Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) took a historic overall victory after winning stage nine of the Tour de France Femmes.
Ferrand-Prévot made her move with 6km remaining to Châtel to take her second stage win and become the first French overall winner in men's and women's Tours since 1989.
While her margin at the start of the day gave her a comfortable safety blanket, the victory was nothing short of emotional for all involved as she was welcomed across the line with the raucous cheers of a nation beaming with pride.
Demi Vollering (FDJ–Suez) finished the Tour in second place after crossing the line in 20 seconds behind Ferrand-Prévot, while Canyon–SRAM zondacrypto’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney rounded out the GC and the stage podium in third.
Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal) had a tough day on the bike and saw her second place in the GC fall out of grasp after failing to stick with the six-rider group at the front of the race. The Aussie finished the race almost four minutes behind the maillot de jaune and therefore slipped down the overall standings to finish in seventh.
The six-rider group caused the overall standings to completely change, with Lidl-Trek's Niamh Fisher-Black falling just short of sneaking into the podium spots.
Lorena Wiebes continued her dominance in the points race, but failed to claim the maximum points on the day after Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) led for the majority of the race, sweeping up the top points in the intermediate sprint and pushing her way into the top five.
It was the same in the QOM competition as Elise Chabbey's (FDJ-SUEZ) entered the day with a dominant lead and so was untouched in the top spot. However, due to Vollering and Van der Breggen's lead in the mountains, they managed to take home all the maximum points.
Nienke Vinke of Picnic PostNL held her lead in the young rider's competition ahead of Frenchwoman Julie Bego of Cofidis.
Tour de France Femmes stage nine: Praz-Sur-Arly > Châtel (124.1KM)
1. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 3:38:23
2. Demi Vollering (Ned) FDJ-SUEZ +20s
3. Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (Pol) Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto +23s
4. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) Lidl-Trek +23s
5. Dominika Włodarczyk (Pol) UAE Team ADQ +33s Yara Kastelijn (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck, at same time
6. Juliette Labous (Fra) FDJ-SUEZ +1:49
7. Sarah Gigante (Aus) AG Insurance-Soudal +3:53
8. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly +9:22
9. Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck +9:23
10. Nadia Gontova (Can) Winspace Orange Seal +9:42
Tour de France Femmes final general classification
1. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 29:54:24
2. Demi Vollering (Ned) FDJ-SUEZ, + 3:42
3. Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (Pol) Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, +4:09
4. Dominika Włodarczyk (Pol) UAE Team ADQ +5:45
5. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZl) Lidl-Trek +6:25
6. Sarah Gigante (Aus) AG Insurance-Soudal +6:40
7. Juliette Labous (Fra) FDJ-SUEZ +9:13
8. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly, +13:43
9. Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck, +13:59
10. Evita Muzic (Fra) FDJ-SUEZ, +15:50
Tour de France Femmes points classification after stage 9
1. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, 230pts
2. Marianne Vos (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, 178pts
3. Demi Vollering (Ned) FDJ-SUEZ, 147pts
4. Kim Le Court (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal, 133pts
5. Anna van der Breggen (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, 118pts
Tour de France Femmes mountains classification after stage 9
1. Elise Chabbey (Sui) FDJ-SUEZ, 44pts
2. Demi Vollering (Ned) FDJ-SUEZ, 36pts
3. Maeva Squiban (Fra) UAE Team ADQ, 36pts
4. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike, 33pts
5. Anna van der Breggen (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, 29pts
Tour de France Femmes youth classification after stage 9
1. Nienke Vinke (Ned) Picnic PostNL, in 26:39:50
2. Julie Bego (Fra) Cofidis, +8:59
3. Titia Ryo (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, +12:37
4. Marion Bunel (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike, +18:54
5. Francesca Barale (Ita) Picnic PostNL, +39:46
Tour de France Femmes teams classification after stage 9
1. FDJ-SUEZ in 79:05:03
2. AG Insurance-Soudal, +10:37
3. Visma-Lease a Bike, +21:48
