Team Picnic PostNL claimed their first ever distinctive jersey at the Tour de France Femmes, with Nienke Vinke riding to a well-earned victory in the best young rider classification after nine demanding stages across France.
The 20-year-old Dutch rider sealed the white jersey in Châtel Les Portes du Soleil after surviving the final Alpine stage, with the help of teammates who rode tirelessly in support. It was a landmark achievement for both Vinke and the growing women’s squad at Team Picnic PostNL.
How did Nienke Vinke secure the white jersey?
Vinke started the race outside the white jersey lead but steadily rode herself into contention during the opening week. After stage 6, she was 22 seconds down on the best young rider but began to show her strength heading into the mountains.
Stage 7 was where the tide began to turn. On the brutal summit finish at the Col de la Madeleine, Vinke survived a bike change mid-stage and worked her way back to the peloton with the help of Francesca Barale, before being paced up the climb by Franziska Koch. The move distanced her nearest rivals for the jersey and gave her a slender advantage heading into the final two stages.
On stage 9, which featured the technical Col de Joux Plane and the decisive Col du Corbier, Vinke again had Koch at her side. Despite being distanced early, she fought back and rejoined the yellow jersey group before managing her efforts in the finale to safely defend her lead and cross the line in white.
Photo Credit: Cor VosVinke: “It’s really special to win a jersey in a Grand Tour”
After the finish in Châtel, Vinke admitted she was completely empty from the effort.
“It was a really hard day and I was completely empty. Already on the first climb they went full-gas and I dropped, but luckily I had Franzi with me the whole day. Pfeiffer and Francesca then came back too and going onto the Joux Plane I was in the yellow jersey group. There the tempo went up again but Franzi stayed with me and paced, and really helped me a lot – she was super strong today. All the other young riders were behind so it was mostly just about making it to the finish line in a good way and that’s what we did.”
She added that winning the white jersey at the Tour felt especially meaningful.
“It’s really special to win a jersey in a Grand Tour, especially in the Tour de France as it’s one of the biggest races on the calendar. A lot of really big talents and riders have won this jersey in the past so hopefully that is a good sign for me too.”
Looking to the future, Vinke acknowledged there is still work to do.
“With the team we already have the ambitions to continue to develop me more as a GC rider. The level in this Tour has been really high, so I know that I need to keep making steps in the next years. At the moment now I’m pretty tired so I’m happy the Tour is finished, it has been such a hard nine days.”
Photo Credit: Cor VosA full team effort for Team Picnic PostNL
Coach Albert Timmer praised both Vinke’s development and the way the entire team rallied behind her during the toughest stages of the race.
“In general when we look to the Tour and our team, we set the goal to race aggressively. I think that’s basically what we did. We tried every opportunity to get in the break and to go for results. We maybe didn’t get the first place on the stage that we had hoped for, but we had some top tens and the most combative rider prize a few times, and then we achieved an important goal which was the best young rider jersey with Nienke.”
He added that the win was not just down to one rider.
“Of course it is also Nienke’s individual qualities but I think it was also a whole team effort. The team did their best to look after Nienke and today Franzi was with Nienke the whole stage and protected her until the line. I think in general we can be happy and satisfied with this week.”
Team Picnic PostNL leave the 2025 Tour de France Femmes with two combativity awards, multiple top-10 finishes and, most importantly, a major jersey classification – a milestone result for the Dutch team.
Main photo credit: A.S.O./Pauline Ballet
