GC standings
A reminder of the yellow jersey standings ahead of today’s stage, the gap from Vollering to Reusser in the maillot jaune is just 12 seconds.
1 Marlen Reusser (Movistar) 19hrs 43mins 34secs
2 Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) +12secs
3 Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon/Sram) +1min 17secs
4 Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L’Imad) +2min 28secs
5 Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon/Sram) +2min 40secs
140km to go The peloton is still all together at the foot of the first categorised climb. That will surely change as we start heading up the Col de la Grande Limite.
Kilometre zero
146.8km to go Race radio pipes up to tell me the peloton is officially racing and we’re on the road to Mont Ventoux. Sadly, the great Anna Van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) is a non-starter today, as are Katrine Aalerud (Uno-X Mobility) and Mayenne-Monbana-My Pie’s Kiara Lylyk.
We're rolling out...
Next stop kilometre zero (in 11.4km).
Updated
We’re about ten minutes out from the neutralised start in La Voulte-sur-Rhône. I’ll be tracking the race for the first couple of hours before the TV coverage starts and providing key updates. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you with your thoughts on the race or anything else women’s cycling. The email link is at the top of the page.
Here’s the visualisation of today’s stage. Punishing from the start:
Preamble
When the route planners drew up this year’s Tour de France Femmes they were probably hoping that the race’s first ever ascent of Mont Ventoux for the ‘queen stage’ would begin with this exact race scenario, where a group of general classification riders are chasing a time-trial specialist in the yellow jersey. They might have hoped defending champion and home favourite, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, was among those GC contenders, but you can’t have everything. What we do have is Demi Vollering breathing down the neck of GC leader Marlen Reusser and others needing to make back minutes on a climb that punishing as it is famous. We should see some furious attacking on the slopes.
Featuring Ventoux in this year’s Tour is another indicator of its growing stature. Women’s races have featured the climb before but this its first apeparance in the road book of what is quickly becoming the pinnacle of calendar. Sadly the wildfires have reduced the numbers of spectators allowed across the length of the route, but whoever crosses the line first will have a famous victory to add to their palmares.
The ascent up the ‘Bald Mountain’ comes after three categorised climbs earlier in the 146.6km route. In addition to the length and steepness of Ventoux, the exposure to the heat is another factor the riders will have to deal with. There is limited tree cover, so strategy and team support will be vital. All expect Vollering to claim the day, but the variables make it a fascinating prospect where no one can be sure of the outcome.
