Can Marianne Vos leave Tour de France Femmes draped in yellow or will she crack in mountains?

Published 29/07/2022 at 18:20 GMT

It’s the question on everyone’s mind at the Tour de France Femmes: can Marianne Vos keep the yellow jersey in the mountains? Vos takes a 30-second lead into the penultimate stage on Saturday with the main GC contenders, who have so far largely kept themselves to themselves, expected to go on the attack. So can the GOAT become a mountain goat to spring a big surprise?

'I don’t think so' – Can Vos keep yellow until the end?

Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) is in pole position at the Tour de France Femmes with just two stages remaining, but Eurosport expert Dani Rowe believes her challenge will fade in the mountains.

The legendary Dutchwoman, widely considered the greatest of all time, made history on Stage 6 by becoming the first rider to win in the yellow jersey at the inaugural eight-stage race in France.

She leads the general classification by 30 seconds from Silvia Persico (Valcar–Travel & Service) and is yet to finish outside the top five.

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But that advantage could quickly evaporate as the Tour heads uphill this weekend, with Stage 7 featuring three Cat. 1 climbs and Sunday’s finale finishing atop the imposing Super Planche des Belles Filles, which tops out at a whopping 24%.

Vos has previously stated she is “realistic” about her chances of clinging on to the overall lead, but now she has the green jersey all but wrapped up, could she spring another surprise in her unrivalled career?

When asked by a hopeful Orla Chennaoui on The Breakaway whether Vos could do just that and leave the Tour draped in yellow, Rowe said: “Maybe… but I don’t think so.

“If you look at how Vos is riding in the last couple of years, she hasn’t been targeting these mountainous stages.

“It’s probably in her capabilities if she set her mind to it, but it’s that explosive power that she’s got that really shines.

“I don’t think she’ll look to hold onto that yellow jersey. They [Jumbo-Visma] will do their best but they might give opportunities to other riders in the team for a breakaway.

“We’ve got such a lot of climbing to come and again she’ll be looking for that green jersey now.”

'Pipe and slippers could have happened!' – The extraordinary longevity of GOAT Vos

Pre-race favourite Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar), Demi Vollering (SD Worx) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) are expected to duke it out for glory in the mountains.

Longo Borghini leads the fancied trio in fourth at 35” – despite her wrong-turn gaffe on Thursday – with Vollering and Van Vleuten at 1’11” and 1’28” respectively.

“I reckon Vos has been doing secret mountain camps and she’s just going to smash it tomorrow,” predicted Dani Christmas.

“The Marianne Vos of old… she’s going to be a mountain goat as well as the GOAT.”

Vos, 35, has shut down the doubters before after battling back from a spell in the wilderness to dominate again. But she is now primarily a sprinter, with her days as a GC hopeful at major races seemingly in the past.

“She’s almost had two careers. Any rider would bite your arm off to have just one of those,” added Christmas.

“It just shows what a phenomenal champion she is and just how much riding a bike means to her. Pipe and slippers could have happened many years ago! But she’s definitely not going for that.”