After five stages of sprints and hilly profiles, today it was finally time to enter the mountains in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
With 32 km to go on stage 6, UAE-ADQ’s Maeva Squiban attacked from the yellow jersey group, building a minute lead as she crested the category 2 Col du Chansert 3km later.
As the GC group chased, the young French rider proved too strong to track back down. At only 23, she goes one better than her previous best result in the Tour and cements herself in the history books.
Behind, Juliette Labous, who attacked on the descent, held on for second place, 1:09 back, while race leader Kim Le Court won the bunch sprint over Demi Vollering for third place and the crucial bonus seconds on offer.
That plus a mid-stage bonus sees Le Court extend her overall lead over Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to 26 seconds. Kasia Niewiadoma is now third overall, 30 seconds back, with Vollering another second behind. So far, bonus seconds are proving decisive in the GC as we enter the final act of the race.