Le Tour Femmes Dispatch: Stage 4

All images: Justin Britton

Stage 4 marked a shift in gear, as the race opened up and things really kicked off. Sadly, it was also a reminder that despite the huge leaps forward that we’ve seen in women’s cycling in the past few years, we are still a way off of parity with the men’s sport, even during the biggest stage race of the year. To say I was disappointed when I turned the race on only to find we’d missed the Amstel Gold Race portion of the course would be an understatement. Maybe I shouldn’t have had such high expectations – it’s hardly the first time this has happened – mea culpa. Anyway, on with the show.

Stage 4: in review

When we joined the live broadcast, 46km had already lapsed on the stage, and there was one lone attacker – Movistar’s Sara Martin – with a second rider trying to bridge across – Laura Tomasi of Laboral. It appeared there had been some battles for the summits of the four categorised climbs we'd already missed, with Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) and Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance Soudal) the main aggressors.

The gap was modest by the time there was 60km remaining, as the race waved goodbye to the Netherlands and crossed the border into Belgium, with the Liège–Bastogne–Liège portion of race about to kick off, the peloton were tightly bunched together as they wound their way through Belgian towns, at high speed, on wet roads, with a keen sense of urgency and nervousness.

There was an issue for Chloe Dygert, who crashed off camera, and she began to be brought back by Neve Bradbury, as at the front of the race, the peloton were about to take on the intermediate sprint – and yet again, Charlotte Kool bested Lorena Wiebes, with Marianne Vos behind them – a further boon to add to her points total, the Team dsm-firmenich PostNL rider firmly in the driving seat in that competition, with just one sprint finish to go.

There followed a split in the peloton under the pressure and increase in tempo heading towards the Mont-Theux climb, with LBL winner Grace Brown and Sarah Gigante amongst those who were caught out, but a level crossing brought the race to a halt up ahead, and there was a brief respite as the peloton took the opportunity to refuel and gather themselves, before relaunching into the breach. The commissaires allowed the lone race leader Martin to re-establish her gap, but the differences behind were eradicated, meaning a reprieve for the group caught out by the split, and for Chloe Dygert, who was allowed to re-join the group despite still being off the back before the stoppage.         

From there a trio of Ardennes climbs lay ahead, with plenty of lumps and bumps in-between too. Fenix-Deceuninck’s Yara Kastelijn fought hard for the summit of Mont-Theux, with AG Insurance-Soudal’s Justine Ghekiere chasing, but the 2023 stage winner took the full QOM haul at the summit before pushing on ahead, and with the GC group giving chase, many riders were dropped.  

Onto the next, and it was FDJ-SUEZ who lined up at the head of the bunch heading into the Côte de la Redoute, but they were overpowered by the might of Lidl-Trek's Ellen van Dijk, who poured forth some ferocious watts to keep her team at the head of a tense bunch heading onto the climb.

Once the climbing began though, it was Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) who led the charge, and with a smaller group drawn clear of the rest, it was our first chance to look into the eyes of the race favourites, and to search for signs of weakness. There was none to be found amongst the Fenix-Deceuninck team, who led the way with a trident of riders, proving once again that they were not there to make up the numbers. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) was also active on the climb, and the yellow jersey herself, Demi Vollering, came to the fore, the group reducing rapidly in numbers as Pieterse was first over the top, scooping up some QOM points in the absence of Kastelijn, who had been one of the riders to drop back.

EF-Oatly-Cannondale were the next team to pile on the pressure, first with Swiss champion Noemi Ruegg, then through an acceleration from Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner – and after her performance in Paris, nobody was giving her an inch, closing her down immediately, only to find another one of her teammates, Magdalena Vallieres Mill, taking up the mantle, as EF continue to show themselves as an attacking and animated team this season. Fan favourite Gigante showed her face at the front too, and then the rain began to fall once more – we were in Belgium after all – and it really did have the feel of a spring Classic, as the peloton coalesced once again ahead of the next climb, an easement in pace allowing the riders to catch their breath.

They didn’t have long, as the pace increased once again heading into the Côte des Forge. Gigante, Mavi Garcia, Marion Bunel, and Kastelijn all came to the fore, but though Kastelijn tried, this time it was Justine Ghekiere who forged clear to take the QOM and she subsequently pushed on. Olivia Baril tried to chase her but unable to get a gap, and the race moved onto a sketchy wet descent, where Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig came into difficulty, suffering a crash – looking at the extensive DNF list after the race, it seems likely she wasn’t the only one.

The final climb was the Côte de la Roche aux Faucons, and this time, Team SD Worx-ProTime led the charge, Niamh Fisher-Black setting a ferocious tempo to discourage attacks – there were plenty of casualties once again, including Neve Bradbury of Canyon//SRAM and Gigante. Once Fisher-Black dropped, Vollering herself came through to lead the chase, the yellow jersey sticking her nose in the wind and daring the rest to stay with her. They did for a while, catching Ghekiere, but when Vollering attacked again, only Niewiadoma, Pieterse and Rooijakkers could stay with her. Pieterse claimed the points at the summit, though it was Vollering who took six seconds from the bonus sprint just ahead of Niewiadoma, and with Rooijakkers dropping, the trio of leaders pressed home their advantage over the rest of the bunch, extending their lead.

In the end, it came down to a sprint. Niewiadoma did what she so often does, and tried to go long, launching 650m from the line, as Pieterse held her nerve and marked Vollering, but it was the younger Dutchwoman who launched her sprint first, and as they reached the line, it looked at first as if Vollering may have gotten the better of her. Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) won the sprint from the chasing group, as Vollering and Pieterse were mobbed by photographers while they waited for the verdict from the photo finish.

Pieterse was confirmed the winner and what an incredible win it was, her first pro victory on the road, in her first season, proving just how special a talent the off-road star is – with a number of podiums and top tens during the spring Classics it was only a matter of time before she won a race, but to do so on the biggest stage of them all, is just outstanding. She would visit the podium three times, as she also took the lead in the QOM competition and that of best young rider – what a day for the former cyclocross world champion at her debut Tour de France Femmes.

Another day, another Dutch winner on the podium, and though we’ve departed the Netherlands, we’re still not quite in France – we’ll make it there, finally, tomorrow.

5 Minutes with...

Liv-AlUla Jayco's Caroline Andersson

by Anna McEwen

PREVIEW: Stage 5 – Thursday 15^th August – Bastogne – Amnéville (152.5km, Flat)

With five categorised climbs on the menu, and a 1.5km kicker of a climb up to the finish line, for the organisers to call this stage ‘flat’ feels a bit disingenuous. It could be a breakaway day, or equally could go down to a sprint from a reduced bunch, from which the puncheurs will come out to play – pure sprinters need not apply.

Either way, it promises to be a fun day out, and we'd all like to see a breakaway versus bunch battle as we head into France for the first time, wouldn't we?

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The calm before the storm...

The storm...

The aftermath...

And finally...

22 years old, former U23 cyclocross world champion, European mountain bike champion, and now Tour de France Femmes stage winner, Queen of the Mountains and best young rider (for now). It's Puck's world... we're just living in it.