Kasia Niewiadoma, a yellow dream come true
The final stage of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes was nothing short of spectacular, as the peloton took on the legendary climb of Alpe d’Huez. Stage 8, a148-kilometer journey from Le Grand-Bornand to Alpe d’Huez, was the last chance for the contenders to make their mark on the general classification (GC) and secure a place in history. The day was filled with excitement, breathtaking scenery, and a fittingly conclusion to what has been an epic edition of the Tour de France Femmes.
The Route and Early Moves
The stage started under clear skies, with the riders setting off from Le Grand-Bornand, knowing that the iconic switchbacks of Alpe d’Huez awaited them at the finish. The route featured three climbs: the Col de Tamié, the Col du Glandon, and finally, the ascent to Alpe d’Huez. Each of these climbs presented a unique challenge, and the GC contenders were well aware that this stage could decide the overall winner.
The early kilometers saw several breakaway attempts, as riders from various teams looked to gain an advantage before the major climbs. A group of about 25 riders eventually established a gap, including strong climbers and riders looking to salvage a stage win after a tough week of racing. However, the peloton, led by teams with GC ambitions, kept the breakaway on a tight leash, knowing that the final climb would be where the real battle would take place. Team SD Worx – Protime had a plan with 4 riders into the break.
Col du Glandon
As the race approached the Col Glandon, the breakaway group began to splinter under the pressure of the relentless gradient. The peloton, meanwhile, was steadily reducing the gap, with FDJ Suez and Canyon//SRAM taking control at the front. Demi Vollering, who had taken the yellow jersey in Stage 7, was well protected by her remaining teammates as they prepared for the decisive moments of the stage.
the climb up the Col du Glandon saw a regrouping in the peloton, but the pace remained high. The attrition was evident as several riders were dropped from the main group, leaving only the strongest climbers to contest the final ascent to Alpe d’Huez. The breakaway group began to splinter and more and more riders were being dropped, including the SDWorx Protime riders and the break saw a group of 7 riders ahead of the dropped riders. Behind them the peloton was thinned out to about 20 riders. As the riders ascended the challenging slopes, Demi Vollering (SD Worx) launched a decisive attack, putting pressure on her rivals, including Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM). Vollering’s move created a split, with only Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck) able to stay with her. Niewiadoma, who was fighting to retain her yellow jersey, struggled to maintain contact, resulting in a critical moment where Vollering and Rooijakkers gained a significant advantage. By the summit, the two leaders had distanced themselves from the rest, setting the stage for a thrilling final battle on the Alpe d’Huez.
Approach of the final climb
After the Col du Glandon, Demi Vollering (SD Worx) and Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck) led the race on the descent, navigating the technical and fast downhill sections. The descent provided a brief respite, but Vollering and Rooijakkers used the opportunity to consolidate their lead. Behind them, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) worked hard to limit the gap, knowing the climb to Alpe d’Huez was looming.
As they approached the base of Alpe d’Huez, the tension grew, with the peloton scattered across the road. The final 9 kilometers in the valley were fast, and both Vollering and Rooijakkers maintained their advantage, setting up a dramatic showdown on the iconic climb. The stage was set for the final and decisive battle up the legendary switchbacks of Alpe d’Huez.
The Final Ascent: Alpe d’Huez
As the peloton hit the lower slopes of Alpe d’Huez, the tension was palpable. The legendary climb, with its 21 hairpin bends and average gradient of 8.1%, has been the site of some of the most iconic moments in cycling history. Today, it would once again provide a fitting stage for the final battle of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes.
Demi Vollering made her intentions clear from the start of the climb, setting a fierce pace that immediately put her rivals under pressure. Kasia Niewiadoma, who started the day just 45 seconds behind Vollering in the GC, was quick to respond, staying glued to Evita Muzic and Gaia Realini’s wheel as the two leaders distanced themselves from them.
Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck), who had been quietly impressive throughout the Tour, looked strong and focussed. The duo quickly opened up a gap, and it became clear that the stage win and then they had to wait on how much time Niewiadoma was behind them Rooijakers had a 2 second lead in GC over Vollering. Vollering tried to tell her fellow Dutch woman to take over in the climb, but Rooijakkers gave no response to that. The 30 year old rider had never been in the position that she could win a grand tour and did everything right.
📸 ASO/ Charly Lopez
The Battle for the Yellow Jersey
As the riders ascended through the switchbacks, the battle intensified. Vollering, determined to attack the yellow jersey, continued to drive the pace, but Rooijakkers was not giving an inch. The gaps between the riders fluctuated with each hairpin, and it was clear that this would be a fight to the finish. Niewiadoma rode her own pace and ever bend it was winning yellow and losing yellow for the Polish rider. It was that close.
With 3 kilometers to go, Vollering launched a powerful attack, hoping to break Niewiadoma who responded 45 seconds behind her. For a moment, it looked like she might succeed, as she opened up a small gap. However, Niewiadoma, showing incredible resilience, clawed her way back refusing to give up.
Rooijakkers, meanwhile, was hanging on, but the relentless pace was beginning to take its toll. As the two approached the final kilometer, it was clear that the stage win would come down to a sprint on the steep slopes of Alpe d’Huez.
The Final Sprint and Stage Victory
In the final few hundred meters, Vollering placed an attack in the final 200m, both riders giving everything they had left. Vollering, with the yellow jersey on the line, found an extra gear and powered ahead, crossing the finish line first to take the stage win ahead of Paulina Rooijakkers.
After they crashed on the ground, now all they had to was to wait for Kasia Niewiadoma. She had 1 minute and 5 seconds left as Vollering took 10 bonification seconds, and Rooijakkers taking 6. In the final battle Evita Muzic, also fighting for a podium spot, overtook Niewiadoma finishing 4th and ‘stealing’ the final 4 bonification seconds. But it was enough. 4 seconds enough and Kasia Niewiadoma wins the Tour de France Femmers avec Zwift 2024 edition.
READ OUR ARTICLE ON KASIA NIEWIADOMA HERE: https://procyclingwomen.org/news/kasia-niewiadoma-a-yellow-dream-come-true/
Rider reactions:
Demi Vollering
“First of all, I feel really empty after today’s effort. But of course, also I’m a bit disappointed that I couldn’t win the yellow jersey just by 4 seconds. That’s a bit sour for me at the moment. I wanted to attack already on the Col du Glandon because I really wanted to race today and leave it all out on the roads. So that was what I did. My teammates did a really good job by being with four in the breakaway. That was the plan, and we hoped that they could come over the Col du Glandon, or that they could help me in the valley. But unfortunately, it was not enough for the breakaway to stay out. And then when I came back to my teammates in the front, they started to work full gas. At one point, I attacked, and only Pauliena could follow, so she was really strong.”
“Paulina sometimes wanted to turn with me, but then at one point, she said she was not allowed to turn anymore. So that was a little bit sad, because if you can work there with two, then, yeah, it’s easier to arrive at Alpe d’Huez with a bigger gap. I had a lot of back pain, I think also from the crash, because I crashed through all my butt, and it’s all very stiff there. So with lots of climbing that was coming up now and then on Alpe d’Huez, I was just very empty, and I tried everything I could to stay out. That worked, but it was just not enough. That’s a pity.”
“I mean, that’s cycling. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And, yeah, of course there are a lot of ifs… but you don’t buy anything from ‘ifs’, so, yeah, I can think very long about that, but it only makes me sad. And I think the way I raced today, I can be proud of that. I just tried to keep riding as hard as I could, but I was so empty. It was really hard, and it was a big fight with myself there. I was also a little bit scared that if Paulina would still win, she could take the yellow jersey from me. Yeah, it was a really hard battle, but I gave everything. In the end, I still won two stages. I was one time second and one time third. So for myself, it’s also the best Tour de France I did so far. So I think I should be really proud of that. The fact that because of the crash, I didn’t win the yellow jersey is very sad, but it’s part of cycling, unfortunately.”
Paulina Rooijakkers
“At one moment we were riding for the yellow, both of us. So then you think for sure about that, but in the beginning of the week, no. This team is really professional. We went to altitude camp together and also with the food and all the little things we work on. Yeah, a lot of like we have our nutritionist with us, all the little details we focus on. And there’s no separation between the men’s or the women’s team. It’s both equal. So we take the good stuff from them. Also, they take stuff from us. And with the coaches, everything is all equal. And yeah, I think that makes a really big difference. Also, the belief from this team I get helps a lot.”So, from the car they said to stay in the wheel, but I was also suffering in the wheel. So, yeah, and I tried to attack, but there wasn’t a lot of pressure, not a lot of power I had in my legs anymore. So I was happy to stick on.”
“That’s why I was sitting in the wheel a lot because I didn’t want to blow myself up and play the game. But also from the car I got the signal to play the game, to sit more in her wheel. She was fighting really for yellow and I was just hanging on, and yeah, otherwise maybe I’d park myself on the Alpe d’Huez and I didn’t want to have that happen. Yeah, it’s crazy. And yeah, we’re all strong together. Yeah. That’s only seconds. It’s really special to see this in the Tour de France.”
“I have some things to work on, but for sure the longer climbs suit me well. And we work with the team for that. But yeah, there are still little things for sure. I need to get more confidence and we will work on that.”
Kasia Niewiadoma
“To be honest, I think that I still need some time to let everything sink in because after the finish line, there were some things we had to do and I’m really looking forward to going to the team bus, celebrating with my girls, and actually realizing what just happened. Because throughout the stage I was going through different thoughts and emotional broadcasts. So then to be able to pull it out at the finish line by just a couple of seconds is a dream come true. I mean, 4 seconds seem to be magical now. It seems. Yeah, it’s a funny one, actually. I’m super happy, to be honest. I feel like throughout my whole career there were so many times I would miss out on victories because of something. And I feel like this week was just perfect for me and my team. Everything was going our way and despite a few crashes at the beginning of the stage race, we still were able to stay cool and, yeah, focus on our goals. So, yeah, I think that in order to be able to win big races, you need everything on your side.”
“I just knew that I had to kind of stay patient and keep my pace on the descent. I was able to refuel and have enough drinks and then I felt like, okay, I regained my power. I think that maybe I kind of overlooked the importance of fueling during such a long climb. And then, yeah, I kind of got my power back and knew that I just have to push all my best on the final ascent.”
“It was one of the hardest stage races I’ve ever done. I think that every day we were racing as if it was a classic race and also we had very long stages. So to be honest, it’s interesting to see how women’s cycling is growing, because of course it’s getting faster, everyone is getting stronger. So in some way I’m happy that I’m 30 years old because maybe in a couple of years when it’s so hard, I’m already retired. But yeah, I’m definitely stoked for the longer stage race because I think that that will bring extra attention and publicity for women’s cycling and hopefully it will attract more ladies to hop on a bike.”
“I think that I was mainly working with my coach on building fatigue resistance, because as I just said, the races are getting longer and stages are no longer like 3 hours or 4 hours, but more four and 5 hours. You just need to spend more time on the bike. I think that, yeah, we spend a lot of time also on altitude camps, just working on climbing and improving everything. So that’s the whole palette on. I feel like you need to keep thinking about little details, what to change, because women’s cycling is developing so fast that you cannot be left behind if you want to be winning.”
“I haven’t had enough time to really let everything sink in and think about what did we accomplish today, what kind of history did we write today? But it feels amazing to be at the top step. It feels really great to be rewarded for all the hard work, not only my hard work, but the whole team’s hard work. And yeah, I think that, as I said before, you know, you keep pushing, you keep training so hard and things don’t necessarily go your way, like, even at the Olympics just two weeks ago. And then there’s one week that things are perfect and despite, like, I mean, besides putting a lot of hard work, you just also, like, all the stars aligned on your side. So I think that we all wrote the history this week and we’re very proud to be at the top step again.”
“I think that the most decisive race for my confidence was Gravel Worlds. I think that was the race when I realized that maybe because I was spending too much energy or kind of fearing my competition, I would not be able to fight for the victories. Maybe I was intimidated. So once I was able to specifically drop Demi, that’s when I realized that I actually can do it. I just need to have more faith or use my power in a better or smarter way.”
Recap of the Previous 7 Stages
Stage 1 saw a thrilling sprint finish, with Charlotte Kool (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) taking the win on home soil in the Netherlands. The flat terrain and crosswinds made for a tense race, but Kool’s sprinting prowess secured her the first yellow jersey of the Tour.
Stage 2 was another sprint stage, but this time Kool beat by Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) again who showed her class in a high-speed finish in The Hague.
Stage 3 featured a short but technical individual time trial in Rotterdam, where Demi Vollering laid down a marker by winning the stage and moving into the overall lead.
Stage 4 saw the peloton tackle the hilly terrain of Valkenburg to Liège. Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) took a surprise victory, out-sprinting Vollering and Niewiadoma in the final meters.
Stage 5 was marked by a dramatic crash that saw Vollering lose the yellow jersey to Kasia Niewiadoma. Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) took advantage of the chaos to win the stage, while Niewiadoma moved into the overall lead.
Stage 6 was another hilly stage, with Cedrine Karboal (WNT – Ceratizit) taking the win solo. Niewiadoma finished safely in the group to retain her yellow jersey.
Stage 7 was the first true mountain stage of the Tour, with Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) taking a brilliant solo victory on the slopes of Le Grand-Bornand.
The final stage, Stage 8, provided a fitting conclusion to what has been an unforgettable Tour de France Femmes. Vollering’s victory on Alpe d’Huez cemented her status as the best climber and overall rider in the race, while Niewiadoma showed to be the best overall.