Six stages down and two to go at the 2024 Tour de France Femmes, Katarzyna Niewiadoma holds the Maillot Jaune. With the Grand Tour set to enter the high mountains however, it is still all to play for in the fight for the race win.
“Today I feel like the whole peloton is already focussing on the last two stages because they are the most crucial ones and the hardest ones," reflects the Canyon//SRAM Racing team leader in her post-stage interview following Cedrine Kerbaol's history making stage 6 victory.
Whilst the general classification fight never truly ignited on stage 6, Niewiadoma did see some interesting moves from her rivals. "Today it was more like a breakaway day but getting into the final with all the climbs at the end and Puck Pieterse going for the mountain points I felt like there was a little testing between us," the Pole explains. "At some point Puck and Demi Vollering were kind of breaking away from the peloton but none of us quite committed to putting the hammer down."
"Cedrine Kerbaol is a super talented and strong rider of course," Niewiadoma adds, full of praise for France's first ever stage winner at the Tour de France Femmes. "She chose the perfect moment to attack and I think that she is a rider who can use the fact that Demi and I will be focusing on ourselves and find her opportunities somewhere else. She is a good climber."
With two massive days in the mountains to come however, Niewiadoma won't be looking only at the reigning Tour de France Femmes champion. "To be honest I am curious also to see Puck tomorrow," Niewiadoma notes in conclusion. "I only really know her from racing Classics with her, so I wonder how she is going to deal with the long ascents.”
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