Demi Vollering (FDJ United Suez) wanted the yellow jersey at all costs and today she took it in spectacular fashion, winning the eighth stage of the Tour de France Femmes with the finish in Nice. The decisive moment came with an attack on the final climb of the day positioned 6 km from the finish line. The European champion initially stayed with only Elisa Longo Borghini and Kasia Niewiadoma before continuing solo. Another great day for the Italian champion who appeared among the most brilliant climbers and finished in second position.

THE RACE. After the exhaustion of Mont Ventoux, the athletes had very little time to catch their breath. Today saw the longest stage of the Tour de France Femmes. 172 km from Sisteron to Nice, featuring 1420 m of elevation gain and a series of climbs in the final 20 km. The day opened with news of Pauline Ferrand Prevot's withdrawal. The defending Tour de France champion definitively threw in the towel after some truly complicated days.

The breakaway formed after about ten kilometers and saw Maeva Squiban (UAE L'imad) and Loes Adegeest (Lidl Trek) on the attack. The two athletes managed to build a lead of over 6 minutes, while various other athletes attempted to chase them down without succeeding. Approximately 40 km from the finish, we witnessed a powerful acceleration from the peloton by the Ag Insurance and Liv Alula Jayco teams, who recovered more and more ground.

On the descent after the Cote de Colomars, positioned 17 km from the finish, Maeva Squiban crashed heavily and Loes Adegeest remained alone at the front, trying to resist the peloton's chase. On the Ginestiere climb, the FDJ United team went into action and caught up with the breakaway rider 9 km from the finish. The high pace reduced the peloton to around fifteen athletes and also put Lorena Wiebes out of contention. The excellent work by the French team set up Demi Vollering's attack on the final climb of the day, positioned 6 km from the finish, where she launched a series of attacks. Initially only Elisa Longo Borghini and Kasia Niewiadoma managed to stay with the European champion, who then dropped them at the top of the climb.

The final kilometers were nothing short of thrilling, with Longo Borghini and Niewiadoma chasing Vollering, who pedal after pedal increased her advantage and managed to cross the finish line solo.

With one stage remaining, the battle for the final victory is more open than ever. Currently, Demi Vollering leads the general classification by 8 seconds over Kasia Niewiadoma, who will have one final day to try to reclaim the yellow jersey. The final stage starting and finishing in Nice features 99 km of truly eventful racing, a circuit to be repeated 4 times with the Col d'Eze 7.7 km at 5.9%. A challenging course with 2175 m of elevation gain that could completely overturn the situation.

FINISHING ORDER

1  Vollering Demi FDJ United-SUEZ 04:02:39

2  Longo Borghini Elisa UAE Team L'IMAD + 17

3  Niewiadoma-Phinney Katarzyna CANYON//SRAM + 17

4  Le Court Kim AG Insurance-Soudal Team + 38

5  Kopecky Lotte Team SD Worx-Protime + 38

6  Wlodarczyk Dominika UAE Team L'IMAD + 38

7  Van Dam Sarah Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 38

8  Rüegg Noemi EF Education-Oatly + 38

9  Blasi Paula UAE Team L'IMAD + 38

10 Kerbaol Cédrine EF Education-Oatly + 38