Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma on Sunday won her first women’s Tour de France title by just 4 seconds as she dug in during the race’s grueling final Alpine ascent.
The 29-year-old Canyon SRAM Racing rider summited the daunting Alpe d’Huez mountain 1 minute, 1 second behind stage winner Demi Vollering to maintain her grip on the yellow jersey.
“It’s so crazy to be honest, the whole stage was such a crazy roller coaster,” Niewiadoma said. “I’ve gone through such a terrible time on this climb, like I hated everything, then to arriving at the finish line and learning that I won Tour de France, which is insane. It’s so mind-blowing.”
Photo: AFP
The Tour was turned upside down on Thursday during the fifth stage when the Netherlands’ Vollering was caught up in a huge crash 6km from the finish in Amneville, losing 1 minute, 47 seconds on the leader. She fought her way back and going into the final stage, she had cut that gap down to 1 minute, 15 seconds.
Reigning Tour champion Vollering then produced a barnstorming performance in Sunday’s 150km slog from Le Grand-Bornand to Alpe d’Huez, outsprinting compatriot Pauliena Rooijakkers to the line to claim the stage win.
Niewiadoma struggled on the Glandon ascent and seemed set to throw away her lead as her rival surged ahead and provisionally took the lead in the general ranking at several stages.
However, the Polish rider managed to regroup and fought back in the final 5km to claw back precious seconds.
Vollering and Niewiadoma faced a nerve-wracking wait once across the line for the official confirmation of who was to be the last to hold the yellow jersey in the third edition of the women’s Tour.
The duo dissolved into tears of drastically varying emotions when the news filtered through that the Pole had claimed a historic win by the narrowest of margins. After third-placed finishes in the previous two Tours and a disappointing eighth-place finish at the Olympic Games road race, the victory tasted even sweeter for Niewiadoma.
“I think last year’s third place was there to reward me with this victory and same as two weeks ago I was so disappointed getting stuck behind a crash during the Olympics,” Niewiadoma said. “I feel like during this week, all the stars aligned for my team and for myself.”
Niewiadoma completed the eight-stage tour in 24 hours, 36 minutes, 7 seconds, a mere 4 seconds in front of second-placed Vollering, with Rooijakkers completing the podium just a further 6 seconds behind.
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