Niewiadoma vs. Gery: "Why did you lock me up against the barriers?"

It was a bitter day for yellow jersey Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney on stage eight of the Tour de France Femmes : the Polish rider lost the lead in the general classification to Demi Vollering right in Nice, and she made no secret of her anger at what she described as an unfair maneuver by the Dutchwoman's teammate, Célia Gery, on the decisive climb of the day.

Niewiadoma-Phinney confronted Gery directly at the finish line, asking her pointedly, "Why did you lock me into the barriers?", before venting her frustration in front of the cameras. Her nerves were also evident post-stage, with the Polish rider still reeling during her cool-down.

At the Canyon-SRAM bus, technical staff and sports directors gathered around Niewiadoma-Phinney, who chose not to comment further to the media. The group analyzed the replay footage on a phone, but the television footage didn't provide a clear picture of the incident, alternating between a frontal shot and a bird's-eye view at the crucial moment.

Sources close to Cyclingnews report that the team was in contact with the race jury, which has a video reporting system capable of analyzing multiple angles, not just those shown on TV.

A little further along the course, the FDJ stressed that any movement by Gery would have been purely accidental, reiterating that it is not in the 20-year-old Frenchwoman's nature to ride aggressively or unfairly.

When the stage statement was published, no penalties, fines or warnings were issued for Gery.

Canyon's sporting director, Rolf Aldag, initially preferred not to comment in too much detail on the incident: "I didn't see it, so we'll review it, and if it was unfair, the VAR and the jury will act accordingly. I can't comment right now on something I'm not sure about. Let's see and find out."

However, she later admitted that the bend in question was quite decisive, and that if Niewiadoma-Phinney had managed to follow Vollering's wheel without a hitch, the stage result and therefore the overall result could have been significantly different.

"I was wondering what happened in that corner. She had a gap to Demi, and if you stay on Demi's wheel you stay there, but she had to close the gap, and closing on her - who is the best in the world - requires a huge effort, resulting in a loss of freshness," he explained.

"So if she had stayed on Demi's wheel, she would have reached the top with her and nothing would have changed in the standings. Why that happened, why she wasn't on Demi's wheel, I don't know. I think we all saw on TV that they had that lead and then she had to get into the fray with Longo Borghini. At the top they were almost at a standstill. If she hadn't had to do that, she would have passed the climb with Demi and it would have been a whole different story. But that's not what happened, we have to accept that."

"Some people tell me 'yes, but Kasia won yesterday because Demi took a risk,' but that's nonsense. Yesterday Kasia was simply the strongest, without a doubt, and you don't win by a minute and 20 seconds because of luck or because someone took a risk. It's because you know you're the strongest on Mont Ventoux, and she was yesterday. Demi was really good today, so we have to accept that too."

Even as Canyon-SRAM analyzed the incident and appeared to be in contact with the jury, there was a sense that, even if they received a penalty, it wouldn't change Niewiadoma-Phinney's standings. But the team still wanted to understand why the Polish rider hadn't been able to follow Vollering, and what that might mean for the final day of racing.

One last chance to reclaim the yellow jersey

The Gery incident aside, the lack of sanctions now consigns the matter to the past: only stage 9 remains. With Vollering ahead by just eight seconds, FDJ United-Suez might have celebrated as if the Tour had already been won, but the reality is quite different. And if anyone knows how to come back or win from a narrow margin, it's Niewiadoma-Phinney.

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