Highlights of 2024 – Part IV

The fourth pick of the season is the Tour de France Femmes and its conclusion on Alpe d’Huez.

A long summer of sport with the Tour de France, the Olympics Games, then came the Tour de France Femmes. The start in the Netherlands made political and commercial sense, even if they can require explaining to public expecting the tour of France.

When the raced went to Belgium, Stage 3 saw Demi Vollering, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Puck Pieterse and Pauliena Rooijakkers go clear on the Roche-aux-Faucons climb. Rooijakkers couldn’t hold on to leave a trio. Months earlier Vollering and Niewiadoma had lost out to Grace Brown in the streets of Liège, now they lost to Pieterse. Déjà vu? Yes partly thanks to over-eager racing in the finish but this time Vollering’s priority was taking time rather than winning the day.

Niewiadoma was among the attackers the next day on the stage to Amnéville. Blanka Vas won for SD Worx-Protime and Niewiadoma took yellow. Both storylines got relegated because Vollering crashed in the finish and did not have any team mates around for support: over a minute lost to the main GC rivals, almost two to Niewiadoma now and added workplace drama too.

The final weekend went to the Alps. The first stage finished halfway to the Col de la Colombière and Vollering attacked but her move wasn’t as incisive as usual. Injuries, form or just the nature of the wide road to a ski resort?

Niewiadoma even countered in the finish and the pair rode away from the pack to gain a few seconds. Looking back at this moment the question is whether Vollering could distance Niewiadoma the following day but remember at the time she was 10th overall with potential GC winners like Piertse and Juliette Labous ahead on GC, this was not yet reduced to a duel.

Vollering set to work on the upper slopes of the Col du Glandon and got a gap. She was joined by Rooijakkers and the pair got across to Valentina Cavallar, the Austrian who had only turned pro with Arkéa-B&B in the spring, promising but she’s an ex-rower and not a skier and it showed on the descent where she was distanced. Niewiadoma tried a move with Cédrine Kerbaol and in the moment this looked panicky but what else could she do?

Vollering had a dilemma too, tow Rooijakkers along the valley road or not? The lead two lost some seconds here and would start the climb to Alpe d’Huez with only 45 seconds when Vollering needed an extra 30 seconds to win outright.

Vollering was taking back time but only just. Climbing into the ski resort Rooijakkers tried an attack but in the end Vollering won the stage. Behind Niewiadoma was chasing with Evita Muzic. Had Niewiadoma finished on the same time as Muzic, or was the distance between them a valid time gap? In the end there were four seconds in it, advantage Niewiadoma.

Why the pick?
Suspense to the end and positive racing, Vollering suffered a setback and set out to recover from it and there was little passive racing. The race was reduced to a duel but only late on final day.

Better still this contest was indirect, measured in time gaps rather than wheel lengths between two riders trying to get over the line first and the outcome kept changing. Up front Vollering was having to contend with Rooijakkers as both an ally and a rival, all while Niewiadoma was in a chase group with the same problems multiplied. There was a lot to watch in the moment and it’s rewarding to review again knowing the outcomes.

With hindsight
Stage 8 was dramatic but looking back at the whole race again probably enhances the racing. Nobody would wish a crash on a rider but since this is the Internet it’s worth stating the obvious. Vollering’s crash was a fact and her setback enhanced the sport to come, having to attack early to make up time. She had the yellow jersey, lost it and came within four seconds of taking it back.

What we didn’t know at the time was Vollering had fractured her coccyx. The final bone in the spine, a fracture can be painful when sitting – not ideal for cycling – and inflammation can contribute to a loss in power which might explain Stage 7’s relative lack of punch.

We can also play the counterfactual and wonder if events could be different. Could Vollering have won? Everything else being equal a better bike throw in Liège could have brought a stage win and four more seconds of time bonuses and, thanks to fractions of a second in the time trial, the overall win. Could a pact on the road with Rooijakkers have helped?

Many “what-ifs” because it was close, but it’s also worth dwelling on how Niewiadoma built the victory: away in Liège, on the attack to Amnéville on Stage 4, clear of the peloton above Le Grand Bornand and fourth on Alpe d’Huez.

Vollering’s team move had been a background theme for most of the season and such is pro cycling that once a cyclist is leaving they start to be regarded as an outsider. Strikingly for a team sponsored by a sponsor that does HR part of the loss was down to workplace management.

But Vollering later lost the Worlds and in part because she’s often been able to count on being a level above her rivals which means less reliance on tactical finesse, now this advantage is diminishing. This blog sticks to a niche of men’s cycling but watching the women race is very appealing and racing like this is part of it. Plus next year just looks even better as many of the cards in the women’s peloton shuffled thanks to transfers, come-backs and more. The Tour Down Under is now just three weeks away…

Highlights of 2024 – Part I
Highlights of 2024 – Part II
Highlights of 2024 – Part III