Demi Vollering Wins 2nd Tour de France Femmes Title, Taking Stage 9 by 1 Minute

Q: Did a controversial, unpunished blockade on Stage 8 secretly guarantee Demi Vollering's historic second Tour de France Femmes victory?

No. The Stage 8 incident may have influenced the race, but there is no solid evidence that it secretly guaranteed Demi Vollering’s overall victory. What is clear is that Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney believed FDJ-SUEZ rider Célia Gery blocked her toward the barriers at the base of the final rise on Stage 8, forcing her to stop pedaling briefly. Canyon-SRAM reviewed the footage and contacted the race jury. The jury examined the matter and issued no penalty, fine or warning, and the official race report did not cite wrongdoing. It is also true that Stage 8 mattered a lot. Vollering took yellow there by eight seconds after winning the stage, and Canyon-SRAM director Rolf Aldag suggested the incident may have cost Niewiadoma-Phinney some freshness and perhaps a chance to stay on Vollering’s wheel. In such a tight GC battle, that could have been significant. But the final result cannot be reduced to that moment. On Stage 9, Vollering decisively beat Niewiadoma-Phinney head-to-head on a demanding mountain route, attacking on the final climb and extending her lead on the descent to win the stage by more than a minute. She turned an eight-second lead into an overall margin of 1 minute 18 seconds. So the blockade controversy remains unresolved and open to debate, but the race was ultimately settled by Vollering’s superior ride on the final day, not by any proven, unpunished foul on Stage 8.

Q: How did a devastating high-speed crash on the Col d’Eze completely rewrite the final podium of the Tour de France Femmes?

Marlen Reusser’s crash on the Col d’Eze effectively blew up the race for third place and rewrote the final podium behind Demi Vollering. Reusser began the last stage sitting third overall and appeared to have a strong cushion over Elisa Longo Borghini, who started fourth. But on the selective Nice finale, Canyon-SRAM’s hard pace on the repeated climbs dropped Reusser from the lead group on the second ascent of the Col d’Eze. While trying to limit her losses on the descent, she crashed in a right-hand bend and was left stranded well behind the main contenders. That moment ended her realistic chance of defending a podium place. Although she remounted and finished, she lost several minutes and slid all the way down to 14th overall. With Reusser out of contention, Longo Borghini moved up into third and claimed her first Tour de France Femmes podium. At the front, the crash did not affect the fight for yellow, where Vollering and Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney remained the decisive pair. Vollering attacked on the final ascent and then on the descent to win the stage and the overall title, while Niewiadoma-Phinney secured second place. So the podium was rewritten in one key way: Reusser started the day on it, but the combination of being dropped and crashing cost her everything, opening the door for Longo Borghini to step onto the final podium with Vollering first and Niewiadoma-Phinney second.

3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Aug 9

Demi Vollering sealed the overall title with a dominant win on the 99.2km final stage in Nice, finishing in 2:44:43 and more than a minute ahead of her main rivals.
The FDJ-Suez rider had started Sunday with only an eight-second overall lead, then dropped Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney on the final ascent of the Col d'Eze and extended the gap on the descent.
Vollering said she attacked alone to show her team deserved the victory after Niewiadoma-Phinney accused team-mate Celia Gery of blocking her during Saturday's decisive stage.
The 29-year-old Dutch rider became the race's first two-time winner, finishing 1:18 ahead of Niewiadoma-Phinney in the final standings, with Elisa Longo Borghini third at 4:29.

Sources

BBC.com16d ago

Demi Vollering Wins Tour de France Femmes Second Title in Nice

Outside Magazine16d ago

Demi Vollering in Dream Land with Tour de France Femmes Title

RNZ16d ago

Demi Vollering wins second Tour de France Femmes title | RNZ

14 Sources

Did a controversial, unpunished blockade on Stage 8 secretly guarantee Demi Vollering's historic second Tour de France Femmes victory?

How did a devastating high-speed crash on the Col d’Eze completely rewrite the final podium of the Tour de France Femmes?

Will the fierce, unresolved rivalry between Vollering and Niewiadoma-Phinney ultimately force cycling officials to rethink their lenient blocking rules?