Home hero Ferrand-Prévot takes the lead in epic Tour de France climb
French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prévot climbed to a magnificent solo triumph at the women's Tour de France on Saturday to take over the lead of the race with one stage remaining.
Olympic mountain bike champion Ferrand-Prévot of Visma, who joined the road race scene last year, attacked from 10km out with huge crowds of home supporters on the mountainside cheering her along.
Visma rider Ferrand-Prévot now leads the overall standings by a comfortable 2 minutes and 37 seconds from Australia's Sarah Gigante, albeit with a last daunting mountain stage on Sunday to seal the deal.
"I just tried to go as fast as possible. If I came back to road cycling it was in an effort to win this race so I made the right choice," said the 33-year-old.
"I wanted to have as big a gap as possible, it's not over yet but I'm very happy with what we did today."
Last year's event had the smallest winning margin in the history of the women's and men's races, but Ferrand-Prévot looks like winning far more comfortably, barring mishap.
She won the mountain bike gold medal at last year's Paris Olympics and the Paris-Roubaix classic in April.
Gigante of AG was second atop la Madeleine at 1min 45sec, while LTK's Niamh Fisher-Black was third at 2min 15sec.
"I was dreaming of winning this race," said Gigante. "But Pauline was magnificent."
Overnight leader Kim Le Court-Pienaar sacrificed her ride to support Gigante.
No Frenchman has won the 21-day men's Tour de France since 1985 when Bernard Hinault won his fifth, now Ferrand-Prévot can become the first French rider to win the modern women's Tour de France in its fourth edition.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
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