Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) has once again delivered an impressive number. The Dutchman broke away with Demi Vollering in the tough Vosges stage and also left her behind with 60 kilometers to go. After a long solo, Van Vleuten arrived alone in Le Markstein and she can also hoist herself in yellow.
View the last kilometer of the 7th stage here
7th stage of the Tour de France Femmes in a nutshell:
- Winner of the day: Annemiek van Vleuten had a difficult start. The Dutch suffered from stomach flu and that caused some doubt, but it washed away the Dutch today. Van Vleuten dominated in the 7th stage. On the 2nd climb of the day she shook Demi Vollering out of her wheel and completed an impressive solo.
- Loser of the Day: SD Worx counted on Demi Vollering and Ashleigh Moolman for the overall victory. On the first climb, Moolman had to put away the classification ambitions. Vollering bit her teeth into Van Vleuten’s wheel on the 2nd climb. SD Worx posed no danger to the Movistar rider today.
- Remarkable: Van Vleuten was ill during the first days of the Tour de France. She lost in 2 hilly stages, but now she’s back in good shape. She has clearly recovered from the stomach flu. She blasted everyone off the wheel today.
- Morning: The last stage of the Tour de France Femmes is another mountain stage. The peloton completes 3 climbs. They close with La Super Blanche des Belles Filles. Is Van Vleuten’s yellow jersey still in danger?
Yesterday the stage with 4 cataloged hills of 4th and 3rd category was a warm-up for today’s stage. 3 1st category climbs promised to shake up the general classification.
In the opening phase, the queen stage was overshadowed by the retirement of Lorena Wiebes. The two-time stage winner crashed yesterday and today she appeared battered at the start of the 7th stage. After a few kilometers the Dutch got off.
The battle for the yellow jersey did not last long. On the first climb of the day, Annemiek van Vleuten showed that she had recovered from her stomach flu. The Movistar rider attacked and was back to normal. Only Demi Vollering could accede. The leading role was immediately for the classification riders.
Marianne Vos realized that she would lose her yellow jersey and was immediately put behind by the acceleration of her 2 compatriots. Elisa Longo Borghini, Juliette Labous, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, Silvia Persico, Kasia Niewiadoma, Urska Zigart and Evita Muzic were their first pursuers.
On the first climb the time differences were already significant. Vos sank further and realized the yellow jersey would change shoulders.
Van Vleuten takes a shot at the final win
On the 2nd climb Vollering and Van Vleuten fought a battle, but one kilometer from the top Vollering had to acknowledge her superiority in Van Vleuten. The 39-year-old Dutchman had miracle legs and ran off alone.
Van Vleuten still had 66 kilometers to go, but she made use of her climbing qualities and overcame the opposition. Full saw
and lost more and more ground. In the background, Longo Borghini was caught by Niewiadoma’s group.
On the last climb it became clear that nobody would get close to Van Vleuten. The Dutch was supreme. In the chasing group, Niewiadoma tried to secure her 3rd place in the general classification by attacking. Labous and Uttrup Ludwig were able to follow, Longo Borghini had to drop out.
Van Vleuten outclassed the opposition and impressively soloed to the victory and the yellow jersey. She thus takes a shot at the final win.
Van Vleuten solos to a win and takes yellow
Kasia Niewiadoma accelerates in the chasing group at Grand Ballon
