Vollering moves into yellow on penultimate stage as Niewiadoma accuses rival’s teammate

Demi Vollering wrested the overall lead from Kasia Niewiadoma on the penultimate stage of the Tour de France Femmes in the hills behind Nice, moving eight seconds clear with one stage remaining.

The stage delivered Vollering her fifth stage win and her fifth yellow jersey in this edition after she said she regretted not mounting a meaningful chase following Friday’s summit finish to Mont Ventoux. The decisive move came on the Cote de la Ginestière, and she consolidated the gap on the descent and the run into the Promenade des Anglais in Nice.

Early action featured a two-rider breakaway by Maeve Squiban and Loes Adegeest; Squiban, a two-stage winner last year, crashed on a left-hand bend on the descent of the Cote de Colomars north of Nice and was then caught by the peloton while howling in pain. Adegeest continued alone until she was reeled in nine kilometres from the finish after Vollering’s FDJ United-Suez team launched attacks on the bends approaching the Cote de la Ginestière.

Vollering attacked on the short steep final twist of the Cote de la Ginestière, gaining a small advantage that she extended on the following descent and the long straight into Nice to secure the stage victory and the overall lead by eight seconds. Niewiadoma remained on her wheel for much of the climb but lost ground in the final metres.

Niewiadoma criticised the conduct of Vollering’s team, singling out Celia Gery. “I was annoyed at the beginning of the climb because Gery, on purpose, just blocked me to the barriers where I had to stop pedalling,” she said. “If they want to compete they should compete fair play and not look to block me on the barriers because it is so childish. I lost all the respect for them for that.”

The rivalry between Vollering and Niewiadoma traces back to the 2024 Tour, when the Dutch rider lost to the Pole by four seconds after a duel through the Alps to the finish at Alpe d’Huez. That previous margin was cited in the context of the narrow lead now separating them.

French favourite Pauline Ferrand-Prevot’s defence ended with a withdrawal after stage seven. Observers noted a decline in form from her listless performance in the stage four time trial and large time losses on Mont Brouilly and Mont Ventoux. At the start of stage eight in Sisteron her bike was prepared outside the team bus and, as reported by French TV crews, she told team staff “I can’t do it, I can’t do it”; a social media announcement confirmed she “was not feeling well this morning” and added “in consultation with medical staff, it has been decided that she will not start.” She had been 14th overall and more than 14 minutes behind then race leader Niewiadoma.

Her trainer, Rutger Tijssen, commented on her condition and prospects: “She didn’t feel good and wasn’t able to ride as she wanted,” he said. “When she couldn’t hold on in the fifth stage, the signals were clearer. We knew than it wasn’t realistic to talk about winning the Tour.”

The race concludes on Sunday with a final stage based on Nice that includes four climbs of the Col d’Eze and runs overlooking the corniche roads of Villefranche-sur-Mer, leaving the eight-second margin between Vollering and Niewiadoma as the slender advantage to be defended or overturned.