The Tour de France Femmes Stage 7 LIVE - Annemiek van Vleuten rips up the race in the high mountains, solos in search of the yellow jersey
Tour de France Femmes
Stage 7 | Mountain | Women | 30.07.2022
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Updated 30/07/2022 at 15:55 GMT
- All
- Highlights
TOP 5
1. Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar)
2. Demi Vollering (SD Worx), +3'26''
3. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Suez Futuroscope), +5'16''
4. Juliette Labous (Team DSM)
5. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//Sram Racing)
1. Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar)
2. Demi Vollering (SD Worx), +3'26''
3. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Suez Futuroscope), +5'16''
4. Juliette Labous (Team DSM)
5. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//Sram Racing)
VAN VLEUTEN - "THIS STAGE WAS REALLY SUITED FOR ME"
It was such a rollercoaster after being sick. I was so, so sick. And then to win here, like this, is unbelievable and beautiful to finish here solo. Incroyable.
My style is always attacking and not waiting til the final. I did recon the stage and saw that Le Petit Ballon was a hard one. After six days of waiting, surviving and recovering, I thought I wanted to make the biggest time gaps and that also means going on the first climb. This stage was really suited for me.
16:39
TESTING TIME CUT
After Van Vleuten finishes in 3'47'02, the time cut is set at almost exactly 41 minutes. I think a lot of riders will be outside that.
16:35
ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN WINS STAGE 7 OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE FEMMES!
Her first stage victory, after going clear on the first climb of the day. What a performance. She enjoyed that and more than deserved to.
Vollering glides around the last few bends, pumps the pedals on the final painful rise to the line and at long last is able to rest. Second place on the stage will come with second in the general classification.
16:34
FLAMME ROUGE - VAN VLEUTEN CRUISING TO VICTORY
Must. Not. Say. Motoring.
Glad Vollering has finally been able to recover a bit.
16:31
5KM TO GO - RECAPPING THE GROUPS ON THE ROAD
Van Vleuten
Vollering - 3'38
Vollering - 3'38
Niewiadoma - 5'59
Labous
Uttrup Ludwig
Labous
Uttrup Ludwig
Longo-Borghini - 7'12
Zigart
Persico
Will we see an attack out of group 3?
Zigart
Persico
Will we see an attack out of group 3?
16:26
7KM TO GO - AVV ARRIVES AT THE SUMMIT OF THE GRAND BALLON
Which literally has a big ball at the top. It's actually an air traffic control radar station. That's not why the mountain is called the Grand Ballon, though. A ballon in French is a geographical term for a mountain with a rounded summit. The more you know.
Van Vleuten takes the ten points, and the joint lead in the QOM competition. Vollering, 3'39 in arrears, has enough of a gap over the Niewiadoma group to ensure she'll pick up eight points, but Van Vleuten's better GC position (or stage results, I forget) will ensure she officially takes the jersey. Confusingly, Vollering will be wearing it tomorrow, because Van Vleuten will be in yellow.
16:16
10KM TO GO - VAN VLEUTEN RIDING AWAY, VOLLERING DIGGING IN
Having thought Vollering would struggle to stay out there, she's kept her distance from the riders behind. Impressive work from her.
Persico has similarly turned herself inside out and was able to return to the group, only for Kasia Niewiadoma to stick the boot in at that exact moment. Persico falls away once again, along with Elisa Longo-Borghini and Urška Žigart.
16:05
13KM TO GO - SILVIA PERSICO DISTANCED FROM GROUP 3
That will probably put pay to her podium hopes, but the Italian has done a cracking job staying with them this long.
Not long after Persico falls away from that group, Longo-Borghini finally falls into it.
15:58
15KM TO GO - 3 MINUTES AND RISING
Van Vleuten passes through the bonus point for three additional seconds that she definitely doesn't need.
Vollering seems to be soft-pedalling at this point. She's now got a job ahead of her to stay ahead of Longo-Borghini and the rest. Evita Muzic falls away from the chasers. There's still a lot of this climb left.
Van Vleuten passes through the bonus point for three additional seconds that she definitely doesn't need.
Vollering seems to be soft-pedalling at this point. She's now got a job ahead of her to stay ahead of Longo-Borghini and the rest. Evita Muzic falls away from the chasers. There's still a lot of this climb left.
15:41
20KM TO GO - AVV ONTO THE GRAND BALLON
The current QOM best is 48 minutes. Expect Annemiek van Vleuten to decimate that today.
It looks like Longo-Borghini has decided to sit up and ride with the chasing group behind. Could that cost her, though? They should have some fresher legs.
15:41
VAN VLEUTEN 'FROM ANOTHER PLANET'
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‘Alien’ – Van Vleuten from ‘another planet’ as she decimates field on Stage 7
15:40
25KM TO GO - VOLLERING VISIBLY SUFFERING
Like ELB, the Dutchwoman has found herself in no-man's land. She's not even going uphill again yet, and clearly having a very hard time out there.
"Let's hope she can pick up the rhythm on the last climb," says Iris Slappendel.
15:30
30KM TO GO - WHAT CAN THOSE BEHIND DO?
If anything at all? It looks like they're playing for minor placings now, or saving their matches for tomorrow. A decision seems to have been made to let Longo-Borghini hang herself out to dry. The leaders are about 10km from the foot of the final climb, the Grand Ballon.
15:24
34KM TO GO - ANNA VAN DER BREGGEN PROVIDES ENCOURAGEMENT
The organisation broadcasts a communication from the SD Worx DS telling Demi Vollering that she's closing on the descent. She isn't, but no point telling her that.
Van Vleuten goes through the Intermediate sprint to pick up 25 points that will make no difference to anything at all.
15:12
45KM TO GO - 90 SECONDS FOR VAN VLEUTEN
Some 10km to the first intermediate sprint at Oderen. Elisa Longo-Borghini remains in no-man's land, a minute ahead of the larger Niewiadoma group.
15:00
55KM TO GO - AVV EATING VOLLERING'S LUNCH
Van Vleuten is really taking advantage of the rolling elevated road, and passes through the finish for the first time a minute ahead of Demi Vollering.
Longo-Borghini is now 4'51 down. We weren't kidding when we said the gaps would be enormous today. We'd all like to see Vollering keep it competitive, though. She's now the only rider who might be able to.
Longo-Borghini is now 4'51 down. We weren't kidding when we said the gaps would be enormous today. We'd all like to see Vollering keep it competitive, though. She's now the only rider who might be able to.
14:55
PREVIOUSLY ON THE TOUR DE FRANCE FEMMES...
Iris explains it all.
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‘Absolutely brutal’ – Vos dropped early on Stage 7
14:49
61.4KM TO GO - TEN POINTS FOR VAN VLEUTEN
AVV levels the QOM competition over the summit and heads into about seven lumpy kilometres before a long descent, then the gentle valley road ahead of the Grand Ballon.
Longo-Borghini has been riding alone for a long time and might benefit from some company. She, as well as the next group on the road, will need to descend like they've never descended before if they have a hope of making up some or all of the multi-minute deficit.
14:46
62KM TO GO - ATTACK FROM ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN
On the steepest section of the Platzerwasel, 800m from the top of the climb. The best she can achieve is to level things up in the mountains competition. Expect the pair to come back together as the road levels out and begins to point downwards.
Potentially a harbinger of things to come on the Grand Ballon, however.