Isabella Holmgren sealed overall victory at the Tour de l’Avenir Femmes by winning both stages on the final day in La Rosière. The Canadian rider from Lidl-Trek first triumphed in the morning’s short mountain stage before confirming her superiority with victory in the uphill time trial. She finished the week ahead of Marion Bunel and Talia Appleton on the general classification podium.
The final day offered two decisive tests in the Alps. In the morning, the peloton tackled just 41 kilometres, starting with the Colle San Marco before continuing to the slopes of the Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard. The finish came higher still, at the ski station of La Rosière, after an unrelenting sequence of climbs.
The short distance made the stage explosive from the start, with attacks flying on the opening slopes. Bunel showed her strength in the mountains and came closest to challenging Holmgren, but after a photo finish, it was the Canadian who edged her out for the stage win. That result extended Holmgren’s cushion in yellow ahead of the afternoon’s time trial.
After only a short pause, the riders faced the final challenge: a 10.3-kilometre uphill race against the clock from Montvalezan to La Rosière. The climb averaged 6.6% and required pacing skill as well as climbing power. Early benchmark times came from Janice Stettler and then Julie Bego, who held the hot seat with 32’04” for much of the afternoon.
Photo Credit: GettyBelgium’s Xaydee Van Sinaey and Emma Siegers came close, while Dutch rider Mijntje Geurts finally bettered Bego with 31’50”. Her lead was short-lived, as the overall contenders began to arrive. Rosita Reijnhout improved the mark, but the decisive times came from the top three in the standings.
Appleton produced one of her best rides of the week, beating Bunel by eight seconds in the time trial and securing her place on the overall podium. Holmgren, starting a minute behind Bunel, caught and passed the Frenchwoman on the road, underlining her dominance. She stopped the clock faster than both of her closest rivals to take another stage win, confirming the overall title in style.
The final podium saw Holmgren climb from second place last year to the top step, ahead of Bunel and Appleton. Alongside the yellow jersey, Holmgren also collected the polka dot jersey as best climber and the white jersey as best young rider. Célia Gery, who had claimed three sprint victories earlier in the week, finished with the green jersey for the points classification, while France topped the team standings.
For Holmgren, it was a complete performance from start to finish. She set the tone with victory in the opening prologue at Tignes and never relinquished the leader’s jersey. At just 20 years old and already successful in cyclocross and mountain biking, she has now shown that she is one of the brightest climbing prospects on the road.
2025 Tour de l’Avenir Femmes Stage 5a result
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2025 Tour de l’Avenir Femmes 5b result
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2025 Tour de l’Avenir Femmes GC result
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Main photo credit: Tour de l’Avenir
