With 16km to go on the final stage of the Tour de France Femmes, Demi Vollering took off. The Dutchwoman timed her moment to perfection, attacking with 600m to go on the final of four ascents of the Col d’Eze, with Kasia Niewiadoma unable to cling on to her wheel. As she barrelled up the remnants of the climb and then down the descent towards Nice Vollering converted her minuscule eight-second advantage over the Pole to a minute and 18 seconds, with time to slow down before the line, soak in the moment, and lift her bike triumphantly overhead.
After nine days of agonisingly close racing, with momentum swinging this way and that, this was a tour de force by the sport’s premier stage racer, the deserving first winner of a landmark second Tour de France Femmes title. “Impériale,” was the verdict on L’Equipe’s front page.
