“It was one and done. She broke them with one attack!” – Lizzie Deignan stunned as Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney blows Tour apart on Mont Ventoux

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney needed one attack on Mont Ventoux to turn the Tour de France Femmes on its head, taking the stage, the yellow jersey and more than a minute out of Demi Vollering in a ride that left Lizzie Deignan and Ned Boulting stunned.

The Canyon-SRAM leader began Stage 7 third overall, 1:17 behind Marlen Reusser and more than a minute adrift of Vollering. She finished 1:16 ahead of the Dutchwoman, with Elisa Longo Borghini third at 1:42 and Reusser another four seconds further back.

Niewiadoma-Phinney made her move with 9.7 kilometres of Mont Ventoux remaining. Vollering and Reusser initially stayed together behind, but neither closed the gap while it was still small and the Pole continued to build her advantage towards Chalet Reynard.

Boulting opened the post-stage discussion on the For the Love of Cycling podcast by calling it “one of the greatest races Mont Ventoux has ever seen”. Deignan, a former world champion and winner of Paris-Roubaix, has extensive experience of racing at the highest level, while Boulting has covered the Tour de France and professional cycling for ITV for more than two decades.

Asked what had impressed her most, Deignan immediately pointed to the simplicity of the winning move. “Just the fact that it was one and done,” she said. “She broke them with one attack. I expected that we would see a little bit more cat and mouse between the top three.”

Vollering and Reusser had controlled much of the GC story before Ventoux. Reusser took yellow with her Stage 4 time-trial victory and then resisted Vollering’s repeated attacks on Stage 5, while Vollering entered the mountain stage just 12 seconds behind.

Niewiadoma-Phinney was still close enough to threaten, but Boulting admitted the race had appeared increasingly settled around the top two. “And she has never done a ride like that on a long climb before, has she?” he said. “I mean, she did that heroic ride on Alpe d’Huez to defend the yellow jersey, but not to overturn a general classification that did not look settled for first and second. To be honest, it looked a little bit settled for third.”

Niewiadoma-Phinney’s 2024 Tour victory had been secured through a very different type of performance. On Alpe d’Huez, she defended yellow under sustained pressure and eventually survived by just four seconds.

On Ventoux she attacked from distance and forced the two riders ahead of her on GC into pursuit. “She has just smashed it apart,” Boulting said. “To dispense with one favourite is one thing. To take out two with the same attack is very rare indeed.”

“A really rare beast,” Deignan replied.

Vollering eventually accelerated away from Reusser late on and recovered significant time during the final kilometre, but Niewiadoma-Phinney still reached the summit with enough of an advantage to take control of the Tour.

She now leads Vollering by 15 seconds, with Reusser third at 39 seconds. Longo Borghini sits fourth at 2:59.

Canyon-SRAM also left Ventoux with Antonia Niedermaier still in the white jersey after another strong climbing performance. “They are sitting at the top of the leaderboard with Kasia in yellow and Niedermaier in white,” Deignan said. “Doesn’t get better, does it?”

Two stages remain and the gaps are still small enough for another change in yellow. Vollering needs only 15 seconds, while Reusser remains within 39.

Niewiadoma-Phinney nevertheless leaves Mont Ventoux in a position few expected when the climb began: no longer trying to stay in touch with the two riders ahead, but wearing yellow after dropping them both with the same attack.