Kasia Niewiadoma’s thrilling victory in the Tour de France Femmes on Sunday was well-deserved, following numerous close finishes in other big races. The Polish rider’s exciting victory, late on an Alpine afternoon as a frigid sunset shrouded Alpe d’Huez, came at the expense of a devastated Demi Vollering. The reigning champion lost the title by four seconds.
This was the most narrowly won Grand Tour race in history, during a Tadej Pogacar-dominated season. Three riders have won the women’s Vuelta, Giro, and Tour, all by tiny margins.
A few years ago, before the Tour Femmes was reborn, few—other than the riders themselves—imagined the women’s peloton could deliver such gripping peak drama. The Tour Femmes must build on the impressive performances of Niewiadoma, Vollering, and the rest of the peloton.
While Pogacar wins by significant margins, Vollering wins the Vuelta Feminina by 1 minute and 49 seconds, and Elisa Longo Borghini wins the women’s Giro d’Italia by 21 seconds over Vollering’s teammate, Lotte Kopecky. The high-altitude drama of Sunday left the fate of the yellow jersey unknown until the very end of the race.
“Alpe d’Huez was a proper showcase of our best climbers and GC riders,” Lizzie Deignan stated.”It was an absolutely brutal finale to the race.”
Vollering, 27, described her feelings as “sour” at the finish, which was understandable given the lack of assistance she had from SD Worx Protime. The resentment stemmed from a crash just before the stage finish in Amnéville, which resulted in her losing the yellow jacket.
Vollering never fully recovered, and her teammates frequently abandoned her to her destiny. Instead of accompanying her, they rode on, following their own goals, or lingered behind, attempting to catch up. Too frequently, this hampered the obviously ailing defending champion. “[To think] because of the crash I didn’t win the yellow jersey is very sad, but it’s part of cycling,” added the female athlete. “It’s sad that that makes the difference here.”
It was a momentous achievement for Niewiadoma, who won the women’s Tour of Britain in 2019, even though she was on the verge of giving up on the apparently never-ending climb of Alpe d’Huez. “I lost the faith that I could still do it,” she told me. “I had a hard time on this ascent.
In terms of the progression of the race, the dramatic conclusion that resulted in Niewiadoma’s victory will contribute to the development of its global renown, even though there are still issues that need to be resolved. In spite of the fact that the Alpe is a climb that is notorious for its rowdy attitude, the crowds were surprisingly tiny and peaceful. There was insufficient live television coverage of each stage, the transitions between stages took an excessive amount of time, and the addition of a split stage in the Netherlands, which consisted of a stage and a time trial on the same day, was not essential.
There is also the matter of money. Pogacar was awarded €500,000, which is equivalent to a total prize money of €2.4 million (£2.04 million) for the men’s Tour. Niewiadoma took home €50,000 for her participation in the women’s race, which brought the total to just under €247,000.
The camaraderie of the riders shone through, as seen by the fact that 110 of the 153 riders that started the race reached it to the finish line. Many of the riders crossed the finish line in tears, hugging their competitors in weariness. However, Alison Jackon of Canada defied the pattern by arriving at the Alpe while eating a burger.
The attention of the general public has been drawn to this race, according to Deignan. “I have high hopes that the Tour will continue to expand, whether it be in terms of the length of the race, the fact that each stage will be broadcast from the beginning to the end, or simply the fact that there will be more fans each year. “We have demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that we are worthy of that.”
Niewiadoma was blunter in his approach. In reference to the experiences that the peloton had gone through, she stated, “We all wrote history this week.” We have every reason to be proud of that.