Demi Vollering won the 7th stage of the Women’s Tour de France at the Tourmalet on Saturday, winning the overall leader’s yellow jersey at the same time. On the eve of the final stage of the race, the Dutchwoman, leader of the SD Worx formation, poses a serious option on the final victory. She attacked five kilometers from the line to finally edge the Polish Katarzyna Niewiadoma by almost two minutes, while the Dutch Annemiek van Vleuten, outgoing winner of the Grande Boucle, collapsed in the last hectometres to fail in 3rd position. .
Overall, Vollering has a one minute and 50 second advantage over Niewiadoma, a comfortable mattress heading into the 8th and final stage, a 22 kilometer time trial on a flat route through the streets of Pau. Van Vleuten is relegated to almost two and a half minutes.
In the thick fog of the Tourmalet, the roof of the Tour this year (2,110m), the South African Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio took 4th place slightly ahead of the Frenchwoman Juliette Labous who rose from 10th to 6th place overall . Transcended by her yellow jersey, Lotte Kopecky finished 6th in an epic stage.
After the ascent of the Col d’Aspin (1st category) at the top of which the favorites had already isolated themselves at the head of the race, Niewiadoma started the fight by attacking downhill. Vollering and Van Vleuten, who then stared at each other for a long time, let the Polish woman go before gradually returning from the first meters of the Tourmalet, a 17-kilometre pass outside the category.
The world number one waited the last five kilometers to place her start and spin towards a success propelling her at 26 years old to a first coronation in a grand tour.
