'I’m just blown away' – Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney soars to victory and yellow jersey on Mont Ventoux on stage seven of Tour de France Femmes

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