Niewiadoma-Phinney wins Mont Ventoux stage to lead Women’s Tour de France

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It was a first Tour stage win for Niewiadoma-Phinney, who won the 2024 edition without claiming a stage win. Gritting her teeth in the final few hundred meters, she dug deep and with the sun gleaming behind her, raised her arms after crossing the line.

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She then almost lost balance through fatigue and had to be helped off her bike. Moments later, she was all smiles as she sat on the road and poured cooling water over her head.

“I never chase victories for the sake of winning, I target them because I like this beautiful feeling I have right now,” said Niewiadoma-Phinney, who is married to former men’s Tour sprinter Taylor Phinney.

“I came here (before) to Mont Ventoux with my friends and my husband, and we rode up the climb three times,” she recalled. “The feeling of reaching the top of this mountain was amazing. From that moment, I just wanted to experience that feeling again. The pure joy of riding, as if I was a kid.”

Isabella Holmgren of Orillia, Ont., finished 10th in the stage. The 21-year-old remained the top Canadian, sitting ninth overall, six minutes nine seconds behind the leader.

Montreal’s Magdeleine Vallières Mill ranked 22nd overall, Nadia Gontova of Richmond, B.C., was 28th and Victoria’s Sarah Van Dam 31st.

Vollering dropped Reusser in the closing stages of the 15.7-kilometre ascent of Ventoux, which has featured several times on the men’s Tour. In one of the darkest days in Tour history, British rider Tom Simpson died after collapsing during a tortuous ascent in 1967.

Reusser struggles at the end

World time trial champion Reusser battled gamely but lost valuable time in the title fight. The Swiss rider finished the stage fourth as Vollering and two-time Giro d’Italia winner Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy both placed ahead of her.

There were three smaller climbs heading to Ventoux, which was ranked as a Hors Catégorie ascent — the hardest category — and had a gradient of nearly 9 per cent.

Vollering moved ahead first, and Reusser and Niewiadoma-Phinney joined her as others lagged behind. Niewiadoma-Phinney then attacked and, although Vollering stood up in her saddle to chase her the new race leader was riding a brilliant tempo and proved too strong.

“My idea was that I had to make it to Chalet Reynard (six kilometres from the end) on my own,” Niewiadoma-Phinney said. “Because from then on the headwind would be quite strong and the chasers would try to stay on each other’s wheel for as long as possible.”

Weekend finale

Saturday’s eighth stage is a flat 172-kilometre route for sprinters finishing in Nice, where the race ends after another mountain stage on Sunday.

Stage 9 features four sharp climbs of Col d’Èze, nestled in the hills overlooking the tiny Principality of Monaco.

Two years ago, Niewiadoma-Phinney beat Vollering on the final stage to win the race by just four seconds.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

The Associated Press