It was a frustrating day for yellow jersey Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney on stage 8 of the Tour de France Femmes, losing the race lead to Demi Vollering in Nice and seething at what she deemed an unsporting move from Vollering's teammate Célia Gery to block her on the decisive climb of the day.
Niewiadoma-Phinney confronted Gery at the finish line, saying "Why did you close me to the barriers?", then venting her annoyance to the TV cameras, and was still visibly frustrated as she cooled down after the stage.
At the Canyon-SRAM bus, the team's technical staff and sports directors debriefed with Niewiadoma-Phinney, who did not wish to speak to the media any further. They gathered around a phone to watch the replay, but the cut of the television footage didn't show the alleged incident with any clarity, switching between a head-on and overhead shot at an inopportune moment.
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Cyclingnews understands that the team was in contact with the race jury, who have video refereeing capabilities for cases like this, where they can watch multiple camera angles, not just what we see on TV.
A few hundred metres down the road, FDJ insisted that any kind of move from Gery would have been purely accidental, and that it wasn't in the 20-year-old's nature to race in an aggressive or unfair manor.
When the stage communique was published, there was no penalty, fine or warning of any kind for Gery.
Canyon sports director Rolf Aldag initially declined to comment on the incident in too much detail, saying: "I didn't see it so we will watch it and if it was unfair then there's a VAR, there's a jury and they will act on it. I can't comment on now on something I'm not sure about. So let's see and let's find out."
However, he did go on to say that he thought the corner where the alleged incident occurred was quite pivotal, and if Niewiadoma-Phinney had been able to follow Vollering's wheel unimpinged, the stage and therefore GC result may have been significantly different.
"I was wondering around the corner, she had a gap to Demi, and if she's on Demi's wheel she will stay on Demi's wheel, but she had to close and closing on Demi, she's the best in the world, so to close on her is a huge, huge effort, and missing some of that freshness," he explained.
"So if she's on Demi's wheel, she gets over the top with Demi and then nothing happens and the GC stays the same. Why that happened, why she wasn't on the wheel, I don't know. I think we have all seen it on television they they had that gap and then she kind of squeezed herself into the game with Longo Borghini. At the top they were standing still. If she doesn't have to do that, she gets with Demi over the climb and it's a different story. But it wasn't, so we have to accept it.
"Some people say to me 'yeah but yesterday Demi gambled and that's why Kasia [won]' but that's nonsense. Yesterday Kasia was the best without a doubt, and you don't just win with one minute 20 because you get lucky or somebody gambles. It's because you know on the Mont Ventoux you're the best, and she was yesterday, and fair play, Demi was really good today, so we have to accept that.
Even as Canyon-SRAM were dissecting the incident and seemingly in contact with the jury, there was an acceptance that, even if a penalty was handed out, it wouldn't do anything to change Niewiadoma-Phinney's fortunes or GC position, but they still wanted to understand why the Polish rider couldn't follow Vollering, and what that might mean for the last day of the race.
One more chance to take back yellow
The Gery drama aside, the lack of penalty means that situation is now in the past and there is only stage 9 to look ahead to. With Vollering only eight seconds ahead of Niewiadoma-Phinney, FDJ United-Suez may have been celebrating as if the Tour was won, but it's far from it. And if there's anyone who knows how to come from behind, or how to win off the back of a tight margin, it is Niewiadoma-Phinney.
On the big GC battle still to come, Aldag was not bullish but confident and assured.
"Two days ago we were one minute 17 down, then we were 15 seconds ahead and Demi had to chase it, so tomorrow we have to chase the eight seconds, and if the legs allow it then the legs allow it," he said.
"But I think what we cannot underestimate is that ride that Kasia put in yesterday, if you show no fatigue then it would be a little bit unhuman. So I think that especially with this explosivity now in these super steep climbs, it was logical that Demi would try. She did, and credit to her and her team how they took it on then. We have to accept that, but tomorrow is another day, so we will see."
Though everyone expected that FDJ United-Suez would seize the earliest possible opportunity to claw time back from Niewiadoma-Phinney, stage 8 was definitely the less GC action-friendly stage compared to stage 9, so Vollering's gains on Saturday certainly don't mean that the match is won.
With a punchy and explosive day still to come on Sunday and only eight seconds in the GC fight, there's not much more that Canyon-SRAM can say except that they will go for the win on the final day.
"Well, better than today," Aldag said about how much tomorrow's stage with its for Col d'Èze ascents might suit Niewiadoma-Phinney.
"Especially with the ride of yesterday, today we all need recovery, and it was hot again, it was a long stage, and then tomorrow if there's anything in her legs, we know Kasia, she will give it a try.
"You have to try and you have to go for it. I think it's over tomorrow around the same time as we talk right now, and then we'll know who won the Tour de France."
If anything, today's incident will have only ignited further tension between Canyon-SRAM and FDJ United-Suez, which could result in a seriously fiery GC battle to conclude this race.
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