SPORTS

Niewiadoma leads going into Tour de France Femmes finale

Published

8 months ago

August 17, 2024

admin

Niewiadoma

Katarzyna Niewiadoma retained the overall lead in the Tour de France Femmes as Justine Ghekiere won the penultimate stage.

Niewiadoma finished fourth in the 166.4km seventh stage from Champagnole to a summit at Le Grand-Bornand to keep hold of the yellow jersey.

The Polish rider has a 27-second advantage over second-placed Belgium’s Puck Pieterse, who came home seventh on Saturday, heading into Sunday’s final stage.

“It was a very good day for us. We rode a perfect race. I was getting a lot of support from my team which allowed me to save energy for the final,” said Canyon-SRAM rider Niewiadoma.

“Of course it was super long and very challenging from the start so I’m very happy. We didn’t lose anything, we’re still up there with 24 hours to go.

“It’s going to be a very important day in my career and in my team’s existence. We’re ready for it and we’re happy to still be in yellow. I think everyone is very motivated. We’re here to pursue our dreams.”

Pieterse’s compatriot Ghekiere clinched her second career win as she showed resilience on the gruelling mountainous route.

Ghekiere raced away from a breakaway group in the final two climbs to cross the line in four hours 26 minute and 58 seconds which consolidated her position as the tour’s best climber.

Maeva Squiban of France came home in second, one minute 15 seconds behind Ghekiere and just ahead of defending champion Demi Vollering in third.

Dutch rider Vollering had outsprinted Niewiadoma on the home straight and pipped her on the line.

Vollering lost the leader’s jersey on stage five after losing time in a crash near the finish, and is eighth in the standings, now 1:15 behind Niewiadoma.

France’s stage six winner Cedrine Kerbaol lost time in the gruelling finish to come in 18th and is now third in the overall rankings.

The final stage on Sunday is another for the climbers: a 149km mountain run from Le Grand-Bornand to Alpe d’Huez.

It features a 13.8km ride to the summit at a gradient of 8.1 per cent, the riders also having to crest the Col du Glandon over 19.7km at 7.2 per cent.