Results Tour de France Femmes 2026 stage 9 - Demi Vollering wins Tour with dashing final day solo triumph

Demi Vollering has won the Tour de France Femmes. The FDJ - Suez rider has struck gold in Nice, winning stage 9 in the yellow jersey whilst extending her gap to Katarzyna Niewiadoma in a way that left little doubt over who was the strongest in the race.

The final stage of the race promised to deliver. The battle for the yellow jersey was hanging by a thread, with Katarzyna Niewiadoma and Demi Vollering separated by a mere 8 seconds at the start line in Nice. The previous day, Vollering finally jumped into the race lead after a very controversial attack in the finale which saw her teammate Célia Gery block the Polish rider at the moment of her attack.

With tensions at their max and the rivalry between the two riders as intense as in 2024 when only a few seconds saw Niewiadoma conquer the Tour; the final 99-kilometer long stage in Nice - and its four ascents of the Col d'Èze had all the ingredients for a fantastic showdown between the two top climbers in the race.

The start of the stage immediately had climbing at hand, with the first ascent of the Col d'Èze having UAE on the attack with Dominika Wlodarczyk and Maeva Squiban trying to go up the road. Neither were successful, with heavy coverage and Canyon//SRAM's work keeping the race together.

Zoe Bäckstedt paced up the second ascent of Èze, thinning the group down to around 20 riders in the process. The immense pace saw third place Marlen Reusser get dropped. The Swiss rider was to lose her place on the final podium, but only minutes after she crashed on the descent and ended up falling out of contention for the overall classification altogether.

Over the top Bäckstedt would get dropped, and a tactical part of the race begin as Reusser crashed. On the third ascent Isabella Holmgren attacked a group where no-one looked to take the lead, and the GC group then began being led by Juliette Berthet to keep the race together for Demi Vollering.

Come the final ascent of Èze, with its steepest side being tackled for the first time on the day, Antonia Niedermaier hit the front, setting a high pace for Niewiadoma. The attack was being prepared and Holmgren's gap of around a minute quickly faded on the steep gradients in the outskirts of Nice. With 19 kilometers to go, Niewiadoma attacked.

But DemI Vollering followed promptly. Unlike Mont Ventoux, the FDJ - Suez rider looked at ease with the response, and managed to take a few turns a the head of the race as well, quickly showing she had the legs to follow any move. With 16 kilometers to go, Vollering launched a decimating move that would see her gap Niewiadoma.

Vollering, in yellow, made the difference and left little doubt that the previous day's differences would have little impact on the final overall classification. Her gap extended as she descended back into Nice, where she took a glorious victory in yellow to conquer the Tour for the second time in her career.

Paula Blasi sprinted for second place behind but the gap was already of over a minute, thus sealing the overall classification with similar positions to what was the case at the start.