Ahead of the queen stage of the Tour de France Femmes on Saturday, 2024 Tour winner Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) took note that her rivals didn't go all-out on Col du Granier to the finish on stage 7.
Any opportunities for GC riders to use the climb, or ascent, to make moves never materialised, the defending champion saying riders seemed to be conservative with the Col de la Madeleine on the menu Saturday.
Niewiadoma-Phinney remained third in the general classification, 30 seconds behind yellow jersey Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal). There were some splits between the GC contenders on the Col du Granier but the day ended without any changes in the top five of the GC, only 35 seconds separating the bunch.
“I wasn’t going all-out. It was definitely a hard pace by Fenix from which Pauliena [Rooijakkers attacked, but it kind of settled from there," said Niewiadoma-Phinney after the stage.
"It was a hard day, also just because it was the first hot day, so it was demanding on the body. It’s been interesting racing so far. I feel like because of the Col de la Madeleine tomorrow, everyone is just still holding themselves back.”
On the 17km descent into Chambéry, Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) tried to put pressure on the other GC contenders, but the Polish all-rounder kept close to her Dutch rival and stayed calm.
“I was surprised that Demi tried [to attack]. On paper it looked like it would be nice descent to do something. But when we did the recon, we could tell that the first 8km were like five to six percent, so you really had to pedal a lot and keep on pushing if you wanted to get the speed. That’s not ideal for making any difference because people on your wheel can just freewheel,” she explained.
Later on, Niewiadoma-Phinney wanted to go for it herself and found a good companion in Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), who finishd second on the stage.
“The last switchbacks were something where I was maybe hoping to gain some time. I was in a good wheel on Cédrine before entering the corners, then I lost my momentum in the roundabout by braking, and she was gone.”
With second place, Kerbaol moved from ninth to seventh overall, gaining nine seconds (plus six bonus seconds) on the other GC contenders including Niewiadoma-Phinney.
The 30-year-old Canyon rider was optimistic looking ahead to the queen stage, which ends atop the Col de la Madeleine, bringing the peloton to 2,000 metres of elevation gain and the highest point of the Tour de France Femmes.
“My body is feeling as good as it can be after seven stages. I mean, everyone is battling fatigue, tomorrow will be about who can say no to all this negativity popping in your head, you know, so we shall see."
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our Tour de France Femmes coverage. Don't miss any of the breaking news, reports, and analysis from one of the biggest women's stage races of the season. Find out more.
