Vollering: ‘Everyone looks good uphill’Demi Vollering speaks of a “good day”, although she lost the battle for the bonus seconds. “I didn’t want to completely exhaust myself, because the Tour is still long. If you go all out for those bonus seconds every time, you might feel that later,” says Vollering, who saw that the competition is in shape. “Everyone looks good uphill, so I’m looking forward to the coming days.”
Kimberley Le Court is satisfied after the sixth stage. “I felt super strong today,” she says in the flash interview. “My team was great, I can’t imagine a better team. A stage win would have been nice, but I’m happy that I kept the yellow.”
While Squiban’s podium photo has already been taken, Lorena Wiebes crosses the finish line. Well within the time limit. She will have to go to the podium quickly for the green jersey.
It’s high time to look at the general classification. Kimberley Le Court has gained a total of 8 seconds on Demi Vollering due to the bonus seconds.
Squiban is the second French stage winner ever. Last year Cédrine Kerbaol already won a stage.
Squiban appears in tears at the flash interview. “It’s unbelievable. It’s a great feeling, I didn’t expect this. We were very strong as a team. It’s a special day for us.”
There is the first cheering image of the 23-year-old Maeva Squiban.
Yellow jersey wearer Le Court wins the sprint from Vollering for third place, taking 4 bonus seconds. Le Court can also go to the podium again immediately for the yellow jersey.
Labous finishes second, taking 6 bonus seconds. Vollering still squeezes out a good sprint, but Le Court is also coming up hard. Who will take the 4 bonus seconds?
Squiban wins! Maeva Squiban rode away 32 kilometers from the finish and disappeared from the sight of the group of favorites. She crowns her solo with the biggest victory of her career.
3 km left – Squiban is well on her way to her first stage win in the Tour de France Femmes. Last year she was already close with a second place in the seventh stage📷
6 km left – Squiban is well on her way to the first French stage win of this year.
8 km left – Because both a teammate of Niewiadoma (Squiban) and Vollering (Labous) are riding ahead, the chance that a classification rider will win is getting smaller and smaller.
8 km left – Rooijakkers is immediately caught again. Labous, Vollering’s teammate, is allowed to ride away.
9 km left – Rooijakkers, the number three of last year, accelerates from the thinned peloton. It seems too late to catch Squiban…
11 km left – Vollering wants to reward the work of her team, but falls short for the bonus seconds. Le Court sprints to the 4 seconds, while Niewiadoma takes 2.
12 km left – FDJ-SUEZ, Demi Vollering’s team, leads the peloton. They cannot match Squiban’s pace. The Frenchwoman now has a lead of 1 minute and 27 seconds. She does not pose a danger to Kimberley Le Court’s yellow jersey. In the general classification she is more than 9.5 minutes behind.
14 km left – There are also bonus seconds to be earned on the slightly ascending finish: 10, 6 and 4 seconds. Since Demi Vollering lost the Tour by 4 seconds last year, she will certainly get involved in the battle for this advantage.
14 km left – Chabbey has had enough. The polka dot jersey wearer has the mountain points in and lets the group of classification riders go.
15 km left – Okay, back to the race. Squiban’s lead is only increasing: 1 minute and 25 seconds.
16 km left – It is now going nicely uphill towards Valcivières. There, at 12.2 kilometers from the finish, lies the next loot: 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds for the general classification.
19 km left – Maeva Squiban has golden papers for the stage win. She has 1 minute and 10 seconds lead on the group of favorites. Or will they get involved in the battle for bonus seconds?
20 km left – It does not seem that Le Court will lose the yellow today. We had so many expectations for the stage, but the fireworks unfortunately remain absent for the time being.
24 km left – Squiban is zooming downhill at a speed of more than 60 km/hour. Fortunately, it is dry towards Ambert.
28 km left – The Col du Chansert is done. There is no more categorized climb, but it will not feel that way towards Valcivières. There, after a climb, bonus seconds can be earned for the general classification, so maybe the classification riders will still get involved.
29 km left – The classification riders are mainly looking at each other. Niewiadoma does not have to take action in any case, because Squiban is her teammate.
28 km left – Squiban has taken off like a rocket. She already has 1 minute and 10 seconds lead on the thinned peloton.
29 km left – Vollering is staying calm for the time being and still has three teammates around her. In the group behind Squiban are also Pauliena Rooijakkers, Puck Pieterse and Anna van der Breggen.
31 km left – 2 kilometers from the top, Squiban’s lead is already 28 seconds. Are we seeing the stage winner here?
32 km left – Squiban copies the attack of Van Anrooij and she is allowed to ride away.
32 km left – It seemed like a successful attempt by Van Anrooij, but she is already being caught again by the peloton.
32 km left – Nice acceleration from Van Anrooij, who is with Chabbey in the blink of an eye.
33 km left – Demarrage by Shirin van Anrooij!
33 km left – Kopecky has to let the classification riders go. The world champion is riding uphill at her own pace.
34 km left – Chabbey does justice to the polka dot jersey and releases her fellow leaders. She starts a solo, but in the background the classification riders are already steaming up.
35 km left – After a lightning-fast descent, Chabbey, Smulders and Ostolaza have started the last categorized climb of today with a small lead over the other leaders: Col du Chansert: 6.4 km at 5.4 percent.
36 km left – Ah, there is the answer. Chabbey came just before Smulders on top of the Col du Béal. That means she does not have to store the polka dot jersey in her wardrobe yet. Tomorrow Chabbey can put on the jersey again.
39 km left – The organization of the Tour de France does not seem to know the answer to the last question either. Then we just look at what is happening in the race now: Van der Breggen leads the peloton in the descent to the foot of the Col du Chansert. The lead of the leading group is dangling around 25 seconds.
44 km – The leading group comes just before the peloton on top of the Col du Béal. Smulders seems to be handing out a tick to Chabbey by taking the 10 points for the mountain classification, or will the polka dot jersey wearer still come alongside?
47 km – We are on the edge of our seats, but for the time being there is no spectacle. In 3 kilometers the top of the Col du Béal will be reached. Then it is descending to the foot of the Col du Chansert. After that there is a small bump for bonus seconds and it is descending to the finish.
Le Court expects battle for yellow: ‘Enjoy it’Kimberley Le Court expects that she will have to work hard to keep the yellow. “It’s exciting. We’re going to enjoy it and try to keep the yellow. I expect a battle between the favorites. The differences are small and there are also bonus seconds and a stage win at stake.”
Vollering: ‘Not necessarily afraid of attacks’Demi Vollering is not afraid of attacks from the yellow jersey wearer Kimberley Le Court and Sarah Gigante, who ride together for AG Insurance-Soudal Team. “I think I also have many riders in my team who can handle the mountains well. So I’m not necessarily afraid of that,” she said before the start at the NOS.
Vollering herself hopes to book day success for the first time today. “Tadej (Pogacar, ed.) said it very nicely: you never know when it ends for you. You can see that again with that crash, it could also have ended very differently and your career is over or you have to recover for a very long time. So ultimately everything you can grab is of course very nice. We’ll see where the ship strands.”
66 km – Wiebes’ sprint legs cannot handle this climbing. The green jersey wearer has to let the peloton go towards the Col du Béal.
66 km – In just over 10 kilometers, the riders will start the first test of this Tour de France. Four Dutch riders in the leading group are eager for success: Amber Kraak, Yara Kastelijn, Femke Gerritse and Silke Smulders. They do have a small margin: 51 seconds.
76 km – A touring cyclist was not shocked by the last two climbs, but by the col that looms up in 22 kilometers. The Col du Béal is a climb of the first category with 10.3 kilometers at 5.6 percent. Our sights are then mainly on the classification riders.
74 km – Chapman takes the three points on top of the Côte d’Augerolles, Chabbey and Smulders can pick up the leftovers.
81 km – It is going too fast on the second climb of today for Mischa Bredewold, who has to drop out of the leading group.
82 km – Towards the Côte d’Augerolles, the leading group has a lead of 43 seconds on the peloton. Among the seventeen leaders are five Dutch riders: Amber Kraak, Yara Kastelijn, Mischa Bredewold, Femke Gerritse and Silke Smulders.
83 km – Oei, Lorena Wiebes is having a hard time in the peloton, while polka dot jersey wearer Elise Chabbey takes the full loot on the Courpière.
84 km – The twenty-strong flight has started the first climb of the day: the Côte de Courpière (1.7 km at 6.5 percent).
87 km – The leading group has become a lot bigger just before the intermediate sprint, which meant that Pfeiffer Georgi passed the green arch as second. Liane Lippert came third. Lorena Wiebes’ plan has therefore failed, but it is a boost for her that Marianne Vos has not scored any points either.
90 km – Wiebes’ plan has failed. Polka dot jersey wearer Chabbey has joined Zanetti and crosses the finish line first at the intermediate sprint.
100 km – Coston’s adventure is already over. Now it is Linda Zanetti who is trying her luck towards the intermediate sprint.
105 km – Several riders are trying to ride away. So far, Morgane Coston is the only one who succeeds in that. She rides 10 seconds ahead of the peloton.
110 km – Wiebes tries to ride away from the peloton, with a view to the intermediate sprint which is about 20 kilometers away on the course. But she is not given any space.
Van Emden brings stroopwafels to FDJ-SUEZAt FDJ-SUEZ they have something tasty with their coffee this morning. Visma-Lease a Bike team leader Jos van Emden just came by with stroopwafels. He gave a bag to Lieselot Delcroix, head of performance and previously employed by Jumbo. And one for team boss Stephen Delcourt. With that gesture, peace seems to have definitively returned between the two teams.