Vollering moves into Tour Femmes yellow with dramatic late heist on stage 8

Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) is within striking distance of Tour de France Femmes victory after she won stage 8 into Nice with a devastating attack on the unclassified final ascent.

The Dutchwoman launched a fierce onslaught with 6.5km to go on the short, sharp ascent that followed the Côte de la Ginestière. Yellow jersey Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) and Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L’IMAD) responded to her first acceleration, but Vollering eventually managed to punch her way clear just before the top.

Vollering hurtled down the other side and then cruised along the seafront in Nice to open a winning margin. Although Niewiadoma had Longo Borghini as an ally of circumstance on the run-in, she couldn’t get back on terms and she surrendered her jersey at day’s end.

Longo Borghini and Niewiadoma came in 17 seconds down, with Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and the third group finishing at 38 seconds.

In the overall standings, Vollering now leads Niewiadoma by eight seconds ahead of Sunday’s final stage around Nice, while Reusser is now 1:12 back in third.

A brisk start meant it took some time for the day’s early break to form, but Maeva Squiban (UAE Team L’IMAD) and Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek) were granted considerable leeway once they forged clear after 25km.

The duo built up a maximum lead in excess of six minutes as they passed over the category 4 ascents of the Col des Robines and the Col de Toutes Aures. The gap was down to just over five minutes by the intermediate sprint in Puget-Théniers with 64km to go, where Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) led the peloton across the line.

Demi Vollering’s FDJ United-Suez squad were prominent in setting the pace in the peloton in the final 50km, perhaps in the hope that the Dutchwoman could test the yellow jersey Niewiadoma on the punchy terrain on the approach to Nice. 

Liv-AlUla-Jayco, SD Worx-Protime and AG Insurance Soudal put their shoulders to the wheel as Nice drew nearer, and the gap dropped to three minutes with 25km to go.

It tumbled still further on the category 4 Côte de Colomars with 18km to go, where Movistar upped the tempo for Marlen Reusser, slashing the break’s lead to just over a minute.

Squiban’s hopes of stage victory were dashed on the descent, when her wheels slipped from under her on a sharp hairpin while she was leading the race. Adegeest managed to avoid coming down, and she remained alone at the head of the race with a lead of 30 seconds as she entered the final 10km.

Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez) led into the foot of the Côte de la Ginestière and her supersonic tempo whittled down the peloton to the bare bones, with Wiebes distanced a kilometre or so from the top.

Juliette Berthet took over and Adegeest was swept up with 9km to go, before Célia Gery upped the ante still further. She led a group of 20 or so riders over the top, with Vollering tucked in second place and Niewiadoma glued to the Dutchwoman’s wheel.

Vollering was biding her time for the short, steep unclassified climb with 6.5km to go. Her acceleration opened an immediate gap but Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE) and Niewiadoma battled their way up to her wheel. 

Shortly before the summit, however, Vollering kicked once more and this time she opened a small gap over Niewiadoma and Longo Borghini ahead of the breathless run-in to Nice.