Kasia Niewiadoma had one of the biggest rides of her career when she finished second on today’s queen stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. The CANYON//SRAM Racing rider also rode to second in the general classification, into the lead of the mountain classification jersey, and won the award for the Most Combative Rider.

HOW IT HAPPENED

A trio of riders, Kasia, Annemiek van Vleuten and Demi Vollering, went clear on the category 1, Col d’Aspin climb with 30km remaining on the stage. Kasia led the trio, who had a gap of around 1:00 minute, across the line to collect the maximum points in the mountain classification. On the descent, Kasia opened a gap. While Vollering and van Vleuten discussed what to do, Kasia went clear, building a lead and moving into the virtual yellow jersey. Behind, the two chase groups came together and reduced the gap to just 17 seconds on the bottom slopes of the Col du Tourmalet. Kasia braved the slopes alone, fighting hard. With 5km to go, Vollering overtook the CANYON//SRAM Racing rider and went ahead. Kasia crossed the line in second place, winning the Most Combative Rider and moving into the polka dot jersey. 

In the general classification, Kasia is second at +1:58 behind Vollering. Teammate Ricarda Bauernfeind finished tenth on the queen stage to retain her ninth place in the general classification with one stage remaining. 

RIDER REACTIONS

Kasia: “I’m so happy with this ride. It really means a lot that all the hard work has paid off. My coach and I worked hard on my weaknesses to prepare for this stage. I think it worked!”

“We have a saying in Polish, ‘When two are fighting, the third will win’. On the Col d’Aspin when Vollering wasn’t working, I knew they wouldn’t cooperate to chase me. I saw an opportunity, and I went. I thought I was going to get caught, but then the gap went out again. The final two kilometres seemed to go past so slowly. I gave everything, and I’m just really proud of myself and my team for this result.”

“I guessed that I had a chance in the mountain classification because I was the GC rider that had collected some points here and there throughout the tour. It’s a bonus to go into the lead. I will give everything to keep my second place in the GC, but I also want to really be proud and enjoy this stage result today because it means a lot to me.”

HOW TO WATCH

The final stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, a 22.6km ITT in Pau, can be followed on Twitter with #TDFF2023 and #WatchTheFemmes.

A broadcast starts at 15:00CEST on France 3, RTBF, VRT, DKTV2, TG4, NOS, TV2, Eurosport, GCN, RTVE, SRG-SSR, FloBikes, CNBC, Peacock, ESPN, BeIn Sports, SKY Sport, VRT, SSC, Zhibo.tv and TV5 Monde.

CANYON SRAM Racing rider start times: 15:11 Sarah Roy | 15:47 Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka | 15:57 Alice Towers | 16:01 Soraya Paladin | 16:06 Elise Chabbey | 16:45 Ricarda Bauernfeind | 16:59 Kasia Niewiadoma.

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