her. She’s still so young. We really should protect her. It’s a very nasty world out there on social media, and it really worries me sometimes how it’s developing. You know, you can really tear a person down like that, and it should never be like this.”

Vollering led Niewiadoma-Phinney by eight seconds going into Sunday's final stage.

Also speaking ahead of the stage, Niewiadoma-Phinney defended her comments from Saturday: “I expressed my opinion. I know what's right, let's say, and what's not maybe necessarily right. It's not that I make things up, and I think I expressed what I had, and nothing has changed since that.”

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-Sram) accused FDJ United-Suez of blocking her against the barriers in the finale of stage eight of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift as she tried to follow Demi Vollering’s stage-winning attack.

The Polish rider, who took the yellow jersey on Mont Ventoux on Friday, lost her race lead in Nice after she was unable to close the gap to Vollering.

Beyond the seafront finish line, Niewiadoma-Phinney confronted FDJ United-Suez’s French champion Célia Gery, and was captured by Wielerflits saying: “Why did you do that? Why did you close me to the barriers? Was it part of the plan?”

The incident is understood to have happened with around 6.5km to go in the stage, when Vollering launched her first of three accelerations.

Helicopter footage showed Gery pacing on the front of the group, before the camera angle switched, and after a slight broadcasting delay, Vollering appeared on the attack. Although the exact moment was not clearly shown on TV, Niewiadoma-Phinney said she was impeded by the French champion.

“I definitely thought that [FDJ United-Suez] would do something,” the Canyon-Sram rider said. “They always have a plan, so I wasn’t surprised. I was super annoyed at the beginning of the climb because Gery, on purpose, just blocked me to the barriers, where I had to stop pedalling.

“I feel like if they want to compete, they should compete [with] fair play, and not look to close me into the barriers, because I feel like it’s so childish. Honestly, I lost all the respect for them for that.”

Niewiadoma-Phinney’s frustration was clear when she returned to her Canyon-Sram team bus and vented to her sports directors. Four members of team staff then huddled around a telephone to rewatch the incident, with a view of sharing footage with ASO, the race organiser.

“If it was unfair, then there’s a VAR [video assistant referee], there’s a jury, and they will act on it,” Canyon sports director Rolf Aldag explained.

There were ultimately no sanctions in the jury’s post-stage report, which made no mention of the incident.

Asked for their response to Niewiadoma-Phinney’s comments, FDJ United-Suez said they believed there was no wrongdoing on their part.

“I spoke with Célia about it. She didn’t block her, she just went back onto Demi’s wheel,” sports director Lars Boom told The Athletic.

Boom explained the plan was for Gery to follow Vollering’s attack in order to help her leader later in the race. “Blocking is not on my mind,” he said. “What’s on my mind is that Demi needed to enter the corner first with Célia on her wheel. We never talked about blocking. Of course, we want to race fair.”

Stephen Delcourt, Vollering's team manager, echoed the same sentiment. “Demi went first into the corner to take more speed, and Célia just went to the right. There is no fault of Célia,” he said.

“I understand when you are Kasia you search for excuses just after the line, because you never expect to lose yellow today,” Delcourt added. “It doesn’t change the vision that I have for Kasia; she’s a really, really great champion.”

Asked for her view of the incident in her stage winner's press conference, Vollering said: “I cannot say anything about this because apparently it happened behind me, and I don’t have eyes on my back, and neither does Célia – she doesn’t have eyes on her back.”

“I’m sure [Gery] didn’t do it on purpose. I think Kasia also knows deep in her heart that that kind of thing just happens sometimes in racing. It’s the shit part of racing and also the tricky part of racing.”

The Tour de France Femmes will come to a close on Sunday with a final stage starting and finishing in Nice. The route counts four ascents of Col d'Èze (7.7km at 5.9%).

Vollering goes into the final day with an eight-second lead over Niewiadoma-Phinney, and 72 seconds over Marlen Reusser (Movistar).

It’s just after midday in the river-banked commune of La Voulte-sur-Rhône, and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney is daring to believe. “I’m not going to lie,” she begins, speaking to a TV crew at the start of stage seven of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, “the dream of mine is to win at the top of the climb. Mont Ventoux is so iconic that it would be a career-defining moment.”

It seems like a bold statement. Niewiadoma-Phinney, remember, has not made a habit of winning races; until Friday, she had never won a stage of a Grand Tour, and had only collected three victories in seven years. A win on Mont Ventoux? She’s more likely to lose time to her GC rivals, some scoff at the thought. But they’re fools for underestimating a former Tour champion.

You see, Niewiadoma-Phinney has done her homework. She’s reconned the climb three times, familiarised herself with all of its 16km of tarmac, and though she doesn’t tell the interviewer, she’s got an audacious plan: attack with 11km to go, and solo away.

If all the right notes are played in time, she’ll soar from third to first overall, and end the day in the yellow jersey.

Fast forward five hours. Niewiadoma-Phinney is lying on a concrete slab under the red-tipped transmitter tower at the summit of Mont Ventoux. She kisses her fingers and crosses her chest. She then sits up, and beams with a big, toothy smile.

A member of the race organisation is waiting beside her to take her to the podium, built on top of the coarse limestone gravel. The Canyon-Sram rider started the day trailing yellow by a minute and 17 seconds. Not only has she won the stage, but she now leads by 15 seconds. Here’s how she did it.

“Kasia is, you know her, a little bit all or nothing,” Rolf Aldag, Canyon-Sram director of sport, tells Cycling Weekly outside his team bus. It’s an attitude that has seen his rider come agonisingly close to victories (like her third place on stage five), but also makes her easy to bring on board with a plan. Canyon-Sram's big Tour de France plot was hatched last November; in a presentation to the team, they declared they were coming to win.

“There was no other logic,” says Aldag. “If you have a former winner, someone who’s always been on the podium, you can’t go there and say, ‘Let’s see what happens. Maybe fifth is a good place.’”

The race started well. Seventh on day one, Niewiadoma-Phinney kept pace with GC favourites Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez), Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Marlen Reusser (Movistar) on days two and three and then, amazingly, put in a career-best time trial performance on day four to stay within contention. Bolstered by the performance, Aldag began to sketch out a blueprint.

“[Newiadoma-Phinney and I] just randomly met at breakfast. Nobody was there. And I was like, ‘Well, what do you think? What is your self-belief? Where can we support? Do you trust yourself?’” he recalls.

On Ventoux, there was one clear option: “If we wanted to go for yellow, we couldn’t wait until they attacked. We needed to get out of the forest alone, with a decent gap… It was exactly as planned.”

At the foot of the climb, Niewiadoma-Phinney looked to her right and spotted her parents, who had come to surprise her. “I could see my dad crying,” she said, “and I thought I just needed to make them proud.”

It was only a few kilometres later that she made her winning move. It came just inside 10km to go, a counter to an acceleration by Vollering, that saw Niewiadoma-Phinney peel to the left, kick ahead, and immediately draw out a 10-second lead.

Vollering and Reusser looked at each other, but neither closed the gap. Within 2km, it grew to almost a minute. “They were playing games,” Aldag smiles. “That was exactly what we were hoping for.”

Niewiadoma-Phinney, too, had it all worked out. "My big idea was to make it to Chalet [Reynard] with 6km to go on my own, because I knew with the wind we had today, if someone was chasing behind they would try to stay on the wheel as much as possible,” she later revealed.

“Once I made it to Chalet, there was a lot of headwind, but I knew in the back they would just play the game.”

At that same point, a motorbike passed her and flashed her the time gap on a chalkboard. It showed she was closing in on taking the yellow jersey. She kicked out of the saddle, dropped back down low, and ploughed on through the lunar expanse.

“From the recon, I knew that the more speed you take into the corners, the more you get out of them, so I just tried to keep the momentum going,” she said.

Her team-mates shouted encouragement into their radios, hoping to do the same. “I really had no doubt that she would win it,” Antonia Niedermaier said post-stage. “I told her, ‘Kasia, you’re the strongest. I believe in you. You’re the queen.’”

Riding shotgun in the follow car, Aldag was also feeling confident. “We’re nearly at 2,000m. I think Kasia is super efficient here, and it’s day seven of the race. This is something you cannot forget,” he says. “Same day, same race, but on stage two would probably be a different outcome. But she’s so fatigue-resistant.”

Polka dot flags lapped against the snow marker posts that lead to the summit. By the finish line, fans teetered on their feet, blown by the gusts that traced down the final straight. Their eyes gazed back across mountain, and suddenly Niewiadoma-Phinney appeared, alone in the distance, charging around the final corner.

Vollering and Reusser chased behind, but the gap was too big. By the time they passed under the gantry, Niewiadoma-Phinney was already strewn out beyond it on the ground.

Niedermaier, sixth across the line, was the first to congratulate her. “You’re the queen,” she told her team leader, this time to her face, as the pair sat cross-legged and hugged.

Niewiadoma-Phinney laughed between gasps for air. “I said winning here would be a career-defining moment,” she recalled. “I feel like I can retire now.”

That retirement, however, will have to wait a few more days at least. Now back in the yellow jersey she took home in 2024, Niewiadoma-Phinney has two stages left to race, and a 15-second lead to defend. “I definitely expect a massive fight for everything,” she says. “Bonus seconds, basically everything. The gap is so small.”

Fortunately, she knows what it takes. Two years ago, when she won the Tour, she did so by just four seconds – the smallest winning margin in the history of both the men's and women's races. This year's finale could be even closer.

“Nice is going to be a big, big battle,” says Aldag, looking ahead to the weekend. “I would have loved to have 40 seconds, not 15, but it is what it is and we deal with it... It's all in to try and win the Tour.”

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney flew to stage seven victory and into the yellow jersey on Mont Ventoux and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift on Friday, in an historic ride.

The Canyon-SRAM rider, winner of the race in 2024, attacked with 9.7km to go on the famous mountain, and gradually built up a huge lead as race leader Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) looked at each other. The pair were unable, or unwilling, to close the gap, as Niewiadoma-Phinney pressed on.

Stage seven's winner was 1:17 behind Reusser heading into the stage, but ended the day ahead, with Vollering driving off the front in the final 500m to also take time on the yellow jersey. Niewiadoma-Phinney now leads the race, 15 seconds ahead of Vollering, with Reusser in third, a further 24 seconds behind. Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L'IMAD) was third on the stage, ahead of Reusser.

Despite winning the race overall two years ago, this was Niewiadoma-Phinney's first Tour stage win, putting her in pole position with two more stages of the race to come.

Vollering could not leave behind Reusser until the closing stages, as Niewiadoma-Phinney flew away, not just holding onto her lead, but extending it on one of cycling's most famous climbs.

"Honestly, it’s hard to describe my feelings because I’m speechless," Niewiadoma-Phinney said post-stage. "I feel so much gratitude and I don’t know, this victory goes to so many people that were with me along this very long road, without proper big wins. I just want to thank you almost everyone. I don’t know, I’m just so tired and blown away with what happened.

"As we started to climb Mont Ventoux, I looked right and saw my parents, they made a surprise visit and I could see my Dad crying, and I thought I just needed to make them proud. This victory goes to my family, to my friends, to my team, to my husband Taylor, to my coach. Also my team boss Ronnie, because they know how much effort I put into this victory, and they were always by my side and listening to my complaints. I’m just blown away."

"I never really chased that victory for the sake of winning, I chased it for the sake of this beautiful feeling," she continued. "I came to Ventoux with my friends, with my husband, and we rode the climb three times. We had fun, and it was just about this amazing feeling of being around here, at the top of the mountain. From that moment, I just wanted to have that feeling of coming here, the pure joy of riding, feeling like a kid. We can go anywhere we want and love every pedal stroke.

"My big idea was to make it to Chalet [Reynard] with 6km to go on my own, because I knew with the wind we had today, if someone was chasing behind they would try to stay on the wheel as much as possible. Once I made it to Chalet, there was a lot of headwind, but I knew in the back they would just play the game."

How it happened

There was action before the race reached Mont Ventoux, with Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) gaining yet more points on the mountains classification, but in reality, nothing really mattered until Mont Ventoux.

The classified climb began with 15.7km to go, making the first 130km to go essentially a giant neutralised zone. Even this early on the climb, there were around just 20 riders left in the front of the race. Among those distanced early was Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), as world champion Magdeleine Vallieres (EF Education-Oatly) and Célia Gery (FDJ United-Suez) forged off the front. The pair were soon caught, and Gery returned to setting the pace for Vollering. Just 13 riders were left in the group of favourites with 13.5km to go, with most of the leaders isolated within that.

Vollering first attacked with 10.7km to go, splintering the front of the race. She was followed by yellow jersey Reusser and Niewiadoma-Phinney, the top three on general classification together again.

Next to attack from this group, with 9.7km to go, was Niewiadoma-Phinney, which left Vollering and Reusser looking at each other. The gap grew to 20 seconds, then to over 40 seconds, with 7.3km to go. Behind, Vollering and Reusser continued to look at each other, while further down the road, the group containing Longo Borghini, her teammate Paula Blasi, Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM) and Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) closed in.

As Niewiadoma-Phinney forged on alone, Vollering finally managed to distance Reusser inside the final 500m, putting 30 seconds into her. However, it wasn’t enough to secure yellow, which went to Niewiadoma-Phinney.

Results

Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026 stage seven: La Voulte-sur-Rhône > Mont Ventoux (146.8km)

1. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Pol) Canyon-SRAM, in 4:22:53
2. Demi Vollering (Ned) FDJ United-Suez, +1:16
3. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE Team L'IMAD, +1:42
4. Marlen Reusser (Sui) Movistar, +1:46
5. Paula Blasi (Esp) UAE Team L'IMAD, +1:48
6. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon-SRAM, +1:48
7. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly, +2:01
8. Dominika Włodarczyk (Pol) UAE Team L'IMAD, +3:26
9. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal, +3:58
10. Isabella Holmgren (Can) Lidl-Trek, +4:11

General classification after stage seven

1. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM, in 24:07:34
2. Demi Vollering (Ned) FDJ United-Suez, +0:15
3. Marlen Reusser (Sui) Movistar, +0:39
4. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE Team L'IMAD, +2:59
5. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon-SRAM, +3:21
6. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly, +4:01
7. Paula Blasi (Esp) UAE Team L'IMAD, +4:32
8. Dominika Włodarczyk (Pol) UAE Team L'IMAD, +5:13
9. Isabella Holmgren (Can) Lidl-Trek, +6:09
10. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal, +6:17

Demi Vollering stormed to victory on an electric stage 5 of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in Belleville-en-Beaujolais on Wednesday.

The FDJ United-Suez rider won from an elite group of three, pipping yellow jersey Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) on the line. The trio now look set to contest for overall victory at the race, after they put time into all their other general classification rivals. Reusser still leads the race, but her gap to Vollering has shortened to just 12 seconds, with four stages to come.

The trio escaped from the rest of the favourites on the final two climbs of the day, the Col de Durbize and Mont Bruilly, with the latter proving especially decisive in deciding the direction of the stage win, and probably the outcome of the whole race.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) once again lost time, well over two minutes, which might mean her defence of the yellow jersey is now over. She was distanced on the Durbize, along with Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), as FDJ put the pressure on.

On Mont Bruilly, Vollering repeatedly tried to escape, but every move was matched by Reusser, who took yellow on stage four's time trial; Niewiadoma then put in a dig, but the elastic did not snap. However, those three were then alone, and worked hard to ensure the maximum time possible was put into their rivals.

In the finale, Reusser led the three in, and Niewiadoma launched a surprise early sprint, aimed at catching her rivals out. Vollering, however, had the power to close the gap just in time for the line, with Reusser following in in second.

"Today, it was a really cool race," Vollering said on TV post-race. "The whole team, every single rider of the team, was part of it, and I enjoy those victories the most, when everybody puts their hard work into it, it's all the more special and beautiful, because you do it all together. The way how I managed to win the sprint, I thought I wasn't going to make it anymore and I somehow made it. It was a relief after the finish line.

"I knew Kasia would go early, because she always does, and I knew Marlen would gamble, so I let her gamble a bit. To try and make her work. She didn't, and I was like OK, if I don't do anything, Kasia is going to win. I just have to try, and maybe Marlen will come over me but at least I tried. I just gave it my everything until the line, it was a very long sprint, and I needed every single metre on the finish straight. I managed to do it, so I'm very happy about it.

"For her [Reusser], it looks very bright now. The only good thing is that I won the Tour already, Kasia as well, Marlen is the one who never managed to win it yet, so she'll have to work for it. I'm sure it will be a hard battle, because she is not a rider who you can beat easily because she is very strong. I will try everything to do that."

How it happened

The opening 40km of the stage were marked by endless attacks at the front of the peloton over the first three categorised climbs of the day, led by the second-category Côte de Cenves. However, no break stuck until Carlotta Cipressi (Human Powered Health) headed up the road with 105km to go.

Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) took the maximum points on the first three climbs of the day to extend her lead in the the Queen of the Mountains competition, while Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) took second in the intermediate sprint behind Cipressi to extend her lead in the points classification.

Cipressi was caught with 99km to go, which brought the race together again, and started the fight for the escape once again. Pieterse once again won the sprint to the top of the third-category Col de Fontmartin, 54.1km into the stage.

With 79km to go of the day, on the run-in to the Col de Gerbet, a group of around 20 riders broke away from the peloton, but things were not yet settled behind, partly due to the presence of Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM), who was ninth overall before the day, 1:43 behind race leader Reusser. The group built up a lead of 40 seconds, and included Femke de Vries (Visma-Lease a Bike), Franzi Koch (FDJ United-Suez), Lianne Lippert (Movistar), Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek), Dominika Włodarczyk (UAE Team L’IMAD) and Pieterse.

The latter took the maximum points again over the top of the Gerbet, as the FDJ United-Suez-led peloton was 1:38 behind. Pieterse repeated her point-winning feat on the Côte de Pruzilly, too.

As the race approached the final hour, with 48km to go, the 19-woman break had 1:50 on the chasing group of favourites.

On the Col de Durbize, with 31km to go, the break started to splinter, with the gap starting to come down to the GC favourites behind. Włodarczyk was among the first to push on, followed by Lippert, Vallieres, Niedermaier and De Vries.

Behind, a huge leadout by Célia Gery (FDJ United-Suez) for her team leader Demi Vollering saw defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) put into trouble, as Vollering continued to surge. The gap to the front of the race was just 40 seconds over the top of the Durbize. Ferrand-Prévot was almost a minute behind Reusser heading into the final 23km.

The break was caught by the chase including Reusser and Vollering with just under 23km to go. At the bonus sprint, Reusser surged off the front to take six bonus seconds, two more than Vollering, extending her lead overall briefly.

Atop the final climb of the day, Mont Brouilly, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM), Vollering and Reusser put distance into the rest of the race, with Vollering unable to crack her rivals on the descent to Belleville-en-Beaujolais. The race was then destined for a sprint.

Results

Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2026 stage five: Mâcon > Belleville-en-Beaujolais (140km)

1. Demi Vollering (Ned) FDJ United-Suez in 3:53:54
2. Marlen Reusser (Swi) Movistar
3. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM
4. Dominika Włodarczyk (Pół) UAE Team L'IMAD + 0.45
5. Isabella Holmgren (Can) Lidl-Trek
6. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon-SRAM
7. Nienke Vinke (Ned) SD Worx - Protime + 1:12
8. Femke de Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
9. Thalita de Jong (Ned) Human Powered Health
10. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZ) Lidl-Trek

General classification after stage 5

1. Marlen Reusser (Sui) Movistar, in 15:41:18
2. Demi Vollering (Ned) FDJ United-Suez, +12s
3. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM, +1:17
4. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon-SRAM, +2:40
5. Dominika Włodarczyk (Pol) UAE Team L'IMAD, +2:54
6. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE Team L'IMAD, +2:58
7. Isabella Holmgren (Can) Lidl-Trek, +3:05
8. Femke de Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +3:11
9. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly, +3:41
10. Paula Blasi (Esp) UAE Team L'IMAD, +3:51

Despite being just 21 kilometres long, the Stage 4 individual time trial at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift delivered the first major shake-up in the general classification. As anticipated, world time trial champion Marlen Reusser (Movistar) powered to victory, while the rest of the GC contenders spent the day trying to limit their losses.

Riders like Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) and Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) emerged from the day in strong positions, now sitting fifth and second overall respectively. Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike), however, endured a nightmare, conceding more than two minutes and tumbling to 14th in the general classification.

For Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM), the day went exactly as planned. The 2024 Tour de France Femmes champion finished 13th on the stage, 1:08 behind Reusser, but successfully limited her losses to the other GC favourites and, crucially, finished ahead of Ferrand-Prévot before the race reaches the high mountains.

"The goal for today was to minimise losses to riders like Demi Vollering, Elisa Longo Borghini and Marlen Reusser," Niewiadoma-Phinney said after the stage. "Of course it's nice to be in front of Pauline ahead of Mont Ventoux and the other hard stages."

Heading into the Tour's first major climbing test, Niewiadoma-Phinney sits sixth overall, with just 1:09 separating the top six riders.

The Polish rider revealed she had invested heavily in improving her time trialling, fully aware of how important the stage could be in shaping this year's Tour.

"I felt that I found my flow. I spent huge amounts of time working on my TT skills, because as everyone knows, I wasn't the best at it," she said. "As you can see, if you believe in something and you put a good amount of work in, anything is possible."

Niewiadoma-Phinney was delighted with her performance and admitted she would have gladly accepted the result before rolling down the start ramp.

"One hundred percent. I'm super grateful for all the people that were with me on the journey to get to this place. The Tour de France is such a big goal for myself and the team. We want to come here to bring the yellow jersey home again. That result puts us closer to that dream."

She credited the ride to a collective effort that included technical work on her position, equipment and coaching, while jokingly acknowledging some advice from her husband, former American time trial specialist Taylor Phinney.

"I'm married to a TT specialist so, for once, I listened to his advice," she laughed. "I'm very lucky to be surrounded by professional people, my team looking for details to improve my position, Canyon taking me to a wind tunnel, my coach working on me physically. I think it was a combination of massive teamwork."

With the race now turning towards the mountains, Niewiadoma-Phinney said the Tour would now "properly start." Relieved to have the time trial behind her, she is eager to return to terrain that better suits her strengths.

"I was looking forward to this particular moment to be done with and focus on the climbs to come. Tomorrow is going to be a super hard stage. We're here to be aggressive, we have a strong team, and we want to do our best. We're in great shape, so what else can you do other than race your bike now?"

Nobody knows the value of seconds like Kasia Niewiadoma. At last year’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, after more than 24 hours of racing, the Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto rider won by just four ticks of the clock’s big hand – the smallest margin in the history of the Tour.

The memory of that edition is omnipresent at this year’s race. Bonus sprints, and extra seconds across the line, have turned into gold dust. As the mountains now loom, and with just 27 seconds separating first from fifth, all the GC contenders want to bank as much as they can.

“You never know what can happen in the end,” Niewiadoma told Cycling Weekly after stage five. “If you can see some seconds, it seems like everyone is ready to embrace that.”

With 9km to go on day five's road to Guéret, the reigning champion chased down Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) on a climb. The move wasn’t for the victory, however, but a green gantry pitched halfway up, where six, four and two precious seconds were on offer; Le Court took the biggest prize, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) earned four, and Niewiadoma swept up the scraps.

It was this attack, which eased slightly over the line, that Le Court had initially been targeting. “My main goal was to take the bonus sprints,” she said of the stage. Not the victory? “Whether I won the stage or came second or third, it didn’t matter. I would have still gotten yellow on my back.”

It was an extra, then, that Le Court would go on to also claim the stage, fending off a select group of her GC rivals, including Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) and Niewiadoma. The Mauritian now leads the race again, thanks, primarily, to bonus seconds. No other rider has taken more than her 26 – without them, she’d be in fourth.

“I think we’ve seen a few Tours on the women’s side that have been lost by seconds, so I think we’re fighting for every second possible,” Le Court said in her winner's press conference. “You just never know. Last year was played by four seconds. Maybe today six seconds is going to pay off later on.”

It’s a fact of which Vollering needs no reminding. Last year’s runner-up, the Dutchwoman felt the agony on Alpe d'Huez of falling the wrong side of the clock. This time, she's determined to not let it happen again. The FDJ-SUEZ rider finished second on stage five, picking up four seconds that lifted her above Niewiadoma in the standings.

“It was really like 'playing the game', so I really liked this last part,” smiled Vollering as she spun out her legs on the turbo. “I was really, really close, so it was a good feeling to have a sprint final like this again.”

During her warm-down, 200m up the road, Niewiadoma laughed to her sports director outside her team bus. “It’s funny,” she said, “we’re fighting for seconds, but on [the Col de la] Madeleine [on stage eight], it could be minutes.”

Still, as Niewiadoma said herself: "You never know what can happen in the end.” The Tour is unpredictable. Every second counts.

In three editions so far of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, no rider has won the race twice. First, there was Annemiek van Vleuten, then Demi Vollering, and this year, Kasia Niewiadoma, who clung to the yellow jersey by a thread on Alpe d’Huez.

Should Niewiadoma defend her title next summer, she’ll make history as the first woman to do so since the race’s reboot. It’s her “big goal”, she said, and after Tuesday’s route announcement, one for which she is now particularly excited.

Next year’s fourth edition of the race will be its toughest and longest yet. Now taking place over nine stages, up from eight, the course stretches across 1,165km, rising to a crescendo in the Alps, with the climbs of the Col de la Madeleine and the Col de la Joux Plane.

“It’s a goal to bring the yellow jersey home again,” said Niewiadoma. “My big goal is to become a woman who wins the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift twice in a row, and I’m in the best position right now to make that happen in 2025. The final general classification can unfold at any point but the final three stages will be decisive for the overall.”

For the 30-year-old’s Canyon-SRAM team, the desire to win again is the same.

“It’s something very special, something very unique,” team manager Ronny Lauke told Cycling Weekly. “To be honest, when you have experienced what this yellow jersey does to a team, and the attention it raises, the emotions all staff members go through, you want to have it again.

“It’s the biggest race, the biggest global brand in our sport. When you go away as a winner, you have the most prestigious colour on your shoulders. The yellow does something to the people involved in a team. Everybody would like to have it again. We are not shy of saying we aim for the highest and the best, so we’re going for this. I think we have a good group of talent that we can confidently say we want to win it again.”

Lauke’s first impressions of next year’s route are that it is “well balanced” and will “offer a very interesting bike race”.

“Kasia is very optimistic. She likes the route. So therefore I have confidence,” he said. “Now it’s up to us to do the necessary homework and identify the right group for this event, so we are competitive and an uncomfortable opponent, the most uncomfortable opponent that anyone can ask for.”

Niewiadoma’s winning margin this August was the narrowest in the race’s three-year history, just four seconds separating her and Vollering. The victory crowned the Polish rider’s biggest to date, coming after a long dry spell between 2019 and 2023.

“With the Gravel World Championships in 2023, she eventually won her rainbow jersey, which, in my opinion, she deserved a lot. That was a turning point for her that also helped her to approach the 2024 season in a different way,” Lauke said.

“Many doubts were erased that she carried within her, and she was more confident about herself, about what she can achieve. I got to know her when she was 24 years of age. Now, a few years later, I can say that she has definitely matured as a very mature woman, with a very mature approach to her goals.”

Between now and the end of winter, Niewiadoma and her Canyon-SRAM team-mates will rest, train on Zwift, and travel to team camps in December and January. Then the season will start, with the biggest mark on the calendar against the Tour de France Femmes, scheduled to begin on 26 July in Brittany.

“I think, overall, there’s a lot of curiosity around what a longer race will bring,” Lauke said. “I think it looks like it will offer some drama, some smiles, some tears, everything that a stage race can offer. We will try to be as prepared as best as possible, and the riders will enjoy it.”

Kasia Niewiadoma says the addition of Milan-San Remo to the women’s WorldTour calendar next year will "raise the level even higher" in women's cycling, though she added that a full complement of Monument races would be a welcome next step.

It was announced last week that a women’s edition of the Italian Monument will take place next year, with the race held on the same day as the male equivalent.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly, the Canyon–SRAM rider said: "I feel like it's going to be another race that will just raise the level even higher. It's just another thing that motivates you, being able to be the first woman to win Milan-San Remo after a break now of however many years. But it would be nice to have all of the men's Monuments in our season."

The five monuments include Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia, as yet, there is no female version of the latter in the 2025 calendar.

As things stand no route information has yet been released for the women's Milan-San Remo, but the race is being labelled as a "return" by its organisers, RCS, after a precursor known as the Primavera Classic was held between 1999 and 2005. The last 118 km of the men’s race, including the famous climbs of the Cipressa and Poggio, were used for that event.

Niewiadoma has enjoyed arguably her best-ever season on the road with a victory at Flèche Wallonne Féminine in the spring and the overall title at the Tour de France Femmes to her name. She explained that after a frustrating 2023, her results over the last twelve months have been a much needed confidence boost ahead of the increase in competition in the women’s peloton next season.

Former two-time road world champion Anna van der Breggen is one of two star names set to return to women's racing next season. Several up and coming riders are also set to make their WorldTour debuts including British rising star Cat Ferguson.

"It's really motivating to see that in just one season, everything can change," she said. "I’ve gone from pursuing these victories for so long and being kind of there, but on the second or third spot to then having two big victories and them making me feel so much better about myself and my career. It’s nice to have them checked off, let's say.

"My dream is always to win Strade Bianche so knowing that I won Flèche Wallonne, I've shown myself that I just have to focus on Strade Bianche, and I will get it now. I also feel like it makes me want to stay on the top of women's cycling.

"Finishing the Tour in the yellow jersey and winning a big classic is something that I really want to repeat. I don't want to fall behind, I don't want to be like 'okay, I got it, and now I can relax', it's just something that made me want to experience more of it."

She added: "I think it's going to be super interesting next year, there's lots of younger riders becoming stronger, and we also have Anna [van der Breggen] and Pauline [Ferrand-Prévot] coming back to road cycling, so I think next year will be a really tough year for everyone.

"But as we have shown during the Tour de France Femmes, I think that women's cycling is very interesting and unpredictable. The drama is huge, because our races or stages are shorter, so no one waits for anything. The action is always on from the start."

As you approach the final bend of the iconic Alpe d’Huez, a south-facing plateau greets visitors with a ski lift embossed with the words “une montagne d’émotions” (a mountain of emotions) — an apt name for the events that unfolded on the final stage of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. 

In an absolute nail-biter of a showdown, Dutchwoman Demi Vollering (SD-Worx-Protime) won the stage, but Polish rider Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) went home in the yellow jersey, having won the Tour with a historically narrow margin of 4 seconds. 

As the riders collapsed to the ground after reaching the mountain summit, the emotions ran freely, with tears of utter devastation for Vollering. The defending champion had lost the race lead after a crash in stage 5 and had come into the final stage trailing Niewiadoma by 1:15. Despite her efforts to recoup the last time with a tremendous ride up the Col du Glandon and the legendary Alpe d’Huez, she fell just short. 

Unable to match Vollering’s pace, she watched as her rival, accompanied by Pauliena Rooijakker (Fenix-Deceuninck), rode into the virtual race lead. But Niewiadoma refused to give up. Through the valley and to the base of Alpe d’Huez, her strength gradually returned. Gritting her teeth, the 29-year-old clawed her way up the climb, determined to minimize the damage inflicted by the Dutch duo.

As Vollering crossed the finish line in first place, gobbling up the 10 bonus seconds in the process, the clock started ticking. Rooijakker followed closely, and then Évita Muzic (FDJ-Suez) was third across the line. Finally, Niewiadoma, using every ounce of energy left, stopped the clock at 1:01. She had done it—the yellow jersey was hers.

“Four seconds seem magical now,” Niewiadoma reflected in the post-race press conference. “But throughout the stage, I went through a rollercoaster of emotions.”

Niewiadoma had anticipated Vollering’s attack but felt her strength waning at the crucial moment.

“It was terrible because the climb was very hard and I could feel that I am losing my legs, and then she attacked and so it wasn't ideal,” she recounted. “I just knew that I had to stay patient and keep my pace.”

Niewiadoma is no stranger to the podium, but the top step had eluded her for years. After her last General Classification win at the Women's Tour of Britain in 2019,  it had taken five long years before she tasted victory again at La Flèche Wallonne this past April. She credits last fall’s UCI World Gravel Championships with breaking her streak of near-misses, reminding her what winning feels like and reigniting her confidence. After finishing third twice at the Tour de France Femmes, she came to the 2024 race determined to win. But doubt crept in with Vollering up the road and the metres running out.

“To be honest, once again, I lost the faith that I could still do it,” she admitted. “I've gone through such a terrible time on this climb. I hated everything. To be able to pull it off at the finish line with just a couple of seconds is a dream come true. It's going to take some time to let everything sink in.” 

Kasia Niewiadoma has inked a two-year contract extension with Canyon-SRAM Racing, the team announced today. Niewiadoma has been with the team since 2018 and will continue riding for the German squad through the 2026 season.  

Niewiadoma has had some standout performances as part of the team, including becoming the Gravel World Champion, winning the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne, and finishing on the GC podium at the Giro d'Italia Women and twice at Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

Her win at this year's La Flèche Wallonne put an end to an agonising five-year spell where she finished on a road race podium 30 times yet failed to reach that top step. Even so, Niewiadoma has been one of the team's most consistent performers, and Canyon-SRAM Racing was keen to have her sign on for two more years.

"Kasia has achieved the most significant results for the team. She has won hearts while racing with an open visor and her own heart on her sleeve. She comes to races always well prepared and with a never-give-up attitude. We love working with Kasia and are thrilled to continue supporting her," says team manager Ronny Lauke.

For her part, Niewiadoma says she's deeply happy on the team and has big goals for the near future.

"Of course, I considered other options, but it never felt entirely right, and I could not remain at peace with myself. I feel enormous support coming from the team of Canyon-SRAM when things go well and when they don't," the 29-year-old said in a statement.

"I can fully be myself; I feel accepted, understood and motivated to embrace my position as one of the team leaders and as a rider who can share my knowledge with the youngsters."

The reigning gravel world champion revealed that she and the team have ambitious goals for the near future, stating: "we want to bring a yellow jersey home, to win Strade Bianche and the Tour of Flanders. I want to wear a rainbow jersey, not only on the gravel. I believe with Canyon-SRAM Racing, it's all possible."

Neve Bradbury (Canyon-Sram) took a memorable first professional win at the Tour de Suisse on Monday, chaperoned by her team-mate Kasia Niewiadoma. 

The 22-year-old Australian, who earned a pro contract when she won the Zwift Academy in 2020, was part of the early breakaway on stage three to Champagne. She broke away with her Polish team-mate on a climb with 16km remaining, before the duo rode in tandem to the finish to secure first and second. 

Smiling after the line, Niewiadoma pulled the young Australian in for a hug and kissed her on the cheek in celebration. 

“It's crazy. I didn't think at the start of today that I'd be winning this stage," Bradbury said afterwards. "We really wanted to win this stage and make it a really hard race, and that's what we did, so it's great.” 

The Canyon-Sram rider added that, once she and Niewiadoma were clear, there was little discussion about who would win the stage. 

"The plan was to let me get the win to get the bonus seconds because I'm a bit higher on the GC," she said. "It would have been nice to gift Kasia the win because she was really strong, really, really strong, but in the end, it's for the GC.”

Bradbury's victory put an end to Demi Vollering's winning streak at the race, after the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift champion claimed back-to-back victories in the opening two stages. 

Sixth on the day, Vollering continues to lead the general classification by one minute and 22 seconds. Bradbury rose seven places to second, with Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) in third. 

How it happened

Stage three of the Tour de Suisse Women traced a looping line north between Lake Geneva and Lake Neuchâtel. Starting in Vevey, it stretched out 125.6km and clocked almost 2,000m of elevation over a series of category two and three climbs. 

A five-rider breakaway formed inside 90km to go, spearheaded by Canyon-Sram duo Niewiadoma and Bradbury. Also present were Roland's Elena Pirrone, Visma-Lease a Bike's Femke de Vries, and Lidl-Trek's Amanda Spratt, the group's best-placed rider in the GC, three minutes and 28 seconds in arrears. 

The escapees' advantage yo-yoed between two and three minutes throughout the day, as the race weaved through verdant Swiss towns. On the final climb – a 4km-long kicker with 16km to go – Bradbury and Niewiadoma wriggled off the front, distancing their breakaway companions.

Behind, Vollering chose the same slopes to ramp up the pace in the peloton. The yellow jersey swiftly peeled away from the bunch, towing Elisa Longo Borghini, Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) and Kim Cadzow (EF-Education Cannondale), each with their own GC ambitions. 

A descent to the line in Champagne followed, but the gap to the leaders remained the same. Bradbury and Niewiadoma hit in excess of 73km/h as the road tilted downhill, holding off the bunch, and setting up a classy victory for the team. 

The Tour de Suisse Women concludes on Tuesday with another lumpy stage in Champagne. 

Tour de Suisse Women 2024, stage three: Vevey > Champagne (125.6km)

1. Neve Bradbury (Aus) Canyon-SRAM, in 3:16:36
2. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM, at same time
3. Femke De Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:55
4. Amanda Spratt (Aus) Lidl-Trek, at same time
5. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2:11
6. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx-Protime
7. Gaia Realini (Ita) Lidl-Trek
8. Kim Cadzow (NZl) EF Education-Cannondale, all at same time
9. Elena Pirrone (Ita) Roland, +2:49
10. Brodie Chapman (Aus) Lidl-Trek, +2:53

General classification after stage three

1. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, in 5:45:34
2. Neve Bradbury (Aus) Canyon-SRAM, +1:22
3. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +1:26
4. Gaia Realini (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +1:28
5. Kim Cadzow (NZl) EF Education-Cannondale, +1:39
6. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM, +2:14
7. Juliette Labous (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +2:56
8. Amanda Spratt (Aus) Lidl-Trek, +3:11
9. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon-SRAM, +3:22
10. Femke De Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +4:11

There was a feeling of frustration after the finish line of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift on Sunday. As the riders gasped for air, breathless in the humidity of Clermont-Ferrand, many were left wondering what could have been. After all, there was a yellow jersey on the line, and all but one of them missed out. 

The honours, in the end, went to Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx), the winner of the race’s first stage with a 10km solo attack. When the Belgian launched her move, she took the rest of the field by surprise, leaving some of the GC favourites with a sour taste in their mouths. 

“I think I really messed up when Lotte went,” Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-Sram) told Cycling Weekly after the race. “I just lost a couple of seconds. I was trying to get out of Ashleigh Moolman [Pasio]’s wheel because she was kind of blocking me. It’s a pity for us it ended up like this because I think we could have had a better result.”

On the road into Clermont-Ferrand, chaos reigned in the group that followed Kopecky. “Sometimes it feels like no-one wants to work together because everyone has a different tactic or strategy in mind,” Niewiadoma explained. And with little organisation between the chasers, the time gap blew out. 

A few seconds over the top of the Côte de Durtol soon turned into 20, and ultimately 41 over the line. 

Speaking to the media, Moolman Pasio, the sole AG Insurance - Soudal Quick-Step rider in the group, said: "It wasn't actually my job to chase.

“There were multiple riders from other teams. But at the same time, I didn’t want to just sit up, so I tried to keep things going," she explained. "I don’t understand the mentality to attack, counter attack, because if we work together we could bring her back.” 

For Moolman Pasio, the disorder came when Kopecky's attack caught the GC contenders off guard. “She just came with speed from behind,” the South African said. “It was the element of surprise. In hindsight, maybe I’m kicking myself because I knew she was going to go, so why didn’t I just sit on her wheel? Why did I get caught up sitting on Demi [Vollering]’s wheel? 

“But I suppose that doesn’t make sense. Demi’s here to ride the GC, I’m here to ride GC. So nothing is lost today.” 

This, perhaps, is where the crux of it all lay. By virtue of not being a GC contender, the favourites did not deem Kopecky to be a threat, and so gave her licence to draw out an advantage. 

The SD Worx rider’s team-mate Marlen Reusser knew that would always be the case. “It was all the GC riders behind, not the sprinters, and that’s always the game,” she told Cycling Weekly. “They look at each other, and Lotte isn’t a GC rider, so that’s the big advantage that she had there.

“It went perfect,” Reusser added with a smile.