Overview
- Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney launched a solo attack about nine kilometres from the Mont Ventoux summit on Friday and rode clear to take the stage win and the yellow jersey.
- The Ventoux result moved Niewiadoma-Phinney into first overall, with Demi Vollering 15 seconds behind and Marlen Reusser 39 seconds adrift.
- Vollering dropped Reusser late on the climb but could not follow Niewiadoma-Phinney’s move, while Reusser — the world time trial champion who held yellow before the stage — lost time on the final slopes.
- Two stages remain: a long sprinters’ day into Nice that should protect the new order and a short, punchy 99km finale with four climbs of Col d’Èze that can still decide the title.
- The route’s mix of a record-length time trial and the first women’s Mont Ventoux summit finish has favoured different strengths and set up a tactical fight between a former winner (Niewiadoma-Phinney), a pure climber (Vollering), and a time-trial specialist (Reusser).