Kim Le Court-Pienaar won the sixth stage of the Tour de France Femmes by outsprinting a reduced breakaway.
The Mauritian national champion attacked as the group of eight entered the final five kilometres of a hilly stage but was reeled in and had to dart for the line.
The final breakaway formed late on in the stage, at 30km to go, with the second half of the day containing more descents than climbs. The general classification (GC) leaders allowed them to go, but they were strung out by a series of pulls and aggressive riding from Demi Vollering and EF Education-Oatly’s Kristen Faulkner.
The gaps between the top three GC riders remained the same after 153km from Montbrison to Tournon-sur-Rhone — leaving all to play for on Mont Ventoux in Friday’s seventh stage.
The Athletic breaks down the day’s action.
How important could Gery be to Vollering’s yellow jersey hopes?
Celia Gery has been on the attack all week.
Small bursts of energy, pulls on the peloton and attacks of her own have meant the 20-year-old French road and cyclo-cross champion is consistently at the front of the peloton.
It is a huge asset for Vollering and FDJ United-Suez. Gery helps control the pace at the front of the peloton, forcing other teams to stay on their toes and pull for her when needed.
On Thursday, she made the final breakaway group but did not have the legs to defeat Le Court-Pienaar, eventually finishing fifth. It would have been a fitting reward for her work this week, but Le Court-Pienaar is a force to be reckoned with.
One of the tour’s most prominent domestiques, Gery is set to make a big difference on Friday as Vollering tries to move into the yellow jersey.
Whatever legs the Frenchwoman has left will be crucial to set up that effort.
Gery during Thursday’s stage (Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images)
How does the GC look for Ventoux?
With the queen stage looming, it made sense that there wasn’t much GC movement on Thursday.
The course was not as tough as the day before, with a large amount of descending and only short climbs in the final 50km.
As such, Marlen Reusser holds the same 12-second cushion over Vollering, who is in turn a minute and five seconds ahead of Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney.
The major change as the peloton rolled into Tournon-sur-Rhone was the arrival of Elisa Longo Borghini in the front group, moving her into the top five and 2:28 behind Reusser.
Longo Borghini is outperforming her fellow UAE Team L’Imad’s leader, Dominika Wlodarczyk, but would have to be in exceptional form to close that gap to the yellow jersey. She does have Vuelta a Espana GC winner Paula Blasi to pull for her, however, so could well find herself in a top group.
All eyes will be on whether Reusser can hang onto the yellow jersey. She did not have the same blistering form as Vollering heading into the tour but has looked good on the bike.
Niewiadoma-Phinney’s gap to the top spot is bigger, but the Polish rider is in similarly strong form. The pair stuck with Vollering over the climbs on Wednesday, but the slopes of Ventoux are tougher than anything seen in this year’s tour.
Reusser still holds the same advantage (Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images)
Why was the peloton pulling in the final kms?
With strong GC domestiques populating the final breakaway group, which formed late in the stage, there was no need for their teams to reel them in.
Yet Vollering and Faulkner took it upon themselves to shorten the gap to 25 seconds, despite having team-mates up challenging for the win.
While it looked perhaps illogical, for Faulkner it was simply a team tactic gone wrong. EF directeur sportif Carmen Small explained after the stage they had planned to launch Noemi Ruegg from the peloton, thinking the break would be caught.
It wasn’t close, however, and their team-mate in the front group, Cedrine Kerbaol, finished second in the sprint. Her GC gains were minimised, but she still moved up one place to eighth.
For Vollering, there was even less reason to pull. The only potential rival up the road was Longo Borghini, and the Italian is more than two minutes down on the Dutchwoman. Moreover, Gery was in contention for a stage win.
Vollering spoke on Wednesday of wanting to “just race”, and that is what she has been doing — putting her foot constantly on the neck of other riders. She isn’t worried about saving her legs, and clearly has a lot to give.
What’s up next on Friday?
Mont Ventoux is finally here. The first mountain stage of the tour will be its most challenging, not just for the GC but for the whole peloton.
Heat, steep gradients, winds and exposed roads. The race has required powerful and punchy riders, but on Friday it will demand the best from the climbers.
Vollering needs to make time on Reusser. The stakes are high, and the time gaps could be too.
Stage 6 Top 5
- Kim Le-Court Pienaar, AG Insurance-Soudal Team, four hours, one minute and 48 seconds
- Cedrine Kerbaol, EF Education-Oatly, Same time
- Puck Pieterse, Fenix-Premier Tech, Same time
- Sarah Van Dam, Team Visma | Lease A Bike, Same time
- Celia Gery, FDJ United-Suez, Same time
Overall standings
- Marlen Reusser, Movistar, 19 hours, 43 minutes, 34 seconds
- Demi Vollering, FDJ United-Suez, +12sec
- Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney Canyon-SRAM +1:17
- Elisa Longo Borghini, UAE Team L’Imad, +2:28
- Dominika Wlodarczyk UAE Team L’Imad +2:54
