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Dutchwoman Annemiek van Vleuten won the seventh stage of the Tour de France Women on Saturday, the most difficult of the course with more than 3,000 meters of elevation in the Vosges massif. She thus seizes the yellow jersey and takes a serious option for the final victory.
The slope rises and Annemiek van Vleuten appears. The 39-year-old Dutchwoman probably killed all suspense on the Women’s Tour de France on Saturday July 30 by winning the most mountainous stage of the edition between Sélestat and Markstein, disgusting the competition. The icing on the cake, she grabs the yellow jersey!
#TDFF ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN CRUSHES THE TOUR DE FRANCE! After a solo number of 62km, distancing Demi Vollering in the Platzewasel, the 39-year-old Dutchwoman achieves a double blow on this 7th stage, taking the yellow jersey with a large lead. pic.twitter.com/XHVQBlVBjP
– Le Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) July 30, 2022
She is ahead of Demi Vollering – who consoles herself with the polka dot jersey – by almost 3 and a half minutes and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig by 5 min 16. Differences which prove to what extent Annemiek van Vleuten is an alien in the mountains compared to the rest of the peloton.
“It may have seemed easy but it wasn’t. I surprised myself,” assured the new yellow jersey, who said she was honored to wear the tunic “long only intended for boys”.
An attack 78 km from the finish
Announced as the sole favorite of the Tour at the start, Annemiek van Vleuten began to scatter her adversaries like a puzzle from the slopes of the first pass, the Petit Ballon, 78 km from the finish. On this first attack, launched even before the TV broadcast, only Demi Vollering can follow it. Elisa Longo Borghini hangs on but only for a time. Behind a group of chasers, including Juliette Labous, Evita Muzic, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Katarzyna Niewiadoma, is getting organized. The yellow jersey, Marianne Vos, is already largely released.
>> To read also: Tour de France Women: the French climbers Labous and Muzic arrive on their ground
If Demi Vollering tries to slip away from Annemiek van Vleuten in the technical descent of the Petit Ballon, the leader of the Movistar returns the favor in the very difficult last kilometer of the Plarzerwasel. Her compatriot will never see her again.
Annemiek van Vleuten approaches the last pass, that of the Grand Ballon, the highest point of the Tour, with a comfortable lead. At the top, she still has 3 min 35 on her competitor. Enough to ensure her the yellow jersey, despite the delay accumulated during the first days when sick, she dragged out her sentence.
Behind the untouchable, the rest of the general classification began to thin out. The chasing group broke up on the last ascent, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Juliette Labous isolated themselves. The Pole is third overall behind Demi Vollering, the Frenchwoman fourth and the Dane fifth – a nice comeback after her disastrous second stage.
Annemiek van Vleuten’s performance raised fears of a hecatomb of the peloton due to the delays, in the end only seven riders crossed the line too late. Some for a cruel handful of seconds like Anaïs Morichon. Four riders did not go to the end of the race, including the double stage winner Lorena Wiebes.
On Sunday, the new yellow jersey will have to defend its tunic during the final stage of the 2022 edition, a prestigious stage which will take the peloton to the slopes of the Ballon d’Alsace, the first pass climbed by the men in 1905, and the Super Board of Beautiful girls.