Kasia Niewiadoma of Poland took a career-defining overall victory in the Tour de France Femmes, beating defending champion Demi Vollering by just four seconds –the closest ever margin in the history of the Tour – after a tense final climb to Alpe d’Huez.
On Saturday, the Canyon-SRAM rider had said that “four seconds was nothing,” but in the end, for her and her team, it turned out to be everything. While Vollering (SD Worx Protime) took a memorable stage win, it was not enough to overhaul the gutsy Niewiadoma who clung on to seal the first yellow jersey of her career.
On the 21 hairpins to the ski station, five riders were in play for the final victory, with race leader Niewiadoma under intense pressure and the top three on the general classification separated by just ten seconds, as they closed on the finish.
Vollering’s make-or-break attack came towards the top of the Col du Glandon, the penultimate climb, 55 kilometres from the finish at the Alpine ski station. Three kilometres from the summit, the defending champion made her move, with race leader Niewiadoma unable to respond.
As the mountain mist swirled around the peloton, so it seemed to close in on the Polish rider’s hopes of overall victory. Niewiadoma chased frantically over the top of the Glandon, as Vollering moved clear and soon made up her overnight deficit of 1min 15sec on the long descent to Allemond.
But in the ensuing kilometres, tactical complications and conflicting objectives worked against Vollering and closed the gap once more, as the rivals approached the foot of the 21 hairpins to Alpe d’Huez. At the foot of the climb, Vollering led Niewiadoma by only 44 seconds.
As the rivals began the climb to the ski resort, a classic pursuit took shape: Vollering and Pauliena Rooijakkers, of Fenix-Deceuninck, were chased by Niewiadoma, Italian climber Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) and France’s Evita Muzic (FDJ-Suez), with all five harbouring hopes of a top three finish.
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As the climb wore on, Vollering’s relentless pace clawed back more time, and with 10km still to race, Niewiadoma’s fragile overall lead was a mere 10 seconds. But the outcome hung in the balance until the defending champion began to falter, with three kilometres to race.
In the end, the Tour was played out in the final thousand metres of a race that was almost 950km long. Vollering attacked and moved clear of Rooijakkers to win the stage, but Niewiadoma also accelerated to the line, collapsing exhausted and in tears, as she realised she had won.
