“It was really difficult to live through” – Celia Gery speaks out after death threats and online abuse following Kasia Niewiadoma Tour de France accusation
CyclingMonday, 10 August 2026 at 16:45
Celia Gery has opened up on a distressing final weekend at the 2026 Tour de France Femmes after the 20-year-old French champion received a barrage of online abuse, including death threats, following Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney’s accusations against her in Nice.
Gery had been thrust into the centre of the yellow jersey battle on Stage 8, when Niewiadoma-Phinney accused the FDJ United-Suez rider of deliberately blocking her towards the barriers as Demi Vollering launched the attack that would ultimately take her into the race lead. The French team strongly rejected any suggestion that Gery’s actions had been intentional, but the debate around the incident quickly spilled onto social media.
By the following day, Gery was still struggling with the reaction. “It was really difficult to live through yesterday, but… well, that’s how it is,” she admitted to DirectVelo after the Tour concluded in Nice. The abuse had turned an already intense Tour debut into a difficult personal ordeal just as Gery was preparing to help Vollering defend an advantage of only eight seconds over Niewiadoma-Phinney.
Vollering publicly defended her young teammate as the scale of the messages became clear, while Gery returned to the start line for another demanding afternoon of work.
Gery completes breakthrough Tour after difficult night
Away from the controversy, Gery had produced an impressive nine days in her first Tour de France Femmes. The French road champion became a regular presence alongside Vollering deep into stages and was repeatedly called upon as FDJ United-Suez tried to control the increasingly volatile battle for yellow.
That level had exceeded Gery’s own expectations heading into the race. “I didn’t really know what to expect,” she explained. “The preparation was good and you could see and feel that on the bike. It’s cool that it went so well from a sporting point of view.”
Her final assignment came less than 24 hours after the row in Nice. Vollering entered Stage 9 with virtually no protection in the general classification and Niewiadoma-Phinney still within striking distance after having comprehensively distanced her on Mont Ventoux two days earlier.
Gery again worked for her leader before the Tour was ultimately decided on the final ascent of the Col d’Eze. Vollering dropped Niewiadoma-Phinney near the summit and rode alone towards Nice, turning her eight-second advantage into a final winning margin of 1:18 and securing her second Tour de France Femmes title.
For Gery, the finish also brought an emotional release. She was seen in tears after the race, with the pressure of the previous 24 hours finally giving way to a celebration of Vollering’s yellow jersey and her own successful Tour debut.
“I’m really happy. It was so good, an amazing experience and then to finish with the victory as well. It’s the dream scenario,” she said. “Today, it really feels good to finish this way. It gives me even more pleasure that Demi won, given everything that happened alongside it.”
Demi Vollering (M), Kasia Niewiadoma (L) and Elisa Longo Borghini (R) on the final podium at the 2026 Tour de France Femmes
Niewiadoma apologises after heated finale
Niewiadoma-Phinney had remained critical of what happened on Stage 8 as the controversy continued into the final day. The race itself eventually produced a decisive sporting outcome, with Vollering creating more than a minute between herself and the Pole rather than relying on the eight-second advantage she had carried into Sunday.
After Sunday’s finale, Niewiadoma-Phinney apologised for the way the controversy had unfolded, bringing some closure to the dispute after she had stood by her criticism earlier in the day. No sanction was issued over the Stage 8 incident.
Gery leaves Nice as a Tour de France Femmes winner with FDJ United-Suez after nine days in which she established herself as an important part of Vollering’s support team. Her first appearance in the race ended with yellow, tears and an unwanted introduction to the hostility that can follow a few seconds of controversy on cycling’s biggest stage.
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.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- > it was a dicey move, very aggressive perhaps. but wrong? well no one was relegated so it was ok. >as Demi said, when she was in yellow, no one waited for her. Was Kasia relegated for not waiting for Demi? Well no one was relegated so it was ok. Even Demi's team ignored her.averagecyclist10-08-2026
- When I hear of Royalty I think of "Sex Pistols" and the cut, "God Save the Queen". Fascist regimes have become the EU.bike-anarkist10-08-2026
- No, ask yourself: would Pogacar or Vingegaard ever position them as poorly as KN in a predictable scenario. The answer is no; because they know the game: Road cycling is a contact sport - and there is no style marks. Furthermore, they know when to keep their mouth shut. KN's behavior after the stage was completely out of line.SB10-08-2026
- Roglič has always had a remarkably forward looking short term memory. Things happen. Move on. That's for success and for setbacks. He's one of the best grand tour riders the sport has ever seen (sure, sure, he doesn't have the Tour on his list, but so close!), and the way he did it felt unique. At some point, though, his resilience and ability to jump back from a setback was going to fail. It goes with his body "aging" (I'm substantially older than him and he's still young, but not in cycling). I wish him the best, but I don't think he's going to meet his goal of winning a 5th time.RidesHills10-08-2026
- Unfortunately he is right, we saw that last year. Despite what we hope for regarding Jonas hes showed that hes just not good enough in these races. Perfectly honest its hard to see how he could help as a domestique even with how weak he was last year and his track record.miguel10-08-2026
- This is terrible news, as always with accidents like this. I hope he heals soon. Bardet felt like one of the last true mountain specialists who wasn't going to go far as a GC specialist. I always liked watching him ride.RidesHills10-08-2026
- KN's inability to position herself in predictable scenario and her big mouth results in critique of a young rider just doing her job. Get real ffs.SB10-08-2026
- Demi was the strongest rider and would have won without any dodgy tactics - as she showed on the last stage. All the dodgy tactics did was add a bad odour to the victory. And Kasia had every right to confront Gery. All shed did was confront Gery and ask some pointed questions. It isn't Kasia's fault at all that idiots on social media wade in with attacks and threats. That's literally the stupid times we live inmobk10-08-2026
- "in the cards"whkman10-08-2026
- she didn't get death threats, and she's not a victim, bunch of crap that the useful idiots will believe. you don't want to be in the media's crosshairs, don't do stupid things like impeding a contender.whkman10-08-2026
Loading
6 Comments