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The final stage of the 2024 Tour de France avec Zwift was a game of maths.
The Queen Stage, featuring a grueling 150 kilometers (90 miles) with 3,900 meters (12,795 feet) of climbing, took the riders up the formidable Col du Glandon (19.7 km at 7.2%) and the legendary Alpe d’Huez (13.8 km at 8.1%).
Entering the grand finale, the top 10 riders in the General Classification were all within 1 minute and 27 seconds. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) held the yellow jersey with a slim 27-seconds, while race favourite and defending champion Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) trailed by 1:15 — a gap her team believed could be made up on the big climbs ahead.
But with six riders, including French climber Juliette Labous (dsm-firmenich), breakout star Cédrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit-WNT), and Pauline Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck), squeezed between Niewiadoma and Vollering in the standings, the Alp stage was poised for drama.
The race-decisive move came on the Col du Glandon, where Vollering made her attack 2.4 kilometres from the top to catch lone leader Valentina Cavallar (Arkéa-B&B Hotels). Niewiadoma couldn’t respond and got distanced imemdiately. Only Rooijakkers was able to go with her compatriot as they reeled in Cavallar, and the trio tackled the ripping Glandon descent together.
But Vollering, eager to put a gap between her and the yellow jersey pushed so hard down the descent that she distanced Cavallar. Into the valley, Rooijakkers and Vollering worked together to stay ahead of the chasing group containing Niewiadoma.
Fifty second. One minute. Forty-five seconds. The gap between duo and the chasers accordioned throughout the valley, and the math game began. Valuable bonus seconds awaited the top three riders at the finish: 10 seconds for the stage winner, 6 seconds for the runner-up, and 4 seconds for third place. Every second now mattered, and time gap updates buzzed through the earpieces of every team with GC ambitions.
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Vollering needed to win the stage by 1:06 over Niewiadoma in order to take the yellow jersey away from Niewiadoma. Rooijakkers entered the final stage two seconds ahead of Vollering in the GC and therefore needed to outsprint Vollering and cross the line with a gap of 1:04 over Niewiadoma in order to slip into yellow.
However, Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek) put in a heruclean effort at the front of the chase group, hoping to place the team’s climber Gaia Realini into race contention. At the base of the fabled 21 bends of the Alpe d’Huez, the gap was down to 45 seconds — not enough for the leaders to seize the yellow but the finish line was still a steep, 13.8 kilometres away.
Behind the leaders, Niewiadoma gritted her teeth and fought tooth and nail to close down the gap and it stalled at 50 seconds. Realini and Evita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ) started attacking Niewiadoma but the countdown had started. At the finish, Vollering outsprinted Rooijakkers to take the stage win and the valuable 10 bonus seconds. Niewiadoma sprinted to the line to stop the clock at 1:01, securing the yellow jersey by a meager 4 seconds.
These four seconds mark the smallest margin of victory in the history of the Tour de France, which was previously at 8 seconds, set in 1989 in an legendary battle between American Greg LeMond and Frenchman Laurent Fignon.
For the riders and their teams, the days following the race will undoubtedly be spent scrutinizing every moment, replaying the “what if” scenarios where each second counted.
For the sport of cycling, this razor-thin margin is a testament to the extraordinary level of competition and the depth of talent in the current field. The 2024 Tour de France avec Zwift will be remembered not just for its dramatic conclusion but for highlighting the intense and thrilling nature of women’s cycling at its best.
“We all wrote history this week, commented Niewiadoma. “And we can be proud of that.”
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