“I lost all the respect for them” – Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney accuses FDJ of ‘childish’ tactics after losing Tour de France Femmes yellow
CyclingSaturday, 08 August 2026 at 18:37
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney has launched a furious attack on FDJ United-SUEZ after losing the yellow jersey at the Tour de France Femmes, accusing Celia Gery of deliberately forcing her towards the barriers during the decisive Stage 8 finale in Nice.
The Canyon//SRAM leader had started the day 15 seconds ahead of Demi Vollering following her spectacular Mont Ventoux victory, but FDJ arrived at the late climbs determined to turn the race around. Their pressure eventually delivered both the stage victory and yellow for Vollering.
Niewiadoma-Phinney crossed the line 17 seconds behind alongside Elisa Longo Borghini, leaving Vollering eight seconds clear overall after bonuses. Her immediate frustration, however, centred on an incident before the decisive attack rather than simply the time she had lost.
“I was super annoyed at the beginning of the climb because Gery on purpose just blocked me to the barriers and I had to stop pedalling,” Niewiadoma-Phinney said afterwards.
“If they want to compete, they should compete fairly”
FDJ had taken control of the race on the Côte de la Ginestiere, driving the pace through a rapidly shrinking group as Vollering prepared to attack. Gery was one of the final riders being used in that effort. According to Niewiadoma-Phinney, the French rider’s positioning went beyond aggressive racing.
“I feel like if they want to compete, they should compete fairly and not look to force me into the barriers because I feel like it’s so childish,” she said. “Honestly, I lost all the respect for them for that.”
Niewiadoma-Phinney had anticipated an offensive from FDJ after Vollering lost more than a minute to her on Mont Ventoux. “Yeah, I thought they would do something,” she admitted.
Once Vollering launched, the battle quickly became about more than positioning. Niewiadoma-Phinney could not immediately match the acceleration, but Longo Borghini helped her close the first gap. Vollering continued to push on the steep section and Niewiadoma-Phinney then lost contact for a second time. That separation proved decisive.
Vollering threw herself into the descent with a small advantage and continued driving once the race reached the flat run towards the Promenade des Anglais. Longo Borghini did most of the chasing behind as Niewiadoma-Phinney struggled to contribute after her effort on the climb. The gap reached around 20 seconds inside the final kilometre before Vollering crossed the line 17 seconds clear.
Eight seconds and one stage left
The yellow jersey has now changed hands on consecutive days between the Tour's two leading contenders. Niewiadoma-Phinney had begun Stage 7 third overall, 1:17 behind Marlen Reusser, before one long-range attack on Mont Ventoux carried her into yellow. Vollering responded less than 24 hours later and will now start the final 99.2-kilometre stage around Nice with an eight-second advantage.
Niewiadoma-Phinney remains intent on taking it back. “We still have the same goal, right? Go get the yellow jersey,” she said.
Exactly how Canyon//SRAM attempt that remains to be decided. “We need to talk with the team and evaluate what is the plan now.”
Sunday therefore begins with barely anything separating Vollering and Niewiadoma-Phinney on time, but considerably more separating their camps after the confrontation that preceded Saturday's decisive attack.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- A question: chasing back to Vollering’s wheel after being cut off doesn’t take any energy, does it? Of course it does. The complaint is very clearly that she was forced to chase and waste energy exactly in the way that let Vollering pull away. Given how she was positioned before the turn and after the turn, I see her anger. Also, racing is a team sport, and teams use all sorts of tricks to isolate riders. This is one of them. She has every right to be angry and lose respect for them, as well. Sometimes it’s appropriate to believe two things at once.RidesHills09-08-2026
- That is honestly adorable. Anyone who gives Vingegaard grief for focusing on his family should look at this and eat their words. What exactly is wrong with loving the people you love? Her caption, his delight, the way he runs with her, c’mon, it’s adorable and human and private but we get to see some of it and that’s cute.RidesHills09-08-2026
- you forgot the 😉Ketterechts09-08-2026
- yes. that could already be seen during the tour. he was unable to ride away from the likes of del toro, seixas, remco and lipo in the last stages he did ...Ketterechts09-08-2026
- I think there is something to what Kasia is saying because when Demi attacked, Kasia was SO far out of position. I was wondering how she let that happen. but if she had to stop pedaling, well, that would explain it. of course that doesn’t mean it was bad racing by FDJ. maybe Kasia should have been positioned better to start with. The easiest way to prevent an attack is to do what she did yesterday - start the attack.mij09-08-2026
- I lost respect of Kasia with this whining. IF she was cutoff, it was the least of her concerns as she had no energy to keep up regardless.onegear2908-08-2026
- I lost respect of Phinney with this whining. IF she was cutoff, it was the least of her concerns as she had no energy to keep up regardless.onegear2908-08-2026
- >Not easy to see if Gery did something wrong on purpose. Sounds more like a weak excuse.. It is a weak comment. If you don't know because it is "not easy to see" how you can blame Niewiadoma?averagecyclist08-08-2026
- Not easy to see if Gery did something wrong on purpose. Sounds more like a weak excuse that she could not follow Vollering. She could have lost a lot more time if it was not for Longo- Borghini
DareDevil08-08-2026 - problem is UAE just getting better and visma getting worse and Jonas seems totally defeated and given up. Visma dont have what it takes their ruined too so i think we need to wait for Decathlon and seixas. Then theres del toro to at uae which they made into a star already.miguel08-08-2026
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