Overall race leader Marianne Vos used a combination of sprinting prowess and positioning smarts in the finale to take her second stage win of the race in the reduced bunch sprint.
Vos surfed wheels in the final kilometres as the lone Jumbo-Visma rider near the front, and she crucially won the battle to follow in Ellen van Dijk’s (Trek-Segafredo) slipstream. She was challenged in the final sprint to the line by Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo), but she had the strength to hold off the world champion’s challenge and claim the sprint win in Rosheim.
“It was quite a difficult race,” said Vos. “We had a good situation with Anna Henderson in a big breakaway, but there was a big chase as well. The Cote de Boersch two times caused some action, it was stretched out and also with a difficult descent.
“I was in the wheel of Ellen van Dijk and then when Balsamo came in the wheel of Longo Borghini, the other Elisa went on the left and I went on the right. I felt I had more speed, but I also felt that I couldn’t accelerate more so I just hoped that is was enough.”
Australians Ruby Roseman-Gannon (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) forced their way into the breakaway, which took a long time to go off the front of the race after a hard and fast start to the stage.
Valcar-Travel & Service and UAE Team ADQ took up the chase when the break looked like it might be let ride away for the stage victory, keeping the early move’s lead to within a minute and 30 seconds for the majority of the stage.
Cordon-Ragot was the first to start the aggression from the breakaway, putting in an attack with 31 kilometres to go, but it was quickly shut down and after some looking at each other the sharing of the pace-making duties continued in the front group.
Australian Grace Brown (FDJ - SUEZ - Futuroscope) tried a surge from the peloton on a climb to try and get clear of the sprinters in the main bunch, but she was tightly marked by the favourites for the stage.
An attack by Marie Le Net (FDJ - SUEZ - Futuroscope) and Anna Henderson (Jumbo-Visma) on a small climb was joined by Joscelin Lowden (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) and the trio worked well together to distance their former companions and the peloton.
The final climb of the Cote de Boersch saw the attackers maintaining a slim lead on the peloton of 30 seconds while their former breakaway companions were swept up by the main bunch.
Le Net attacked clear to go over the summit of the climb solo, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the peloton spoiling for a reduced bunch sprint as she was caught on the descent with just 5 kilometres to go to the finish.
Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo) was again a powerhouse in the finale, leading the way through the final kilometres with Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) battling with first Alex Manly (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo) for the world time trial champion’s wheel.
Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) led teammate Balsamo to the front of the race, with the final sprint launched with just inside 200 metres to run. Vos powered to the line, initially matched by Balsamo, but with the endurance to hold her effort all the way to the line to win while Balsamo faded for fourth. Marta Bastianelli (UAE Team ADQ) finished second, with Lotte Kopecky (Trek-Segafredo) finishing third.
Marianne Vos extended her lead at the top of the general classification to thirty seconds over Silvia Persico (Valcar-Travel & Service) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM).
The Tour de France Femmes continues with the first of two big mountain stages to finish the race, with the 13-kilometre climb of the Grand Ballon summiting with just seven kilometres remaining in the stage. Watch from 11.20pm AEST on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker or from 11.25pm AEST on SBS and SBS On Demand.
