Brodie Chapman capped off the Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées in style with a solo victory on stage 3 into Pau on Sunday. The UAE Team ADQ rider attacked 20 kilometres from home and held off a chasing group of three to take the stage by 55 seconds.
Usoa Ostolaza of Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi crossed the line second, ahead of Chapman’s teammate Dominika Wlodarczyk. Eline Jansen of VolkerWessels was fourth.
The Spaniard Ostolaza had already won stage 2 on the Col du Soulor, and her second place on the final day secured her the overall title for the second consecutive year. She held a 20-second lead over Nadia Gontova of Winspace Orange Seal and 39 seconds over Valentina Cavallar of Arkea-B&B Hotels in the general classification. Ostolaza was also victorious in the points standings.
Ostolaza praised her team after the race. “I’m very happy and proud of my teammates,” she said. “They all worked so hard for me. I also want to thank them all. This is my favourite race and I will definitely come back next year. After training at Sierra Nevada I felt in good shape. Cycling wasn’t my first sport because I was a triathlete when I was younger, so I feel like I’m improving every year. This is my fifth season as a cyclist and I’m learning all the time. I want to keep enjoying racing with this team because we’re all from the Basque Country and that makes me proud. In two weeks I’ll race the Spanish Championships. I won the time trial last year and then I have the Giro and the Tour. I’ll need to train hard to improve on last year’s results at those races.”
Brodie Chapman was delighted with her stage win. “I’m really pleased to take this victory,” she said. “We had a plan to race aggressively and we all supported each other. I had Domi and Paula behind me ready to cover any moves. I felt strong and committed to the attack because of their presence. The parcours suited me well and it’s good confidence ahead of the Giro d’Italia Women.”
Elsewhere, Cynisca Cycling’s Heidi Frank held on to the mountains jersey after going clear early on the stage and reaching the summit of the day’s first climb ahead of the peloton.
Audrey De Keersmaeker of Lotto Dstny also had a good week, ending 15th overall after top-10 stage finishes on the first and last days. “I’d told myself before the race that I wanted a top-10 stage and a top-15 overall,” she said. “I achieved that and more. On stage one it was extremely hot and the bunch stayed together for most of the day. The final climb came not too far before the finish and I positioned myself well to take seventh. On stage two there was a lot of climbing. I made the lead group on the Soulor climb before losing contact about three kilometres from the summit, finishing 16th. On the final stage I was aggressive and tried to stay at the front. On the last steep climb I was in a good position with the GC leader, but the cooperation wasn’t great and the bunch caught us. Some of my rivals gained back time as a result. I ended up ninth on the stage and 15th on GC. It’s a good result, although those 11 seconds to 11th place sting a little.”
2025 Tour des Pyrénées Stage 3 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
2025 Tour des Pyrénées GC result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: UAE Team ADQ
