Demi Vollering wins final stage in Nice to secure second Tour de France Femmes title

Demi Vollering won the final stage of the Tour de France Femmes in Nice on Sunday to secure the overall title, becoming the race's first two-time winner. She had taken the yellow jersey on the penultimate stage and entered the 99.2km finale with an eight-second advantage.

The fifth edition of the race concluded with a 99.2km mountain stage that began and ended in Nice, featured four ascents of the Col d'Eze and totalled 2,100m of climbing. Vollering had seized the leader's yellow jersey from Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney on the penultimate day and carried that eight-second lead into Sunday. The final win completed her third stage victory in this year's race and was her fifth career stage win at the Tour de France Femmes.

Zoe Backstedt pushed the pace in the early kilometres before former race leader Marlen Reusser crashed on the second descent of the Col d'Eze. Reusser, third in the general classification and 72 seconds behind Vollering, was able to finish but was unable to return to contention. That sequence left Vollering and Niewiadoma-Phinney to contest the closing kilometres.

The two previous winners battled on the final climb, with Vollering pulling clear just before the crest and extending her advantage on the descent. The 29-year-old finished more than a minute ahead of her rivals as she claimed her third stage win from nine in this year's race. Her move on the final ascent proved decisive for the stage outcome.

Niewiadoma-Phinney had felt Vollering's team-mate Celia Gery deliberately blocked her during stage eight, and Vollering said she wanted to respond on Sunday. "I went alone because I wanted to make it clear that we didn't win because of an incident yesterday," she added. "That's not what I believe, and I wanted to make it clear that we, as a team, deserve to win a beautiful Tour de France Femmes, with humility and pride."

Vollering also reflected on the manner of her victory. "I've never won wearing the yellow jersey before," said Vollering. "It's not only the dream to win in yellow here, to win a second Tour de France, but it's the dream to live this life, to work hard together with people with a lot of passion. I think that's the whole dream. It's incredible."

Race awards and classifications were presented ahead of the final stage, including a flypast by the Patrouille de France. Juliette Berthet was named best domestique of the race before Sunday's stage, for which FDJ-Suez team-mate Demi Vollering was wearing the leader's yellow jersey. UAE Team L'imad riders were awarded their medals before the stage after securing the team classification title, and other jersey winners were Lorena Wiebes (points classification), Puck Pieterse (mountains classification) and Antonia Niedermaier (best young rider).

Stage placings and times were listed as follows: Demi Vollering (Ned/FDJ-Suez) 2hrs 44mins 43secs; Paula Blasi (Spa/UAE Team ADQ) +1min 4secs; Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Pol/Canyon-SRAM) Same time; Antonia Niedermaier (Ger/Canyon-SRAM) +1min 6secs; Isabella Holmgren (Can/Lidl-Trek) +1min 8secs; Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita/UAE Team-L'imad) +1min 14secs; Femke de Vries (Ned/Visma–Lease a Bike) +1min 57secs; Dominika Wlodarczyk (Pol/UAE Team-L'imad) Same time; Cedrine Kerbaol (Fra/EF Education-Oatly).

Vollering finished the race on general classification in 30hrs 54mins 51secs to claim the overall title. The final podium read Demi Vollering (30hrs 54mins 51secs), Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney +1min 18secs and Elisa Longo Borghini +4mins 29secs, with Antonia Niedermaier +5mins 10secs and Paula Blasi +6mins 13secs completing the top five.