It's very rare that a stage surrounded by such hype not only lives up to expectations but actually exceeds them, yet the eighth and final stage of the Tour de France Femmes can undoubtedly rank itself among those elite few.
The storyline of the maillot jaune defending their lead against a bruised but bullish defending champion already had set the stage for a dramatic final stage, placing this plot within the mythical setting of Alpe d'Huez - for the first time since 1992 - meant we were set for a finale for the ages.
After Demi Vollering's crash on stage 5, she fell out of the yellow jersey and was very nearly out of the top 10 too. By the time the mountains arrived this weekend, Kasia Niewiadoma knew she'd have to ride out of her skin to keep the maillot jaune on her shoulders. What followed on stage 8, will live long in the history of not just women's cycling, but the sport in general.
Cyclingnews has curated the best of the images from ASO photographers and Getty Images, capturing all the emotions on a historic first ride up the mythical mountain.
Marion Rousse gets a historic Tour de France Femmes stage underway
The day's break heads up the road, and into the clouds
Kasia Niewiadoma's Canyon-SRAM teammates get to work controlling the time gap
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One last day to hold onto the maillot blanc for debutant Puck Pieterse
The bunch thins out as the slopes of the Col du Glandon rise up
The eyes say it all, Cédrine Kerbaol stares up the mountain as she suffers on the steepest sections of the Col du Glandon
Not looking back, Demi Vollering attacks on the upper slopes, taking Pauliena Rooijakkers and Valentina Cavallar with her
Defending her jersey, the maillot jaune scrapes back time on the descent
Leading from the front, Demi Vollering sets the pace as the Dutch duo arrive at the foot of Alpe d'Huez
'Which hairpin was that?' The chasing trio, including the maillot jaune, power up the Alpe as the time gap continuously swings back and forth
There are few better front row seats in sport than Alpe d'Huez
Against the clock, the lead duo power to the line
It's 'you against you' as Demi Vollering points to her head, crossing the line clear of Pauliena Rooijakkers. The first female stage winner of Alpe d'Huez since 1992
For all of Vollering's might though, Kasia Niewiadoma arrived at the finish line in the nick of time. Her reaction speaks for itself
Four seconds. The smallest margin of victory in the women's or men's Tour de France history
Yet when someone wins by a narrow margin, someone loses by an equally narrow margin too
The emotions pour out between Lidl-Trek's Lucinda Brand and Shirin van Anrooij
Kasia Niewiadoma embraces her husband and former professional cyclist Taylor Phinney
Respect between two champions. What a show they put on
There might be just one maillot jaune but there's a whole team behind the victory
Four different jersey winners. Some young, some more experienced. All writing their names into the history books
Three editions of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, three different winners
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