Maëva Squiban doubles up with fearless solo attack into Chambéry on Stage 7 of 2025 Tour de France Femmes

Mathew Mitchell

Published on August 1, 2025
in Women's Cycling

The 159.7km stage from Bourg-en-Bresse to Chambéry was expected to be transitional in nature, sitting between two high mountain tests, but it proved anything but tame. With a punchy final third, a summit at the Col du Granier and a long technical descent into Chambéry, it offered a platform for bold moves – and Maëva Squiban seized it again.

The racing began with immediate intent. Maëva Squiban, fresh from her win on stage 6, was the first to attack, going solo within the opening 10km. She was soon joined by Lucinda Brand, forming a short-lived move that never gained more than 18 seconds. The peloton, averaging nearly 48kph in the opening phase, wasn’t ready to let anything stick just yet.

Eventually, a large and dangerous breakaway formed. It grew to 17 riders and featured several key names, including Lotte Kopecky, Chloe Dygert, Shirin van Anrooij, Justine Ghekiere, Ruth Edwards, Fiona Mangan, Marie Le Net and Squiban herself. Eline Jansen was the best-placed rider on GC at 5’40”, giving the group enough rope to build a lead that eventually stretched over five minutes.

Winspace’s Fiona Mangan took full points in the intermediate sprint at Groslée-Saint-Benoit, followed by Alicia Gonzalez and Ruth Edwards. Kopecky, Le Net and Dygert also featured in the top 10 across the line.

The first climb and first selections

The race began to change character as the Côte de Saint-Franc (3.8km at 6.9%) approached. Kopecky set the tempo on the lower slopes, with Van Anrooij and Squiban pushing the pace further. One by one, riders were dropped: Andersen, Gonzalez, Mangan, Brand, Jansen and Arzuffi all lost contact with the leaders.

Squiban crested the climb first, taking maximum QoM points, followed by Van Anrooij, Kopecky and Meijering. The peloton, already splintering, trailed by over three minutes. Fenix-Deceuninck took control on the front of the bunch, using Millie Couzens and Yara Kastelijn to apply pressure and shred the group further. Riders like Elise Chabbey and Lorena Wiebes were among those distanced.

Côte de Berland and the run to the Col du Granier

The short but sharp Côte de Berland (1.2km at 7.2%) came next. Squiban again took top points at the summit, ahead of Rijnbeek. The descent saw a regrouping among the leaders, with riders like Rijnbeek, Arzuffi, Le Mouel and Jastrab making it back to reform a 13-rider lead group.

With 30km remaining, the gap to the peloton was 3’09”, but the breakaway was showing signs of tactical hesitation. Maud Rijnbeek took advantage, launching a solo move just before the base of the final climb. She opened a gap of 24 seconds as the others looked at each other. Meijering and Edwards then bridged across, forming a trio that worked well together until Squiban made her move again.

Squiban surged from the chase group with a powerful seated acceleration and quickly caught the front three. Rijnbeek was distanced, Van Anrooij attempted to bridge, and the five leaders became four: Squiban, Meijering, Edwards and Van Anrooij.

Not long after, Squiban took full control.

The Col du Granier – and the attack that stuck

The Col du Granier (8.9km at 5.4%) would decide the day. Squiban, visibly confident, began testing Meijering with subtle accelerations. When she finally launched the decisive move, the Dutch rider was unable to follow. Edwards and Van Anrooij were chasing behind but unable to close the gap.

Squiban took the QoM points at the summit and went over the top solo. Meijering crossed next, followed by Edwards and Van Anrooij, then came the GC group at 1’27” and the yellow jersey group with Kim Le Court a further 30 seconds back.

Behind, the GC favourites were exploding into action. Yara Kastelijn drove a hard pace that initially dropped Le Court and Kopecky, with Rooijakkers also involved in the damage. Vollering made the first big move among the overall contenders, launching a dig that saw Niewiadoma-Phinney and Ferrand-Prévot go with her. Gigante struggled, but had Ghekiere for support.

Cedrine Kerbaol, who had been distanced earlier, launched her own counter-attack. She caught Meijering and Edwards on the descent and set off after Van Anrooij, descending aggressively and gaining time. Niewiadoma-Phinney followed suit and helped to reduce the gap to the rest of the GC group.

Meanwhile, Le Court was fighting to save her yellow jersey. Dropped near the summit, she used the descent to her advantage, slowly clawing her way back up to Vollering’s group with just under 3km to go. Marie Le Net radioed back from the GC group to let her team know the jersey was coming back.

The final run-in to Chambéry

With 5km to go, Squiban held a lead of over a minute on Meijering, Van Anrooij and Edwards. The GC favourites, now regrouped, sat at 1’27”, and Le Court had rejoined them.

Squiban, still smooth and focused, rode the final kilometre with the outcome never in doubt. She crossed the line alone in Chambéry for her second Tour stage win in a row – a performance built on attacking instinct, climbing power and fearless descending.

Behind, the three chasers finished in the same order they crested the climb. The GC favourites finished together, with Vollering, Ferrand-Prévot, Niewiadoma-Phinney, Van der Breggen and Le Court all still within striking distance overall. Kerbaol gained small time as a result of her descent.

Squiban added 12 QoM points today and now sits just two points off third in the polka dot standings. Le Court retains yellow by 26 seconds, with Ferrand-Prévot and Niewiadoma-Phinney still her closest rivals. Vollering remains fourth, one second behind Niewiadoma-Phinney.

Squiban may be too far down overall to challenge for yellow, but she has quickly become one of the defining figures of this year’s race.