{"id":733051,"date":"2026-08-10T02:16:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T02:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/733051\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T02:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T02:16:17","slug":"tour-de-france-femmes-vollering-wins-second-title-but-tactics-row-rumbles-on-tour-de-france-femmes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/733051\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour de France Femmes: Vollering wins second title but tactics row rumbles on | Tour de France Femmes"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the end, there was no debate. Demi Vollering went clear on the Col d\u2019\u00c8ze, overlooking Nice, to win her second Tour de France Femmes<\/a> from rival Kasia Niewiadoma, champion in 2024, by one minute and 18 seconds.<\/p>\n

The decisive attacks came on the narrow snaking climb of the Chemin du Vinaigrier, past swimming pools and art deco villas, where breakaway rider Isabella Holmgren was finally overhauled and \u00adVollering and Niewiadoma again went head-to-head.<\/p>\n

The Polish rider\u2019s last-ditch attack saw her replicate the efforts she had made on Mont Ventoux<\/a> on Friday, but it was not enough to dislodge Vollering, who remained glued to her back wheel on the 15% gradients, before finally breaking clear just 600 metres from the top of the final ascent of the \u00c8ze.<\/p>\n

However, Vollering\u2019s stage victory and overall success was set against the backdrop of the row between her and Niewiadoma over what were described as \u201cdirty\u201d tactics employed at the foot of the crucial climb<\/a> of Saturday\u2019s stage, from Sisteron to Nice.<\/p>\n

The pair have history and their spat goes back to the 2024 race, when Vollering crashed while wearing the yellow jersey on stage five, and Niewiadoma rode on to the finish, eventually winning the race overall by just four seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of respect for Kasia,\u201d Vollering said before the stage, but added that she had been \u201cdisappointed when I saw her interview yesterday [Saturday], directly after the finish line, because she really attacked my teammates, and I think it\u2019s not so fair to do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t forget what she did when I was on the ground two years ago. So, if she\u2019s speaking about fair play, then I think she\u2019s not the one that can really say something about that. I find it sad that we attack each other like this after the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Niewiadoma had angrily confronted Vollering\u2019s French FDJ United-Suez teammate, C\u00e9lia Gery, at Saturday\u2019s finish on the Promenade des Anglais, accusing her of blocking her path as she tried to follow the Dutch rider on the final climb of the stage.<\/p>\n

The row continued into Sunday afternoon and was inflamed further when Vollering\u2019s manager, Stephen Delcourt, demanded an apology from Niewiadoma.<\/p>\n

Winner Demi Vollering (centre) alongside runner-up Kasia Niewiadoma (left) and third-placed Elisa Longo Borghini. Photograph: Nicolas Tucat\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the credibility of her sport, I prefer she apologises,\u201d Delcourt said before the start of the final stage. \u201cC\u00e9lia is 20 years old, she made the corner fast. I\u2019m sure it was never in C\u00e9lia\u2019s mind to do something wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lars Boom, Vollering\u2019s sports director, said that Gery was being \u201ctorn apart on social media and is receiving death threats\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen the footage and, from what I can see, there isn\u2019t much in it. Gery still leaves space,\u201d Boom said.<\/p>\n

Even in the race itself the debate continued. On the first ascent of four, of the Col d\u2019\u00c8ze, Vollering and \u00adNiewiadoma rode alongside each other, deep in discussion before the Dutch rider wagged her finger at Niewiadoma, who then rode off.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been racing for years,\u201d Niewiadoma said on Sunday morning. \u201cI know what\u2019s right and what\u2019s not. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m making things up. I expressed how I felt, and nothing has changed since then.\u00a0<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n

Sign up to The Recap<\/p>\n

The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend\u2019s action<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kasia Niewiadoma (right) tries to dig in as Demi Vollering increases the pressure on the final stage. Photograph: Nicolas Tucat\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cDemi was extremely strong. It\u2019s an honour to fight against her. I don\u2019t want to take anything away from her performance. I just want to race fairly against her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Niewiadoma\u2019s husband, former world champion Taylor Phinney, went even further. \u201cIs it illegal? I don\u2019t think so,\u201d he posted on social media, of Gery\u2019s move. \u201cIs it dirty riding? To me, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

He compared Gery\u2019s move to \u201csomething you would see in a junior race, not a move you\u2019d expect from one of the world\u2019s best teams in the biggest race of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can ride how they want, race with respect for others or not,\u201d Phinney wrote. \u201cI met many riders who rode without respect in my day. The peloton remembers who races with class and who does not.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was also a bitter final day for Marlen Reusser, winner of the stage four time trial<\/a> in Dijon, who fell on a right-hand bend, while descending the Col d\u2019\u00c8ze, and tearfully got to her feet, to finish the stage. The Swiss rider, who had started the day third overall, tumbled down the standings to finish 14th in the general classification.<\/p>\n

After her Ventoux exploits<\/a>, Niewiadoma yet again had to be content with a podium finish, her fifth in five years. \u201cA day like today only motivates me to come back even stronger,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But this race was Vollering\u2019s vindication, two years after her bitter tears at Alpe d\u2019Huez. \u201cI wanted to make it clear that we didn\u2019t win because of an incident on Saturday,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted to make it clear that we, as a team, deserved to win a beautiful Tour de France Femmes with humility and pride.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the end, there was no debate. Demi Vollering went clear on the Col d\u2019\u00c8ze, overlooking Nice, to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":733052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-733051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}