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Key events
“I have absolutely loved Tour de France Femmes this year, it’s been jam-packed with everything you want from a Tour, drama, suspense and actual competition that’s sorely lacking in the men’s edition,” emails Nathan.
“No spoilers tho mate, the missus is dragging me to see Odyssey so will watch tonight!”
Thank you Nathan. Enjoy the film. I will definitely be posting spoilers though, this being a live news blog. Kindly pop back tonight after watching the race on telly! Enjoy!
The first three ascents today are category-two: 7.7km at 5.9% average, cresting at 491m.
The fourth and final ascent is via a different route, a shorter and sharper category-one: 6km at 7.6% average.
The bonification point comes after one climb, after 23.5km of racing. It is going to be flat-out from the start – it is going to be draining to watch, let alone ride – and it promises to be an incredible denouement to a fascinating race for the maillot jaune.
Have you been affected by the Tour de France Femmes? Email me your views on Niewiadoma v Vollering, or anything else.
Catch up on Jeremy Whittle’s stage eight report:
Niewiadoma, yesterday: “They should compete fair play and not look to block me on the barriers because it is so childish. I lost all the respect for them for that.”
Vollering’s response: “I didn’t see anything, I just saw what was in front of me,” she said. “It happened behind me. I don’t have eyes in the back of my head. Celia probably didn’t see Kasia and I’m sure she didn’t do it on purpose. I’m sure Kasia knows deep in her heart that those kinds of things just happen sometimes in racing. It’s the shit part of racing.”
Preamble
The previous two stages could hardly have been more dramatic: Kasia Niewiadoma climbed to a dominant victory on Mont Ventoux on Friday, before Demi Vollering staged a daring late attack to snatch the maillot jaune from her Polish rival yesterday.
That leaves us with an enthralling, nerve-jangling conclusion to a fierce and unpredictable battle for the general classification, with the 2023 champion Vollering leading Niewiadoma by a mere eight seconds overall.
To make things even more intriguing, Niewiadoma angrily claimed to have been deliberately blocked by Vollering’s teammate Célia Gery of FDJ United–Suez yesterday. There will be tension within the peloton.
The concluding stage is short and sharp: 99.2km on a circuit around the hills near Nice, with four categorised ascents of the Col d’Eze. The bonus point comes after just 23.5km of racing, and it can be guaranteed that Niewiadoma and Canyon/SRAM will try anything they can to dislodge Vollering from the top of GC. It’s perfectly set up.
Neutralised start: 15.05 BST/16.05 CET
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