Demi Vollering Wins Stage 8 of Tour de France Femmes to Take Yellow Jersey

Demi Vollering launched a blistering attack to win the eighth stage of the Tour de France Femmes and take the yellow jersey heading into tonight's final stage.

The Dutchwoman upped the pace on the fourth and final small climb and title rival Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney cracked with about 6km to go, sitting back down in her saddle as 2023 Tour winner Vollering surged ahead.

As Vollering zoomed along the famed Promenade des Anglais by the seaside in Nice, Niewiadoma-Phinney and former Giro d'Italia winner Elisa Longo Borghini could not close the gap.

"It's funny but only this morning I saw myself taking the yellow jersey," Vollering said.

"I thought it might come true, that maybe that's the way things should be. During the day, I tried to remind myself I could do it."

So it proved.

Vollering raised her arms in triumph at the line, then collapsed to the ground and panted heavily as she tried to get her breath back.

"I was in so much pain, I can hardly describe it, but I made it happen," Vollering said.

"This goes to prove that if you really believe in something, if you dream big, it doesn't matter how much risk you take or how much pain you have to go through."

Longo Borghini was second and Niewiadoma-Phinney was third, both 17 seconds behind. The day belonged to Vollering, who won the Giro d'Italia this year to complete the hat-trick of Grands Tour wins.

She is eight seconds ahead of Niewiadoma-Phinney, the 2024 champion, in the overall standings. The Polish rider took the yellow jersey with a brilliant solo win up Mont Ventoux a day earlier, and rode a yellow bike to go with it on Stage 8.

The 172km route from Sisteron to Nice on the south-east coast was mostly flat for sprinters but featured four minor climbs which made it a little more tricky.

With the main title contenders initially saving energy for tonight's tough-looking decisive stage in the hills around Nice, the yellow jersey group let Frenchwoman Maeva Squiban and Dutchwoman Loes Adegeest form a long breakaway.

Squiban slid off her bike heading into a turn on a downhill section and landed heavily on her left side. She had cuts and grazes and screamed in agony as a medic on a motorbike tried bandaging her arm while she was riding.

She carried on riding despite the pain while, up ahead, Adegeest was caught inside the last 9km.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt pulled out of the race shortly before the stage after feeling unwell.

The French rider's Visma-Lease a Bike team said on X that the decision to pull her out of the race was made after consultation with the team's medical staff.

The 2024 Paris Olympic champion in mountain biking won the Tour de France Femmes on her debut last year. But she struggled this year and was in 14th place overall before withdrawing.

The final stage tonight features four sharp climbs of Col d'Èze, which is nestled in the hills overlooking the tiny Principality of Monaco.

Two years ago, Niewiadoma-Phinney beat Vollering on a final day mountain stage to win the race by just four seconds.

Vollering will have to ensure it is not a case of déjà vu.

"Tomorrow's course is going to be super hard," she said.

"We knew it from the beginning of the Tour."