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Demi Vollering missed out on a second Tour de France title by the narrowest of margins in a dramatic race atop Lape-d’Huez.
Although the 27-year-old Dutch rider won the final stage, she still lost by 4 seconds, with her Polish opponent Kasia Niewiadoma taking the overall title in fourth place, 1 minute 1 second behind.
Wolelin attacked on the penultimate climb of Sunday’s stage, the 150km Col du Glandon, and immediately opened up a gap of more than a minute to Niviadoma.
But Wölering was followed in the mountains by another Dutch rider, Pauliena Rooijakkers, who started the day just two seconds behind Wölering in the general classification. If Rooijakkers wins the stage and gets the bonus seconds, she will be guaranteed a three-second lead over her compatriot.
Rooijakkers decided to bide her time at Vollering’s wheel in the final 50km stage, which ultimately cost both women the chance to win the race.
By the time the riders reached the base of Alpe d’Huez, Niewiadoma had reduced the gap from 1:25 to 40. Although Vollering extended her lead to over a minute on the steep downhill climb, she was unable to convert that into a winning lead as Niewiadoma once again fought back to keep the gap to around a minute.
Regaining confidence
Vollerin sprinted to victory, four seconds ahead of Royaux, while Nivea Doma lost five seconds to Frenchwoman Evita Muzik in the final meters, but she still won the yellow jersey with a five-second advantage, the closest sprint in the history of the event.
Niewiadoma, who rides with the Canyon-SRAM team, thanked the cheering fans for helping her through the final kilometers.
“This victory belongs to a lot of people,” she said. “At Glendon, I lost my confidence. All of a sudden, I got it back.”
Roykax, who finished third overall, 10 seconds behind the Pole, thanked her Fenix-Deceuninck teammates. “We worked hard all week with the team,” she said. “It was just a matter of following Demi’s lead and giving it our all.”
Wolelin, who rides for the SD Worx-Primetime team, unexpectedly won the Rotterdam sprint time trial on the third day of the race, establishing herself as the favorite to win.
But she crashed on the fifth stage from Bastogne to Amneville, losing time and allowing Nievia Doma, who finished second on the stage, to take the overall win.
Dutch sprinter Charlotte Kool won the first two sprint stages in The Hague and Rotterdam before the riders crossed the border into Belgium and France.
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