Niewiadoma and FDJ clear the air after Stage 8 controversy
Kasia Niewiadoma and FDJ appeared to draw a line under the controversy surrounding Stage 8 of the Tour de France Femmes after the final stage, with Niewiadoma congratulating FDJ sports director Lars Boom and apologising for how the situation had unfolded.
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Footage published by WielerFlits showed Niewiadoma approaching Boom after the race, with the pair briefly discussing the events of the previous day.
“Congrats! I talked with Demi and I'm sorry that it turned out to be like this,” Niewiadoma told the FDJ sports director.
Boom responded by reassuring the Polish rider: “You know I'm not like this and you know also that we are not like this.”
The exchange came after a tense 24 hours in which Niewiadoma had strongly criticised FDJ rider Célia Gery for, in her view, deliberately closing her towards the barriers during the Stage 8 finale, forcing her to stop pedalling just before Vollering launched her decisive attack.
Ahead of the final stage, Niewiadoma stood by those comments, insisting she knew “what is right and what isn't”.
Vollering had hit back at Niewiadoma’s criticism, defending her young teammate and saying she was a bit disappointed by the comments made after the stage.
She also questioned Niewiadoma’s call for fair play, referring back to the 2024 Tour de France Femmes, when Vollering crashed in the yellow jersey and Niewiadoma continued racing while her rival was on the ground. “I didn’t forget about what she did when I was on the ground two years ago,” Vollering said.
After the race, however, the tone was noticeably different. With the tension finally gone and the emotions of the final stage released, the controversy appeared to be forgiven and forgotten.
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