On a sunbaked afternoon on one of professional cycling’s most legendary climbs, Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney delivered a career-defining performance Friday, attacking early up the brutal slopes of Mont Ventoux to secure her first-ever stage win at the Women’s Tour de France and leapfrog Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser to take the overall general classification lead with just two stages remaining in the 2024 race.
Niewiadoma-Phinney, who claimed the overall 2024 Tour title earlier this year without winning a single individual stage, broke away from the leading group of contenders approximately nine kilometers from the barren, moon-like summit of the Hors Catégorie (highest difficulty) climb, which averages a near-9% gradient. 2023 Tour champion Demi Vollering and former leader Reusser could not match her blistering pace, as the Polish rider held off all chasers through a strong headwind in the final kilometers to cross the line first, arms raised in triumph.
Exhausted from her all-out effort, Niewiadoma-Phinney nearly lost her balance after crossing the finish line and required assistance dismounting her bike. She later collapsed onto the roadside, pouring cold water over her head to cool down as she processed her breakthrough win, tears welling as she was fitted with the race’s coveted yellow overall leader jersey. She now holds a 15-second lead over second-place Vollering and a 39-second advantage over Reusser heading into the race’s final weekend.
In a post-stage interview, Niewiadoma-Phinney shared that an unexpected encounter with her family midway up the climb gave her the extra push she needed to secure victory. “When I started climbing I looked to the right and I saw my parents standing on the roadside. They came today by surprise. I saw my father yelling for me and I thought I had to make him proud,” she said.
The winner, who is married to former professional men’s Tour sprinter Taylor Phinney, also explained that a personal connection to Mont Ventoux fueled her ambition to win on the iconic climb. She recalled visiting the ascent in the off-season with her husband and friends, riding to the top three times just for the joy of the challenge. “From that moment, I just wanted to experience that feeling again. The pure joy of riding, as if I was a kid,” she added. “I never chase victories for the sake of winning, I target them because I like this beautiful feeling I have right now.”
Vollering, the 2023 overall champion, put in a strong performance to finish second on the stage, dropping Reusser in the final kilometers of the 15.7-kilometer ascent to move into second place overall. Two-time Giro d’Italia winner Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy took third place on the stage, while former race leader Reusser, the reigning world time trial champion, crossed the line in fourth, ceding the yellow jersey after a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful defense.
Mont Ventoux holds a unique place in Tour de France history, having been featured multiple times in the men’s race, and it carries somber historical context: it was on this climb that British rider Tom Simpson collapsed and died during the 1967 Tour, one of the darkest tragedies in the race’s history.
With the race now moving into its final weekend, the general classification remains tightly contested. Saturday’s eighth stage is a flat 172-kilometer route tailored for sprinters, finishing in the coastal French city of Nice. Sunday will bring a decisive final mountain stage, featuring four sharp climbs up Col d’Èze, which overlooks Monaco. This is not the first time Niewiadoma-Phinney has entered the final stage with a narrow lead over Vollering: two years ago, she defeated Vollering on the final day to win the overall race by a margin of just four seconds, setting the stage for another dramatic finale to this year’s competition.