Stage 6 from Clermont-Ferrand to Ambert promised fireworks, and it delivered from the very start. With the peloton reduced to 133 riders after a wave of withdrawals, the early kilometres saw a flurry of attacks as riders looked to form the day’s breakaway. Lorena Wiebes was among the first to animate the stage, attacking with others before being reeled back in. Multiple attempts came and went in quick succession, including solo moves by Morgane Coston and Linda Zanetti, both of whom briefly led before being caught ahead of the first intermediate sprint.
At the sprint in Sermentizon, Elise Chabbey crossed the line first to take maximum points, ahead of Pfeiffer Georgi and Liane Lippert. By this point, the breakaway had solidified into a large group of 20 riders, including Chabbey, Chapman, Smulders, Lippert, Paladin, Kastelijn, Ostolaza, Kraak, Coston, Hanson, Georgi, Gerritse, and others. This group gradually began to splinter on the approach to the day’s climbs.
Chabbey extends her polka dot lead
As the peloton headed towards the category three Côte de Courpière (1.7km at 6.8%), Chabbey once again went clear with Silke Smulders and Brodie Chapman, scoring maximum QoM points. Over the Côte d’Augerolles, Chapman took the maximum 3 points, with Chabbey and Smulders following. The Swiss rider added to her total again on the Col du Béal (10.2km at 5.6%), where she led the group up the first category one climb of the race. Behind her, Smulders and Chapman continued to score heavily in what was becoming a clear three-way contest for the mountains jersey.
By this point, the breakaway had thinned to 12 riders, with others being distanced one by one. The pace set by Kraak and Chabbey helped increase the advantage to 1’30” over the peloton at one point, although AG Insurance-Soudal and SD Worx-Protime soon began to push the pace to close the gap. Riders like Wiebes, Vos and several others were dropped from the bunch under the pressure.
Aggression from the break and the GC teams
With around 60km to go, Brodie Chapman launched an attack from the breakaway, stringing out the group but not escaping. Several riders, including Lippert and Chabbey, followed up with their own moves. The dynamic racing continued into the Col du Chansert (6.3km at 5.5%), where UAE Team ADQ’s Maëva Squiban launched her first serious attack, breaking clear 3km from the summit. She crested the climb alone to take maximum QoM points, ahead of Chabbey, Sarah Gigante and Anna van der Breggen.
Behind her, the GC group began to form. Attacks came from Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and Pauliena Rooijakkers, but none were successful in distancing their rivals. The chase group settled with around 22 riders, including Vollering, Le Court, Labous, Kerbaol, and others. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, Bego, and Vinke were among those dropped, while Gigante lost contact on the descent, leaving Le Court temporarily without support.
Squiban commits solo
Squiban descended aggressively, taking big risks to stretch her lead. With 20km remaining, she had built a gap of over a minute on the GC group. She collected 6 bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint atop the Valcivières climb, with Kim Le Court and Niewiadoma-Phinney taking 4 and 2 seconds respectively behind.
On the final plateau and descent into Ambert, Squiban’s advantage held steady around 1’20”. Labous attacked from the chase group and briefly pulled away in pursuit of second place, but she was never a threat to Squiban’s stage win. Behind Labous, Kerbaol and Niewiadoma-Phinney also surged clear with Vollering and Le Court following, though none could close the gap to the lone leader.
A popular French victory
Squiban passed under the flamme rouge still over a minute ahead, and rode the final kilometre through huge crowds in Ambert, soaking in the moment. She crossed the line to win stage 6 and claim her first career WorldTour victory, and the first French stage win of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes.
Labous took second, while Le Court edged out Niewiadoma-Phinney for third place and more precious bonus seconds to protect her yellow jersey. Gigante was dropped from the GC group on the final descent, and the white jersey battle remained tight between Julie Bego and Nienke Vinke, who finished together after being distanced on the final climbs.
Elsewhere, FDJ-Suez’s full commitment to Vollering’s GC bid was visible, with their riders setting the tempo and pacing the peloton deep into the stage. UAE Team ADQ also featured heavily with Chapman’s aggression and Squiban’s eventual victory. The win came after a high-speed, high-drama day in the Massif Central – a true queen stage with multiple climbs and non-stop attacks.
The Tour de France Femmes continues with two more mountain stages, and the overall classification is still very much in play.
2025 Tour de France Femmes Stage 6 result
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