{"id":206024,"date":"2026-08-10T08:46:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T08:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=206024"},"modified":"2026-08-10T08:46:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T08:46:55","slug":"three-days-that-turned-the-tour-de-france-femmes-upside-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/08\/10\/three-days-that-turned-the-tour-de-france-femmes-upside-down\/","title":{"rendered":"The Three Days That Turned the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift Upside Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

The final three stages of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift delivered almost every twist imaginable. The yellow jersey changed hands twice, tactical hesitation on Mont Ventoux opened the door for Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (CANYON\/\/SRAM), a brutally steep \u201cbump\u201d near Nice swung the advantage back to Demi Vollering (FDJ United\u2013SUEZ), and Marlen Reusser (Movistar), who had led the race for three stages, saw her podium hopes disappear after a crash on the final day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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By Sunday, Vollering had turned a 15-second deficit after stage 7 into an overall winning margin of 1:18 over Niewiadoma-Phinney, becoming the first rider to win the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift<\/a> for a second time. Italian champion Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) completed the GC podium, 4:19 adrift.<\/p>\n

But the final standings tell only part of the story.<\/p>\n

Stage 7: What happened?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cHonestly, I didn\u2019t understand fully,\u201d Reusser said, echoing the bewilderment of the millions of cycling fans who had watched Friday’s stage 7, a dramatic conundrum that ended with the Swiss time trial world champion losing the yellow jersey to Niewiadoma-Phinney and Vollering fuming with regret, self-criticism and a 15-second deficit to the Polish rider in the GC.<\/p>\n

This was supposed to have been the decisive stage of the race, with 3,500 metres of climbing and the race decided on the climb to the summit finish of this year’s mountain showpiece, the brutal Mont Ventoux (15.7 km @ 8.8%). But, on the contrary, the result left the race hanging deliciously in the balance, after Niewiadoma-Phinney took advantage of a private cat-and-mouse game between her two rivals to win the first TdFFaZ stage of her career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the problem was that Demi and me, we were marking each other too much,\u201d Reusser analysed. \u201cReally stupid for both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, it was not smart.<\/p>\n

An attack on a steep hairpin by Vollering with 11 km left to climb had resulted in the three riders being at the front of the race, with the other GC contenders struggling behind them in the strong cross- and headwinds on the mountain. She then rode at a hard pace, challenging her two rivals to keep up, which they did. But with 9.6 km left in the stage, after Vollering had eased the pace, Niewiadoma attacked \u2013 and there was no response from her two rivals, who preferred playing Liar’s Poker with each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemi kept attacking super hard, and I kept telling her, \u2018Don\u2019t do this. Let\u2019s just ride.\u2019 Because we had Kasia well in sight. We could for sure close it,\u201d Reusser said later. \u201cNeither of us wanted to ride crazy with the other in the wheel, knowing there [would be] following attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

I saw two riders unwilling to give the other an advantage on the steep slopes, unwilling to help the other catch up to Niewiadoma-Phinney, who was extending her lead with every pedal stroke. Their battle seemed personal to me \u2013 and the constant attacking increased the fatigue in their legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI launched an attack, and then Kasia very cleverly went straight over the top of it. And then, well, I really should have closed the gap straight away,\u201d is how Vollering saw it, as she told NOS. \u201cAfterwards, you always start to wonder a bit whether you really couldn\u2019t do it, or whether that\u2019s just what you thought at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It looked to me as if she had been more interested in keeping Reusser from benefiting from her riding than in winning the stage. The two had been teammates at SD Worx Protime from 2022 to 2024, when they both left to become leaders at other teams. Apparently, some grudges remain from that time. Whatever it was, it benefited Niewiadoma-Phinney, who looked very happy on the podium in her yellow jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that with the wind we had today, if somebody is chasing behind, then they will try to stay on the wheel as much as possible,\u201d Niewiadoma-Phinney said after the finish. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t nice for me because there was a lot of headwind.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also expressed her gratitude to family and friends. \u201cAs we started to climb the Mont Ventoux, I looked right and I saw my parents. They made a surprise visit. I could see my dad crying, and I was like, \u2018I just need to make them proud.\u2019 So this victory goes to my family, my friends, my team, my husband Taylor [Phinney], to my coach Louis [Delahaije] and my team boss Ronny [Lauke]. They know how much effort I put into this victory and were always by my side, listening to my complaints. It’s a long speech right now, but yeah, I\u2019m just blown away.\u201d<\/p>\n

As were we all. In any case, Vollering managed to find another gear on the steep upper part of the climb and gained a vital 35 seconds on Niewiadoma-Phinney in the final 800 metres. She also put 30 seconds between herself and Reusser, who was passed by Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) near the line.<\/p>\n

The decisive \u201cbump\u201d in the road<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Saturday’s stage 8 began with the news that defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike) had dropped out of the race due to illness. Perhaps that explains her performance, which had her in 14th place in the GC, 14:37 behind the leader.<\/p>\n

How ironic that, after the \u201cGiant of Provence\u201d failed to decide the winner, a bump in the road, the unclassified 450 metres of the Camin de l’Arieta, on a stage classified for sprinters, should play an instrumental role in the outcome of the race. The \u201cbump\u201d came about 6.4 km from the finish and, yes, it was only 450 metres long, but at an average gradient of 13.3%, with ramps up to 17%; so, it was not your ordinary bump in the road.<\/p>\n

Vollering’s FDJ United\u2013SUEZ teammates began putting pressure on the competition on the last categorised climb, the C\u00f4te de la Ginesti\u00e8re (2.5 km @ 4.4%), which reduced the peloton by at least half. Gery took over near the top of that climb and continued the pressure on the bottom half of the \u201cbump,\u201d until Vollering attacked brutally. But she couldn’t shake Niewiadoma-Phinney and Longo Borghini \u2013 until 20 metres from the top of the climb, when first the Italian champion and then the Polish rider dropped back.<\/p>\n

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P\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek sd\u00edlen\u00fd Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@letourfemmes)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n