It was somewhat expected, but defending Tour de France Femmes champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot suffered a big hit to her GC ambitions on the stage 4 time trial of the 2026 edition, losing more than two minutes to stage winner and overall rival Marlen Reusser (Movistar).
In her first competitive individual time trial since 2021, Ferrand-Prévot looked every bit as out of practice as someone who has barely touched their TT bike in years should do.
Even with a climb on the course, the French rider struggled to limit the losses, already 1:21 down on ITT world champion Reusser at the intermediate time check and losing a further 52 seconds before reaching the finish line in Dijon for a gap of 2:13.
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While Reusser's victory was tight, just four seconds quicker than Lieke Nooijen (Visma-Lease a Bike), most of the other GC riders were around a minute off the winning time.
That wasn't the case for 2023 race winner and two-time runner-up Demi Vollering, (FDJ United-SUEZ) though, who was the next best big GC name. Vollering finished 17 seconds down on Reusser and so gained 1:55 on Ferrand-Prévot, a huge buffer before the mountains.
Even with the rest of the top climbers losing more than a minute, Ferrand-Prévot's tough day out still means that most of her challengers for the incoming mountains will be starting with a lead over the home star.
Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE L'IMAD) gained 1:10 despite needing a bike change because of a mechanical, with her teammate and 2026 Vuelta Femenina winner Paula Blasi similarly gaining 1:09 over the defending champion.
Kasia Niewiadome-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) also put in a top performance in a discipline that hasn't always been kind to her, gaining 1:04 on Ferrand-Prévot on Tuesday.
Despite not putting in her best performance, Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) also finished 1:03 up on the Visma rider.
The new GC standings leave last year's yellow jersey 2:13 from the lead, 1:59 off of Vollering, and requiring some serious attacking racing to take back the same title she won a year ago. now behind all of the names she will be looking to defeat on Mont Ventoux and the other key climbs in the coming five stages.
Ferrand-Prévot dropped four places to 15th overall, but can take confidence in the fact that her dominance in the key climbs a year ago saw her win the race by more than 3:40 ahead of Vollering and the rest.
However, she hasn't looked at her best throughout the four stages so far, also missing the front group when racing split up on stage 3, though that move did come back together.
It was clear when the Tour de France Femmes route was announced that this 21km time trial was going to be vital, but the way the events unfolded on Tuesday has changed the whole face of the race.
Reusser can now defend in yellow as she often does excellently, but she will have to do so in the face of a Ferrand-Prévot with nothing to lose and a Vollering in prime striking distance - a scenario which sets up the rest of the week perfectly for fireworks.
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