Niewiadoma-Phinney solos to Ventoux stage win and takes Tour de France Femmes lead
Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney produced a solo ride to the summit of Mont Ventoux to win stage seven of the Tour de France Femmes and assume the overall race lead on stage seven.
Niewiadoma-Phinney, who had finished on the Tour podium for the past four years but had not previously won a stage, moved into the yellow jersey after the 146.8km ride from La Voulte-sur-Rhone. Mont Ventoux was included in this year's race as the 'queen stage' for the first time, and the Polish Canyon-SRAM rider, who won the Tour in 2024, began the day third in the general classification one minute and 17 seconds behind race leader Marlen Reusser, with Demi Vollering in second.
The 31-year-old launched her decisive move with 9km remaining on the Mont Ventoux climb, pulling clear of her rivals as the stage unfolded into a battle for the yellow jersey. She reached the summit finish one minute and 16 seconds ahead of Dutch rider Demi Vollering, with Marlen Reusser a further 30 seconds back. Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot finished more than 10 minutes down.
Stage seven top placings and times were: Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Pol/Canyon-SRAM) 4hrs 22mins 53secs; Demi Vollering (Ned/FDJ-Suez) +1min 16secs; Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita/UAE Team-L'imad) +1min 42secs; Marlen Reusser (Swi/Movistar) +1min 46secs; Paula Blasi (Spa/UAE Team ADQ) +1min 48secs; Antonia Niedermaier (Ger/Canyon-SRAM) Same time; Cedrine Kerbaol (Fra/EF Education-Oatly) +2min 1sec; Dominika Wlodarczyk (Pol/UAE Team-L'imad) +3min 26secs; Kim Le Court (Mau/AG Insurance-Soudal) +3mins 58secs; Isabella Holmgren (Can/Lidl-Trek) +4mins 11secs.
The published general classification listed Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Pol/Canyon-SRAM) on 24hrs 7mins 34secs, with Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita/UAE Team-L'imad) +2min 59secs, Antonia Niedermaier (Ger/Canyon-SRAM) +3min 21secs, Cedrine Kerbaol (Fra/EF Education-Oatly) +4min 1sec, Paula Blasi (Spa/UAE Team ADQ) +4min 32secs, Dominika Wlodarczyk (Pol/UAE Team-L'imad) +5min 13secs, Isabella Holmgren (Can/Lidl-Trek) +6mins 9secs and Kim Le Court (Mau/AG Insurance-Soudal) +6mins 17secs.
"I'm blown away with what just happened," Niewiadoma-Phinney said. "This victory goes to so many people that were with me along this very long road without proper big wins." She added: "It was so funny, as we started to climb Mont Ventoux I looked to my right and saw my parents. They made a surprise visit and I could see my dad crying. I was like 'I just need to make them proud'."
Niewiadoma-Phinney now holds a 15-second lead over Demi Vollering with two stages remaining, while Marlen Reusser is 39 seconds adrift in third. Saturday's penultimate stage is the longest of this year's race, the mostly flat 171.9km ride from Sisteron to Nice set to suit the sprinters, followed by a 99.2km mountain stage beginning and ending in Nice on Sunday.