It was a irritating day for yellow jersey Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney on stage 8 of the Tour de France Femmes, dropping the race result in Demi Vollering in Good and seething at what she deemed an unsporting transfer from Vollering’s teammate Célia Gery to dam her on the decisive climb of the day.
Niewiadoma-Phinney confronted Gery on the end line, saying „Why did you shut me to the obstacles?“, then venting her annoyance to the TV cameras, and was nonetheless visibly pissed off as she cooled down after the stage.
On the Canyon-SRAM bus, the group’s technical employees and sports activities administrators debriefed with Niewiadoma-Phinney, who didn’t want to communicate to the media any additional. They gathered round a cellphone to observe the replay, however the lower of the tv footage did not present the alleged incident with any readability, switching between a head-on and overhead shot at an inopportune second.
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Cyclingnews understands that the group was in touch with the race jury, who’ve video refereeing capabilities for circumstances like this, the place they will watch a number of digital camera angles, not simply what we see on TV.
Just a few hundred metres down the highway, FDJ insisted that any sort of transfer from Gery would have been purely unintentional, and that it wasn’t within the 20-year-old’s nature to race in an aggressive or unfair manor.
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When the stage communique was revealed, there was no penalty, positive or warning of any variety for Gery.
Canyon sports activities director Rolf Aldag initially declined to touch upon the incident in an excessive amount of element, saying: „I did not see it so we’ll watch it and if it was unfair then there is a VAR, there is a jury and they’ll act on it. I can not touch upon now on one thing I am undecided about. So let’s have a look at and let’s discover out.“
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Nevertheless, he did go on to say that he thought the nook the place the alleged incident occurred was fairly pivotal, and if Niewiadoma-Phinney had been capable of comply with Vollering’s wheel unimpinged, the stage and due to this fact GC consequence could have been considerably completely different.
„I used to be questioning across the nook, she had a spot to Demi, and if she’s on Demi’s wheel she’s going to keep on Demi’s wheel, however she needed to shut and shutting on Demi, she’s the most effective on the earth, so to shut on her is a large, big effort, and lacking a few of that freshness,“ he defined.
„So if she’s on Demi’s wheel, she will get excessive with Demi after which nothing occurs and the GC stays the identical. Why that occurred, why she wasn’t on the wheel, I do not know. I believe now we have all seen it on tv they that they had that hole after which she sort of squeezed herself into the sport with Longo Borghini. On the high they had been standing nonetheless. If she would not have to do this, she will get with Demi over the climb and it is a completely different story. Nevertheless it wasn’t, so now we have to just accept it.
What to learn subsequent
„Some folks say to me ‚yeah however yesterday Demi gambled and that is why Kasia [won]‘ however that is nonsense. Yesterday Kasia was the most effective definitely, and you do not simply win with one minute 20 since you get fortunate or any individual gambles. It is as a result of you already know on the Mont Ventoux you are the most effective, and he or she was yesterday, and truthful play, Demi was actually good at the moment, so now we have to just accept that.
At the same time as Canyon-SRAM had been dissecting the incident and seemingly in touch with the jury, there was an acceptance that, even when a penalty was handed out, it would not do something to alter Niewiadoma-Phinney’s fortunes or GC place, however they nonetheless needed to know why the Polish rider could not comply with Vollering, and what which may imply for the final day of the race.
📺 Here is video clip of second after they took left flip to uphill, which wasn’t proven on worldwide dwell broadcast._______________🇫🇷 #TDFF2026pic.twitter.com/FEzyhvxySbAugust 8, 2026
Yet one more probability to take again yellow
The Gery drama apart, the shortage of penalty signifies that state of affairs is now prior to now and there’s solely stage 9 to stay up for. With Vollering solely eight seconds forward of Niewiadoma-Phinney, FDJ United-Suez could have been celebrating as if the Tour was received, however it’s removed from it. And if there’s anybody who is aware of learn how to come from behind, or learn how to win off the again of a good margin, it’s Niewiadoma-Phinney.
On the massive GC battle nonetheless to come back, Aldag was not bullish however assured and guaranteed.
„Two days in the past we had been one minute 17 down, then we had been 15 seconds forward and Demi needed to chase it, so tomorrow now we have to chase the eight seconds, and if the legs enable it then the legs enable it,“ he stated.
„However I believe what we can not underestimate is that journey that Kasia put in yesterday, when you present no fatigue then it will be a bit bit unhuman. So I believe that particularly with this explosivity now in these tremendous steep climbs, it was logical that Demi would strive. She did, and credit score to her and her group how they took it on then. We’ve got to just accept that, however tomorrow is one other day, so we’ll see.“
Although everybody anticipated that FDJ United-Suez would seize the earliest attainable alternative to claw time again from Niewiadoma-Phinney, stage 8 was undoubtedly the much less GC action-friendly stage in comparison with stage 9, so Vollering’s good points on Saturday actually do not imply that the match is received.
With a punchy and explosive day nonetheless to come back on Sunday and solely eight seconds within the GC combat, there’s not way more that Canyon-SRAM can say besides that they’ll go for the win on the ultimate day.
„Nicely, higher than at the moment,“ Aldag stated about how a lot tomorrow’s stage with its for Col d’Èze ascents would possibly go well with Niewiadoma-Phinney.
„Particularly with the journey of yesterday, at the moment all of us want restoration, and it was scorching once more, it was an extended stage, after which tomorrow if there’s something in her legs, we all know Kasia, she’s going to give it a strive.
„You must attempt to it’s important to go for it. I believe it is over tomorrow across the identical time as we discuss proper now, after which we’ll know who received the Tour de France.“
If something, at the moment’s incident could have solely ignited additional rigidity between Canyon-SRAM and FDJ United-Suez, which might lead to a severely fiery GC battle to conclude this race.
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