Demi Vollering showed her prowess on the final stage of the Tour de France Femmes to become the race's first two-time winner.
The Dutch FDJ-Suez rider won the penultimate stage to ******* the leader's yellow jersey from Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney and carry an eight-second lead into Sunday's finale.
The fifth edition of the race culminated with a 99.2km mountain stage, beginning and ending in Nice, which featured four ascents of the Col d'Eze and totalled 2,100m of climbing.
Niewiadoma-Phinney's British team-mate Zoe Backstedt pushed the pace in the early stages before former race leader Marlen Reusser crashed on the second descent of the Col d'Eze.
Reusser was third in general classification, 72 seconds behind Vollering, and although the Swiss rider could finish, she was unable to get back in contention.

#vollering #reusser #race #d 'eze

NICE, France (AP) — Dutchwoman Demi Vollering is defending the race leader's yellow jersey as the final stage of the Tour de France got underway on Sunday.
The 2023 champion is looking to win the race for the second time but only has a slender lead of 8 seconds over Polish rider Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney, the 2024 champion, and 1 minute, 12 seconds over Marlen Reusser in third overall.
Two years ago, Niewiadoma-Phinney claimed her first Tour **** le in dramatic manner on a final day mountain stage, beating Vollering by just four seconds overall in a thrilling finish.
The 29-year-old Vollering has won all three Grand Tours, including two Spanish Vueltas and the Giro d'Italia in June.
Stage 9 is just under 100 kilometers (62 miles) long and features four loops around the southeast city of Nice and four sharp climbs of Col d'Èze, nestled in the hills overlooking the tiny Principality of Monaco.

#seconds #nice #race

Demi Vollering raced clear to win stage eight of the Tour de France Femmes and ***** the leader's yellow jersey with just one stage remaining.
The race lead has changed hands for the second day running, with Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney having won on Mont Ventoux to replace Marlen Reusser at the top of the general classification.
That gave the Polish Canyon-SRAM rider a 15-second lead over Vollering heading into Saturday's penultimate stage, a mostly flat 171.9km ride from Sisteron to Nice.
It was the longest stage of this year's race and looked set to suit the sprinters, but they were dropped on the Cote de la Ginestiere - the final climb of the day - about 8km from the finish.
Dutch FDJ-Suez rider Vollering then attacked in a bid to drop Niewiadoma-Phinney and Elisa Longo Borghini, and went clear right before she crested the final climb, with 6km to the finish.

#vollering #phinney #lead #rider

TOURNON-SUR-RHONE, France (AP) — Mauritian rider Kim Le Court-Pienaar won the sixth stage of the Women's Tour de France in a sprint to the line on Thursday, while Marlen Reusser kept the race leader's yellow jersey.
Le Court-Pienaar attacked from 300 meters out and held off Frenchwoman Cedrine Kerbaol and Dutchwoman Puck Pieterse, who was third. Le Court-Pienaar lay on her back in a mixture of exhaustion and elation as she savored her victory after winning in about four hours.
The Swiss rider Reusser maintained her overall lead of 12 seconds from Dutchwoman Demi Vollering, with Poland's Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney, 1 minute and 17 seconds behind in third.
Two-time Giro d'Italia winner Elisa Longo Borghini jumped up a couple of places to fourth overall to move into outside contention for the ******* le at 2:28 back. Le Court-Pienaar was ninth at 3:26 behind while defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot of France was 15th.
Stage six took riders on a 153-kilometer (95-mile) route featuring five modest climbs and one tricky category 2-level climb — the third-hardest category in the race — before a downhill dash to Tournon-sur-Rhône in the Ardèche region of south-central France.

#court #tournon #dutchwoman #rider

How do you react when you're told you'll be racing the Tour de France for the first time? For Britain's Zoe Backstedt, "When you get the phone call to say that you've been selected, it's like, OK, don't scream. You can scream after you've put the phone down."
The 21-year-old beams as she recounts the moment on video call with The Independent, a couple of days before her debut at the biggest race on the calendar. An electric first half of the season, including defending her ***** le at the Baloise Ladies Tour, top-five finishes at Dwars door Vlaanderen and Tour of Flanders, and the clean sweep of British national road and time-trial crowns, means the Welshwoman is full of confidence heading to the start line in Lausanne this weekend.
She still hadn't necessarily expected the call-up and was terrified of "jinxing it". "You don't want to say anything or do anything that could potentially make you not selected. It was basically showing that I was good enough at every time trial I've done this season, just giving it 110 per cent, really proving that I'm good enough to go."
Backstedt's prowess against the clock this year, in particular, has been remarkable, with four wins from five ITTs or prologues and her only defeat a second place in the Tour de Suisse time trial, won by none other than the reigning world champion, Marlen Reusser. Backstedt is also the current under-23 world champion in the discipline and will be among the favourites to take a maiden stage win in the Tour's time trial, a 21km run from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon on stage four.
She is philosophical about the prospect of pressure on her shoulders, saying: "I'm still young. I've still got years to prove myself as well. For now it's like a focus on everything that you can do, to the best of your ability, really just keeping to myself and trying not to think too much outside of what I need to do on the day. A top 10, a top five, top three, even a win, all of those I think I can still be grateful for and and really be happy with.

#trial #five #really #i 've

The Angels made three bad throws that injured two-and-a-half Mariners batters.
That's unfortunately the top headline in the Mariners eventual 1-0 and sweep of the Angels on Thursday. If you want the details on those injuries first, Kate Preusser has the latest. For a while it looked like we might have a headline involving a perfect game, then a no hitter, then a complete game shutout from Bryce Miller. But his day ended after seven innings, with eight strikeouts, no walks, two hits, one error behind him, and no runs allowed. It also looked like Walbert Ureña might have a no hitter going for the Angels, though his horrible command eventually gifted a run to the Mariners, who looked unlikely to create one for themselves.
"To say runs were at a premium tonight would be an understatement," Dan Wilson said after the game.
The Mariners had finally reassembled their 'A' lineup on Thursday, with the best batters they have to offer. The injury burn from the last month finally seemed to be fizzling out. Unfortunately, Mariners trainer Kyle Torgerson got the bulk of the screen time in the bottom of the first inning.
Julio Rodríguez worked a one-out walk. Dominic Canzone ripped a hard grounder to first. Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel scooped, spun, and fired the ball right into the back of Julio's head while trying to get the out of at second. It ricocheted into right-center field, and Julio broke for third, reaching with a roar, a fist pump, and a good bit of celebrating. The smile slowly faded as the adrenaline wore off; he stood, helmet in hand, scratching the back of his head. Torgerson and Wilson went out and spoke with him for a while. He'd finish the half inning and take the field in the top of the second. But he'd go to the locker room before his next at bat, giving his spot to Victor Robles.