France's Maeva Squiban wins second straight Tour de France Femmes stage on final climb
The 23-year-old attacked on the upper slopes of the Col du Granier (8.9km at 5.4 per cent) on Friday, local time, to reach the finish of the hilly stage alone, which lifted the UAE Team ADQ rider to second in the polka dot jersey standings, level on 17 points with Dutchwoman Silke Smulders.
"Honestly, winning once on the Tour is already huge and now a second win … It was an incredible day. I think it was one of the hardest days of my life, mentally as well as physically. But you have to give everything," Squiban said.
"On the last climb, I just wanted to lie down on the ground, and by the end, I think for the last 15 kilometres, I was barely present — I couldn't hear anything in my ear."
Do you have a story idea about women in sport?
Email us abcsport5050@your.abc.net.au
It was another French one-two as Cedrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) crossed the line 51 seconds behind Squiban to take second place, and American Ruth Edwards claimed third.
Australia's Sarah Gigante came 16th on the stage, 1 minute 11 seconds behind the stage winner.
She now sits in eight place in the overall standings, 1:14 behind the yellow jersey, Mauritian rider Kimberley Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal).
A 17-rider breakaway had lit up the 159.7km stage from Bourg-en-Bresse, with Fiona Mangan (Winspace Orange Seal) becoming the first Irish rider to win an intermediate sprint at the Tour.
The move split on the Cote de Saint-Franc before Squiban's decisive attack on the final climb. Le Court Pienaar lost ground on the Granier but finished sixth to retain the yellow jersey.
Le Court is ahead of Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Visma-Lease a Bike) by 26 seconds and Poland's Katarzyna Niewiadoma Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) by 30 seconds.
Mountains classification leader Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) endured a difficult day and was distanced from the peloton before Squiban's climb.
Saturday's mountain stage will be from Chambery to Saint-Francois-Longchamp.
Reuters/ABC
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Australian
7 hours ago
- The Australian
Meg Harris wins 50m freestyle gold at World Swimming Championships
Australian sprinter Meg Harris gambled on herself and came up a world champion. The 23-year-old was one of the big underdog stories of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, bolting from an outside lane to claim a shock silver medal in the 50m freestyle. Inspired by that moment and the success of Australia's unique sprint king Cameron McEvoy, Harris decided to all but shelve the 100m event and focus on being a pure sprinter. It was a huge risk, given she had collected two Olympic and five world titles gold medals by being part of a relay ensemble with her 100m strength, but Harris knew she had potential to stand atop the podium on her own if she went all in on the 50m. Meg Harris celebrates after winning the women's 50m freestyle final. Picture: AFP) So committed was Harris to her new life as a one-lap specialist, she pulled out of the 100m event after swimming a heat at the national trials and coaches needed to twist her arm just to line up for the 4x100m freestyle relay on the opening night of these world titles where she also won a gold medal. But Harris has proven she could have her cake and eat it too. Harris executed a near-perfect race to take Australia's eighth gold medal of the world titles, with a stunning start and underwater to come up clearly ahead of the field and hold on to win in 24.02 seconds from China's Qingfeng Wu (24.26s) and Yujie Cheng (24.28s). She is Australia's first women's 50m freestyle world champion in a decade, joining Bronte Campbell as a one-lap hero after she won the title in Kazan in 2015. It also means Australia boasts the fastest man and woman in the world after Cameron McEvoy also won the 50m freestyle earlier in the meet. Meg Harris was part of five world championship-winning relay teams, with this her first individual title. Picture: AFP 'I still don't have the words to process this, but this is a dream,' Harris said. 'I felt really good the first 15m and that's been my weakness so far. I knew if I got that right I just had to hold on.' Harris said she made the bold call to focus on the 50m after struggling to get back into the grind of swimming life post Paris. 'It was a bit of a tough one. I felt such a high coming off that, and then starting out this year I had to find a new motivation, not just coming in and doing the exact same thing,' she explained. 'I tried for the first couple months, but something just wasn't working. I needed to find a new way to do it. So I stripped everything back and started with the basics, all the things… like the reasons I started swimming. I love sprinting, I love racing. 'So we just took that all back, did everything that I love. I'm excited now to put together the rest when I get home. But yeah, cannot be happier.' Meg Harris takes off, on her way to a world championships gold medal. Picture: Getty Images In a post-Olympic year Australia's eight gold medals is perhaps a stronger return than expected for a swim team that was tipped to struggle with Ariarne Titmus taking the year off, Zac Stubblety-Cook out injured and Olympic great Emma McKeon retired. But it is one more gold medal than the Dolphins secured at the Paris Olympics and importantly there were fresh faces like Harris showing they were ready to stand up as individuals in the path towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Meg Harris reacts after winning the women's 50m freestyle final. Picture: AFP The emergence of Lani Pallister as a serious threat to Katie Ledecky in the 800m freestyle, the arrival of Alexandria Perkins as a 50m-100m butterfly medallist and the 'dirty gold' Harrison Turner in the 200m butterfly have given Australian optimism about regenerating a swim team that is still powered by greats like Kaylee McKeown, Mollie O'Callaghan, Cameron McEvoy and Kyle Chalmers. While it wasn't quite the 13 gold medal haul from Fukuoka's 2023 world titles, the signs are promising enough that the Dolphins are keeping the US swim team honest in the medal table battle ahead of their home Games in three years. Sam Short climbed out of his sick bed just three days after a horrendous bout of gastro for a gallant fourth place in the 1500m freestyle final in 14:43,06. Samuel Short was fourth in the 1500m freestyle final. Picture: AFP 'I just wanted to get out there and see how hard I could push myself,' he said. 'I was pretty sick three days ago ... fourth I will take that. 'I didn't have to do the 1500 but there was no way I would sit in the stands without giving it a crack.' Jenna Forrester secured a shock silver medal in the women's 400m medley, fighting back over the final 25m to deadheat for second behind Canada's superstar Summer McIntosh who won in 4:25.78 for her fourth gold medal of the titles. Jenna Forrester shared silver behind Summer McIntosh in the women's 400m medley. Picture: Getty Images Forrester looked to be battling to hold on for bronze when she turned third at the 350m mark, but somehow found another gear down the final lap to tie for second with Japan's Mio Narita in 4:33.26. That final lap surge also denied China's 12-year-old Yu Zidi an individual medal, she touched fourth in 4:33.76. 'I feel like from 2023 it's been such a hard battle, to be up on the podium I am so stoked,' Forrester said. The battle to see which nation wins the medal tally came down to the final event of the world titles - with USA and Australia both tied with eight gold medals ahead of the women's 400m medley. In the end it was the US team, powered by a dominant breaststroke leg by Kate Douglass, that won comprehensively in a new world record time of 3:49.34 ahead of Australia in silver in 3:52.67. It meant Australia ended the meet ranked No.2 on the leaderboard with eight gold, six silver and six bronze medals, behind the United States with nine gold, 11 silver and nine bronze medals. Todd Balym Codes Editor Todd Balym is the Codes team editor leading the team of reporters covering all the non-footy sports. He is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years experience in media and covered major sporting events around the world including three Olympic Games. Todd Balym
The Australian
7 hours ago
- The Australian
Prosecutors call for PSG's Achraf Hakimi to face rape trial
French prosecutors on Friday called for Paris Saint-Germain star Achraf Hakimi to face trial for the alleged rape of a woman in 2023 which the Moroccan international denies. The Nanterre prosecutor's office told AFP that they had requested that the investigating judge refer the rape charge to a criminal court. "It is now up to the investigating magistrate to make a decision within the framework of his order," the prosecutor's office told AFP in a statement. Hakimi, 26, played a major role in PSG's run to their first Champions League title, the full-back scoring the opener in the 5-0 rout of Inter Milan in the final in May. Hakimi, who helped Morocco to their historic run to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, was charged in March, 2023 with raping a 24-year-old woman. Hakimi allegedly paid for his accuser to travel to his home on February 25, 2023, in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt while his wife and children were away on holiday. The woman went to a police station following the encounter alleging rape and was questioned by police. Although the woman refused to make a formal accusation, prosecutors decided to press charges against the player. She told police at the time that she had met Hakimi in January 2023 on Instagram. On the night in question she said she had travelled to his house in a taxi paid for by Hakimi. She told police Hakimi had started kissing her and making non consensual sexual advances, before raping her, a police source told AFP at the time. She said she managed to break free to text a friend who came to pick her up. Contacted by AFP after Friday's development Hakimi's lawyer Fanny Colin described the call by prosecutors for a trial as "incomprehensible and senseless in light of the case's elements". "We, along with Achraf Hakimi, remain as calm as we were at the start of the proceedings. "If these requisitions were to be followed, we would obviously pursue all avenues of appeal," she added. "My client welcomes this news with immense relief," Rachel-Flore Pardo, the lawyer representing the woman, told AFP. Hakimi, born in Madrid, came through the youth system at Real Madrid before joining Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund in 2018. He went on to make 73 appearances for the German club. He moved to Inter Milan in 2020 and then on to PSG in 2021 where he has established himself as an integral part of the team. In Qatar, Hakimi was a cornerstone of the Morocco team that became the first African or Arab nation to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup. adr/asl/nr/ea Breaking News Trump envoy's visit will be 'important', Moscow says Breaking News Tycoon who brought F1 to Singapore pleads guilty in graft case
The Australian
15 hours ago
- The Australian
AFL: Logan Morris earns praise from Brisbane stalwart Dayne Zorko
Lions veteran Dayne Zorko has lavished praise on teammate Logan Morris after the young forward's six-goal haul against Collingwood. Morris, 20, was instrumental as Brisbane bounced back from a poor display in the previous week's QClash against the Gold Coast to beat the Magpies by 27 points at the MCG on Saturday night. '(Morris) reads the ball so well,' Zorko told SENQ Breakfast. 'For a 20-year-old, he's just so ahead of the game in that area. He's phenomenal. 'His ability to read the play is just incredible.' Morris has now kicked 40 goals this season, and his weekend performance was the third time he had booted five or more six-pointers in a game. Lions forward Logan Morris celebrates after booting one of his six goals in Brisbane's weekend win over Collingwood. Picture: James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images 'We had a clear plan that we wanted to give our forwards as much of an opportunity deep as possible,' Zorko said. 'He (Morris) got out the back a couple of times and got some good goals, but most importantly was his finishing in front of 82,000 fans. 'Collingwood supporters are a different beast. They're yelling and screaming.' Zorko said the win against the team that topped the table before the start of the round would give reigning premiers Brisbane 'a lot of confidence going forward'. 'To put in a performance like that and bounce back was great,' he said. 'Before the game I had a rough idea that it looked like we were on again.' The Lions, who host Sydney on Saturday in a rematch of last year's grand final, are in third place on the ladder, two points adrift of Adelaide and the Magpies. Marco Monteverde Sports reporter Marco Monteverde is a Brisbane-based sports reporter for NCA Newswire. He worked in a similar role for The Courier-Mail from 2007 to 2020. During a journalism career of more than 25 years, he has also worked for The Queensland Times, The Sunshine Coast Daily, The Fraser Coast Chronicle and The North West Star. He has covered three FIFA World Cups and the 2000 Sydney Olympics, as well as a host of other major sporting events in Australia and around the world. @marcothejourno Marco Monteverde
