The penultimate day at the Tour de France Femmes saw the peloton take on one of the toughest stages on the calendar, with three big climbs and 3000 metres of ascent packed into just a 127-kilometre-long route. It was a fast and attacking start to the day, with Pfeiffer Georgi making an original group of 33 that escaped before the opening climb; where unfortunately double stage winner Lorena Wiebes abandoned the race.
Despite it being a large group, they were caught on the lower slopes and the race completely exploded with eventual stage winner Van Vleuten making an early move. After being well positioned by the rest of the team, Juliette Labous climbed well to make it into the third chasing group behind the leading duo of Van Vleuten and Vollering, and the solo chaser of Longo Borghini.
With the kilometres and climbing ticking by, Labous rode a mature and measured ride; pacing herself really well. Onto the final ascent her group caught Longo Borghini before Niewiadoma then pushed on, with only Labous and Uttrup Ludwig able to follow. Working well together, the trio extended the gap to those behind and kept their pace up over the top of the ascent and onto the rolling plateau before the line. Fighting it out for third place on the day, Labous gave it her all to take a fine fourth place on the stage – the same position she moves up to in GC for the team ahead of tomorrow’s final day of racing.