Race report stage 6 TDFF: French victory in France by Kerbaol
As the peloton faced the longeat stage this tour with 166.4-kilometer route from Champagnole to Le Grand-Bornand in the French Alps. With over 3,000 meters of climbing, this stage was poised to play a crucial role in shaping the general classification (GC), although real fireworks didn’t happen so the final stage will be the decisive one.
Breakaways
The stage started with several early attacks as teams looked to position their climbers ahead of the critical ascents. The peloton, led by GC-focused teams, ensured that no early break gained significant ground, but the first climb of the day, the Col de la Croix de la Serra, began to sort the contenders from the pretenders.
Climbers like Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) and Juliette Labous (Team DSM-Firmenich) were aggressive early on, trying to secure points in the Queen of the Mountains (QOM) competition. As the race advanced through the rolling terrain, the peloton began to fragment, with GC contenders positioning themselves for the final showdown on the Alpine climbs.
The Decisive Moves
The defining moment came during the final climb to Le Grand-Bornand, where Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) launched a powerful attack out of a break way ghroup of 7 riders, where also Marianne Vos secured hergreen jersey. Julie vd Velde attacked taking Vos and Sara Martin with her. Van de Velde, teammate of Ghekiere, launched the Belgian rider perfect on the final climb so she could ride her own pace on the final two climbs. Vos and Martin, followed, but seconds behind. Ghekiere, who had been in strong form throughout the Tour, made her move on the steep gradients, leaving her rivals behind and soloing her way to a spectacular victory. Her relentless pace on the climb allowed her to gain a significant advantage, and she held off all challenges to cross the finish line first. With disbelief in her eyes, the wearer of the polkadot jersey crossed the finish line being the happiest person alive at that moment.
Behind her the fight for GC commenced. Not only Demi Vollering tried to attack, also Pieters, Brand and Realini placed attacks to lure out Kasia Niewiadoma. The Polish rider countered all attackes and looks strong. In the final 2km she placed an attack by herself only getting Vollering in her wheel who, in the final 50 meters outsprinted Niewiadoma securing thrd place, behind Maeve Squiban who attacked in the final 4km but wasn’t interesting enough for the GC riders. With her 3d place, the Dutch rider gained +4 bonification seconds and climbs 2 spots to 8th in GC.
Post-Race reactions
Justine Ghekiere
After the stage, Ghekiere expressed her elation at winning such a crucial stage in the Tour de France Femmes. ” I really have no words. It’s unbelievable. I think I’m dreaming, but, yeah, it’s crazy. I really want to thank my team today. The whole team was at the front from the beginning, protecting me well and helping me get into the breakaway. And a special thanks to Julie—she rode a really strong race. She did everything to get me into the best position to start the climb and save as much energy as possible. This victory is definitely a big part of her effort.
When I took the last points(QOM red.), I was really exhausted, I started to believe in it. I told myself to just go at my own pace, and I managed to stay away. I still can’t believe it. I really can’t believe it.
I’m really looking forward to riding the last stage of this tour in this (polkadot red.) skin suit. And, with the win already, it’s just a dream come true.”
Kasia Niewiadoma
“ Today was a good day for us. I think we, as a team, executed a nice strategy, which helped me stay calm. I felt well-supported, conserving my energy for the final. I’m confident that the whole peloton is tired after the first seven stages, and the pace has slowed a bit. I think this works to my advantage because I’ve built up a lot of fatigue resistance. Hopefully, I can finish strong tomorrow.
I’m actually happy to be here. I think everyone is focused on tomorrow because it’s the most important stage. But yes, we take it day by day. All we want is to be at the top of Alpe d’Huez relatively fresh and ready for the end of the race.”
Demi Vollering
“It was a long day. Quite a challenging one. And the climb wasn’t as tricky as I had hoped. It wasn’t steep enough. So, if you start leading at the front, everyone behind benefits from the draft. I tried to avoid that today. I did want to make Kasia nervous. And I think it worked out that way. She was very nervous, constantly looking back at me. So, yes, I got the sense she was really scared that I would attack. That was kind of a nice feeling. And the fact that I managed to create a gap is also satisfying. So yes, hopefully tomorrow will bring some more real climbs. Hopefully, that will be enough for me.
After the crash earlier this week Vollering’s body is recovering, day by day: “ Today went well. But it’s the end of the Tour, so nobody feels really great anymore, of course. Now it’s just about good recovery and getting ready for tomorrow. Whether it works out or not, we’ll see afterward. I’m trying not to stress too much about making it happen, as that only increases the pressure. I’m focusing on staying level-headed and not putting too much weight on my shoulders.”
Marianne Vos
“Today was tough. I have to say, yesterday was really, really hard, but today was also quite tricky on the last climb. I wanted to join a strong group with the Mountain jersey in mind. I thought it was a group that could hold their own. I think they did really well in the end, so that paid off. Of course, you try to maintain the group and keep a steady pace, making sure we had a good lead. Then you just hope you have something left for the final push. But Justine was by far the strongest today.”
Tomorrow is the final stage of this year’s race from Grand Bornand to the famous Alps d’Huez! There will be decided who will win the yellow jersey! It’s still exciting!