Puck Pieterse wins rainy and hilly stage at Tour de France Femmes whilst Demi Vollering extends race lead

Puck Pieterse is one of the biggest rising stars in pro cycling and today she has net her first win at the Tour de France Femmes. The Dutch rider managed to withstand the attacks of the GC riders and in a three-up sprint, she beat Demi Vollering to win stage 4 in Liège.

A rainy day in the Ardennes. Stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes tackled climbs of Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège on a day that could be key for the overall classification, even more due to the rainy weather conditions on the day.  

Laura Tomasi has spent time in the head of the race but the reality is there wasn't really much of a breakaway on the day. SD Worx set the pace throughout the day, keeping the race under control until the final set of climbs including the Roche-aux-Faucons. Before reaching here however there were plenty attacks from riders looking to take advantage of the chaos and weather.

But ultimately it would be on this climb that Katarzyna Niewiadoma launched a powerful attack, followed by race leader Demi Vollering, Puck Pieterse and Pauliena Rooijakkers. The latter cracked in the final hilltop whilst the trio kept collaborating and riding on, with the stage win up for grabs between them.

They worked until the final kilometers, with Niewiadoma launching an attack inside the final kilometer. Vollering closed the gap and then in the final sprint a photo-finish was necessary to confirm that the yellow jersey was only second on the day whilst Puck Pieterse took the win; with the trio making time on their rivals behind.