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Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s defence of her Tour de France Femmes title unravelled among the Beaujolais vineyards as the French rider lost even more ground to rivals Demi Vollering, Marlen Reusser and Kasia Niewiadoma.
The three outstanding riders in this year’s race broke clear of the peloton over the final steep gradients of Mont Brouilly, with 2023 Tour winner Vollering outsprinting overall race leader Reusser to take the fourth Tour stage win of her career.
“Today was a really cool race,” Vollering said. “Every single rider of the team was part of it and I enjoy those victories the most. It’s even more special and beautiful because you do it all together.”
“I thought I was not going to make it in the sprint and somehow I made it, so it was a huge relief. I knew Kasia would go early, because she always does, and I knew Marlen would gamble. I just had to try and I gave it my everything. I needed every single metre of the finishing straight.”
On the unrelentingly hilly stage from Macon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais, Ferrand-Prévot’s Tour fell apart. The signs of her fading powers had come as early as stage three and were followed by a listless performance in Tuesday’s stage four time trial.
The fifth day of racing provided irrefutable confirmation of her vulnerability. “I think it’s unrecoverable,” she said at the finish, of her five-minute deficit to her rivals.
As Vollering, Reusser and Niewiadoma were descending from Mont Brouilly to the finish, Ferrand-Prévot was still riding up the steep climb with legs of lead. If her performance in the time trial had been unnerving, her capitulation among the vineyards was complete.
Earlier in the day, Ferrand-Prévot’s hopes of reversing her overall deficit to Reusser and Vollering had been boosted by the news that, despite talk of the stage being rerouted due to the risk of wildfires, Friday’s stage to the summit of Mont Ventoux remains as scheduled.
Although the climb to the summit of the Ventoux remains unaffected, the Vaucluse prefecture has banned public access to the nearby hills of the Dentelles de Montmirail, where two shorter climbs are routed, citing “the sensitivity of the massif and the risk of fire.” But that’s now become academic given the champion’s distance from the front of the race.
After her disappointing time trial, dreams of a ‘PFP’ bounce-back were definitively shattered on the cruel slopes of the Col de Durbize, where the 2025 winner was left behind by a vicious acceleration from Vollering.
As the lead group, containing Vollering, Reusser and 2024 champion Niewiadoma moved further ahead, Ferrand-Prévot’s title defence crumbled in the heat of the Beaujolais afternoon. The best she can hope for now is a stage win.
Meanwhile, the debate over Tuesday’s scrutiny of riders regarding the illegal use of chest padding to improve aerodynamics rumbled on, after riders union, the CPA, issued a statement demanding that such checks be undertaken in a “professional and respectful manner, that fully safeguards the dignity and privacy of every rider.”
The statement added that this was to “prevent any misunderstanding, controversy or unpleasant situations.”
Initial reports suggested that the padding checks would be carried out by a female race commissaire, however footage screened by Flemish media showed a male commissaire making an initial inspection, in public view.
The fears of illegal aerodynamic enhancement appear well founded however, as Gaël Le Bellec, a former world champion duathlete, now sports director of the Ma Petite Entreprise team competing in the Tour Femmes, acknowledged.
“I’ve never had wind of it among the women,” he said, “but I know that triathletes particularly put bidons (drink bottles) under their kit on their chest to reduce aerodynamic drag.”
