The Giant of Provence, Mont Ventoux, lived up to its fearsome reputation on its Tour de France Femmes debut on Friday, with the yellow jersey changing hands as an hour separated the first and last riders at the summit.
Many predictions ahead of the stage saw 2023 Tour champion Demi Vollering ascending into the maillot jaune. However, it was her rival, 2024 winner Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, who soared away with 9.7km remaining to take the glory.
Vollering was second at the line, though with 1:16 lost to her Polish rival, the FDJ United-SUEZ leader remains second overall, now with 15 seconds to find if she wants to celebrate on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice.
Speaking at the FDJ bus down the other side of the mountain, Vollering's directeur sportif, Nicolas Maire, told Cyclingnews that the team believes another overall victory is still possible.
"That was not the plan, but at least we pushed her to fight until the line and still believe that it's possible on the next day," he said.
"For sure, it was not what we expected. We were looking for a stage win, but I think Kasia was really, really strong and she showed it. So, we will see what we can do in the next days.
"Until the finish line in Nice, all is possible. I think Kasia took a good advantage today, but we'll try to fight the next days. We'll also see what is the feeling of Demi after this stage, and see what we can do."
Before Niewiadoma-Phinney leapt clear, Vollering had tried a move of her own. Keen to reverse the 12-second deficit to now-former race leader Marlen Reusser, she accelerated from the select GC group 11km from the summit. Her push blew the group apart, taking Niewiadoma-Phinney and Reusser with her.
Neither Vollering nor Reusser offered up an answer when Niewiadoma-Phinney made her move shortly afterwards, however. Were they unable or unwilling?
"I launched an attack, and then Kasia very cleverly went straight over the top of it. And then, well, I really should have closed the gap straight away," Vollering told NOS shortly after the stage.
"Afterwards, you always start to wonder a bit whether you really couldn’t do it, or whether that’s just what you thought at the time. But yes, that’s mainly where the disappointment lies.
"In the moment, you're giving 100%, so it's hard to say."
Niewiadoma-Phinney rode away and kept pushing on through Chalet Reynard into that famous exposed moonscape of the final 6km.
Even the strength of the Mistral, blowing a headwind down the climb, couldn't stop the Pole as her lead hit 1:40 with 1.5km remaining. A late surge by Vollering saw her close the gap, but it wasn't enough to take yellow.
"I hoped to be able to break away with Marlen and then catch up with Kasia, but, unfortunately, that didn’t work out," Vollering said.
"Then there was a really strong headwind on the final stretch, so I thought, 'Maybe it would be better to stick together, but Kasia had incredibly strong legs today and just kept pulling away."
Vollering may have planned a collaborative race towards the line with Reusser, an ex-teammate when the pair both raced for SD Worx. Lars Boom, also in the team car for FDJ this week, said he didn't quite see things that way on Ventoux.
"You also know you mustn’t let [Niewiadoma-Phinney] ride too far ahead on her own. That’s not just up to us, but I think it’s also up to Marlen to keep an eye on that," Boom said after the finish.
"We did take the initiative to make the race hard at the start, which suits Demi well. It’s just that Marlen keeps glancing back at Demi, and sometimes that’s not the smartest thing to do.
"Marlen and Demi did ease off a bit too soon. You end up watching each other too much, and suddenly you're losing seconds that aren't easily clawed back."
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