The big favorite of the women’s Tour de France, the Dutch Annemiek van Vleuten, knocked out the 7th stage arriving in the Vosges station of Markstein and put on the yellow jersey on the eve of the finish.
Her compatriot Demi Vollering, the only one able to compete for a time with van Vleuten, is in 2nd place in the general classification, 3’14” ahead of the Polish Katarzyna Niewiadoma, relegated to 4’33”. “It’s been such a rollercoaster. I have been so sick. To win like that is incredible. And it’s wonderful to end here solo“, savored the triple winner of the Giro (2022, 2019 and 2018), diminished at the start of the week by a gastrointestinal virus.
The almost forty-year-old (in October) launched hostilities about 80 kilometers from the finish, from the first bends in the mountains of this reborn women’s Grande Boucle, the Petit Ballon (9.3 km at 8.1% average slope) . “I did a reconnaissance of the stage and noticed that the Petit Ballon was a difficult climb. After 6 days of waiting, surviving and recovering I wanted to make the biggest time gaps possible and that meant attacking on the first climb“, she described.
Elise Chabbey conserve sa 10e place
Van Vleuten, who was a minute and a half behind the yellow jersey Marianne Vos, quickly distanced her, like the whole peloton – with the exception of Vollering – in this 1st acceleration. A movement full of panache reminiscent of the attack that crowned her world champion in Yorkshire in 2019. During this crazy demanding stage, Geneva’s Elise Chabbey took 15th place at 11’05”. She retains her 10th place overall.
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