Vollering regrets his choices on Ventoux

The Giant of Provence lived up to its terrifying reputation. Mont Ventoux, making its debut at the Tour de France Femmes, provided pure spectacle: a full hour's gap between the first and last rider at the summit, and most importantly, a change of yellow jersey that completely reshaped the balance of the general classification with two stages to go.

Going into the race, the forecasts almost took 2023 champion Demi Vollering 's rise to the lead for granted. Instead, it was her arch-rival, 2024 winner Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney , who pulled off the big move, launching a surgical attack with 9.7 km to go to snatch the stage and the yellow jersey in one fell swoop. A textbook move that, for fantasy cycling, confirms just how much the Polish rider should always be kept in the highest regard in decisive mountain stages.

Vollering finished second at the finish line, but with a significant 1'16" gap to her Polish rival. The FDJ United-SUEZ leader still remains second in the overall standings, but now has 15 seconds to make up if she wants to dream of the Promenade des Anglais in Nice.

At the foot of the FDJ bus, on the other side of the mountain, Vollering's sports director, Nicolas Maire, spoke to Cyclingnews, confirming that the team still believes in a possible overall victory. "That wasn't the plan, but at least we pushed her to fight all the way to the finish line, and we continue to believe that we can turn the situation around in the coming days," he said.

"It definitely wasn't what we expected. We were looking for the stage win, but I think Kasia was really, really strong and she proved it. We'll see what we can do in the next few days. Until the finish in Nice, anything is possible. I think Kasia opened up a good lead today, but we'll try to fight in the next few days. We'll also see how Demi feels after this stage, and we'll evaluate what we can do."

Before Niewiadoma-Phinney's decisive attack, Vollering had attempted a solo move. Eager to overturn her 12-second deficit to then-yellow jersey holder Marlen Reusser , the Dutchwoman lit the fuse 11 km from the finish, splitting the yellow jersey group and taking with her both Niewiadoma-Phinney and Reusser.

But neither Vollering nor Reusser found a response when, shortly thereafter, Niewiadoma-Phinney landed her decisive attack. Unable to react, or simply unsure of what to do?

"I launched an attack, and then Kasia very skillfully passed over my wheel. And then, well, I should have closed the gap right away," Vollering told NOS shortly after the finish. "Afterward, you always wonder if you really wouldn't have made it, or if that was just what you thought at the time. But yes, the regret mainly comes from that. When you're giving 100%, it's hard to say for sure."

Niewiadoma-Phinney continued her solo breakaway past Chalet Reynard and into the famously exposed lunar landscape of the final 6 kilometers. Not even the force of the Mistral wind blowing against the front of the climb could stop the Polish rider: her lead reached 1'40" with 1.5 kilometers to go. A final push from Vollering closed the gap, but it wasn't enough to reclaim the yellow jersey.

"I was hoping to break away with Marlen and then catch Kasia, but unfortunately that didn't happen," Vollering explained. "Then there was a really strong headwind in the final stretch, so I thought, 'Maybe it would be better to stay together,' but Kasia had incredibly strong legs today and just kept pushing."

Vollering may have planned to team up with Reusser, her former teammate from her time at SD Worx, until the finish. But Lars Boom , also riding for FDJ this week, didn't see things exactly the same way on the Ventoux. "You also know that you shouldn't let Niewiadoma-Phinney go too far on her own. It's not just up to us, but I think it's also up to Marlen to keep an eye on her," Boom said at the end of the stage.

"We took the initiative to make the race tough from the start, which favors Demi. It's just that Marlen keeps looking back at Demi, and sometimes that's not the smartest move. Marlen and Demi slowed down a little too early. You end up controlling each other too much, and suddenly you lose seconds that are not easy to make up."

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