The first mountain stage of the Tour de France Femmes produced a surprising winner. Maeva Squiban launched her attack 32 kilometers from the finish and stayed well ahead of the chasers after a long solo effort. The favorites held their powder.
On day six of the Tour de France Femmes, the route featured a stage through the mid-mountains. The opening phase after the start in Clermont-Ferrand was relatively easy, although the riders did face two small third-category climbs. Then came the first serious ascent of the race: the Col du Béal (10.3 km at 5.6%). Immediately after the descent awaited the Col du Chansert (6.4 km at 5.4%) and then – after another descent – a tricky stretch of false flat uphill. The final thirteen kilometers towards the finish town of Ambert trended downhill.
Clermont-Ferrand) Ambert)Breakaway of twelve
It took a while, but just before the first hill of the day, a breakaway of two riders formed. Linda Zanetti, who initially attacked alone, was quickly joined by polka dot jersey wearer Elise Chabbey. The latter took the points at Côte de Courpière, where we saw a big counterattack. The breakaway grew to about twenty riders, but soon the group thinned out. While a bunch including Mischa Bredewold dropped back to the peloton, twelve riders stayed up front.
Among them were two teammates of Demi Vollering. In addition to Chabbey, Amber Kraak was also present. Regarding the Dutch riders, we also saw Femke Gerritse, Yara Kastelijn, and Silke Smulders near the front. Other riders in the break: Liane Lippert, Soraya Paladin, Lauretta Hanson, Pfeiffer Georgi, Usoa Ostoloaza, Morgana Coston, and Brodie Chapman. The latter out-sprinted Chabbey for the three mountain points at Côte d’Augerolles, but the Swiss rider remained firmly in the virtual lead of the secondary classification.
Truce on Col du Béal
At that moment, Chabbey was also virtually leading the general classification. She was the highest placed in the breakaway with a deficit of one minute 19 seconds, while the gap between the peloton and the escapees at one point stretched beyond one and a half minutes. However, at the start of the Col du Béal, the gap had shrunk to less than a minute. This was mainly due to the work of AG Insurance-Soudal.
On the climb itself, the thinning breakaway’s lead continued to decrease. That didn’t mean the peloton was riding at such a high tempo that the group completely shattered. At the summit, about thirty to forty riders remained together. They crested only twenty seconds after Chabbey narrowly won the sprint for mountain points ahead of Smulders. That same Chabbey then pushed on in the descent, further splintering the breakaway. Only Lippert and Smulders could follow her on the way down.
Squiban’s attack
The peloton also went fast downhill. Descending specialist Cédrine Kerbaol charged down, crept away, but saw the favorites regroup on the first pitches of Col du Chansert. Well, most of the favorites. Sarah Gigante, eighth in the GC, was still on a gap and had to chase back. Thanks to Justine Ghekiere, she managed to rejoin. Meanwhile, Chabbey went solo, but with four kilometers to the top, Shirin van Anrooij and Ricarda Bauernfeind caught up. Then came the rest of the favorite group.
The next attack came from Maeva Squiban. The French rider from UAE Team ADQ, who posed no threat to the GC, quickly built a large lead. She reached the top of the Chansert with more than a minute’s advantage. And despite FDJ-SUEZ setting tempo in the descent, Squiban didn’t lose any ground on the last uncategorized climb. In fact, she extended her gap to almost a minute and a half. Was a big upset in the making?
Squiban holds firm
In the small peloton—where Gigante had rejoined for the second time after being dropped again in a descent—FDJ-SUEZ pushed the pace uphill even harder. Labous replaced Chabbey in the lead. But it had little effect. Squiban stabilized her lead up to the top of the final climb, where we witnessed a sprint among the favorites for the bonus seconds. Le Court took four seconds, Niewiadoma two. Vollering, who came through fourth, was left empty-handed.
Meanwhile, Squiban hammered on strongly. Juliette Labous launched a counterattack, but she never came close to her compatriot, who convincingly won the stage. The UAE Team ADQ rider thus scored the biggest victory of her career so far. The favorites stayed together in the finale and sprinted—behind Labous—for third place. It was yellow jersey wearer Le Court who beat Vollering and took another four bonus seconds.
For illustration – photo: Cor Vos
AG Insurance sets the pace – photo: Cor Vos
Squiban went solo – photo: Cor Vos
Tour de France Femmes| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 03:20:46 | |
| 2 | + 01:09 | |
| 3 | + 01:13 | |
| 4 | " | |
| 5 | " | |
| 6 | " | |
| 7 | " | |
| 8 | " | |
| 9 | " | |
| 10 | " |
