The final test of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes awaits, with a 22.6 kilometre time trial starting and finishing in Pau the last opportunity to reshuffle the GC order and the last chance to claim a prized stage victory.
After an aggressive day of racing on the slopes of the Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet Demi Vollering (SD Worx) is in the box seat, holding a 1:50 lead over second-placed Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) and 2:28 over Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar). Last year’s winner is always a big threat when it comes to a time trial but may be facing an uphill battle in pursuing Vollering in the overall standings given the extent of the gap. However, no doubt she will start with Niewiadoma’s time firmly on the radar as well as a stage win.
Still, the two-time World Champion in the discipline will have more than her GC rivals to contend with for the stage victory. So many riders and teams will be chasing one last chance on the largely flat course with a small uphill mid-course and uphill ramp to the finish plus many of them will have been able to take it easy the previous stage, or as easy as you can on a climb of the Tourmalet, in anticipation of the time trial.
Jumbo-Visma will likely be looking for their first stage win of the Tour with a couple of contenders, British time trial champion Anna Henderson and Dutch champion Riejanne Markus. The Dutch rider in particular has been a podium regular when it comes to the race against the clock the last two seasons plus she had to beat both Vollering and Van Vleuten to claim the national title.
French team FDJ-Suez will be looking to Grace Brown to capture the win, with the Australian World Championship silver medallist having painted a big target around this stage from the beginning. Then there is also Vollering’s teammate Marlen Reusser, although the work she did in pursuit of Niewiadoma on stage 7 may take a toll. Van Vleuten’s teammate and stage 6 winner Emma Norsgaard could also be in the mix.
The first of the 124 riders remaining in the race to set off will be Human Powered Health’s Marjolein Van'T Geloof, the lanterne rouge, who will be rolling out of the start gate at 2:38pm (CEST) while the last will be the yellow-clad Vollering at 5:01pm.
