Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney recalls ‘unforgettable' 2024 Tour de France Femmes win
Niewiadoma-Phinney started the stage to Alpe d'Huez with an advantage of one minute 15 seconds over pre-race favourite Demi Vollering, but the Dutchwoman attacked on the Col du Glandon, building a lead of over a minute on her way to the stage win.
A post shared by Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@letourfemmes)
When the calculations were done, Niewiadoma-Phinney had won by just four seconds – the smallest margin of victory in the history of the women's or the men's Tour de France.
'It was euphoric and unforgettable,' the Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto rider told the PA news agency. 'I think it's proof of hard work and persistence and never giving up.
'I was lucky. I didn't have to go through all the nerves and second counting. I was just doing my best. I was just on the bike fighting for my life.
'It's fun listening to people's stories, what they went through watching the race and how it affected them and how they were able to resonate with the pain I was experiencing.'
Victory in the biggest race on the calendar was a major breakthrough for the 30-year-old, who was third in both 2022 and 2023, in keeping with a career in which she has always been a major contender but rarely on the top step herself.
'For many years there were many occasions where I knew I was the strongest, I was making others suffer, but I was not able to finish it because in racing…there are so many variables and different factors,' she said.
'I feel like I always had confidence…because I knew I could make them suffer, but something else had to happen for me to cross the finish line first. I was never hard on myself because I knew the reality.'
Niewiadoma-Phinney was crowned Polish champion in late June, but her 2025 season has been hampered since a heavy crash at Strade Bianche in March. It was not until the Tour de Suisse that she showed real form with third place overall.
The last few weeks have been spent at altitude camp in Andorra, making the final preparations for her title defence.
Many riders struggle with the isolation of these remote training camps, but not Niewiadoma-Phinney.
'It's not the lifestyle I want to continue for the rest of my life, but when I have a big goal I'm more than happy to dive into this monk's lifestyle,' she said. 'When you do that, you see the progress quickly.'
This year's Tour has grown to nine stages, starting in Vannes on Saturday and heading east across France to a conclusion in the Alps.
Memories of last year will fuel Niewiadoma-Phinney's search for more glory.
'Celebrations like that really make you tremble,' she said. 'I feel like we are hungry for more.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Tour de France Femmes: Squiban sends home fans wild with second stage win
Maëva Squiban fuelled joyous scenes in the Haute-Savoie, winning the first high mountain stage of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes in Chambéry, just 24 hours after taking victory in stage six in Ambert. The French rider, who celebrated draped in a Breton flag, was part of a 13-rider breakaway that splintered on the first climb, the Côte de Saint-Franc, and then gradually dwindled as the gradients started to bite. Squiban, a former French junior champion when 15 years old, finally shed her last companion, Mareille Meijering, 2km from the top of the Col du Granier and accelerated clear alone. 'At the start, I made a joke about attacking again,' she said, 'but in the end it wasn't a joke.' On the fast descent of the Granier, overlooking Chambéry, Squiban, nudging 80km/h on the narrow road, again held off the pursuing group of race favourites, including the defending champion, Kasia Niewiadoma, and rival Demi Vollering, to take successive stage wins. Further down the Granier, Kim Le Court's time in yellow appeared to have come to an end when the group of favourites picked up the pace, and her closest rival, France's Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, briefly became race leader on the road. But Le Court was saved by her fearless descending. The Mauritian did not panic and her dogged pursuit of the group containing Niewiadoma, Vollering and Ferrand-Prévot paid off when she rejoined them close to the finish. 'I think I almost died a few times on the descent,' Le Court said. 'The last 4km of the uphill were difficult. My body just completely shut off. Once I got to the top, I knew I had to do the best downhill of my life to try and come back. I did a recon of the descent a few weeks ago so I knew what was coming, and I just had to go full gas. I think I went 10 times faster than the recon.' Meanwhile, on the eve of the toughest mountain stage in the race, Ferrand-Prévot's drastic weight loss was the subject of some scrutiny after images of her racing jersey, pinned at the sleeve so it didn't hang loosely, emerged in the Dutch media. The debate has been fuelled by comments made by French rider Cédrine Kerbaol who, alarmed by the weight loss among her peers, told French media: 'We're in a dangerous moment. There are a lot of people that have won big races with very low weight, and young girls, who are trying to perform, will take them as an example. What's happening is not great.' 'Top-level sport is extreme in every way,' Rutger Tijssen, sport technical manager at Ferrand-Prévot's Visma-Lease a Bike team, told Sporza. On SaturdayToday, when the women's peloton will tackle both the 13km-long Col de Plainpalais and, later, a summit finish on the 'beyond category' Col de la Madeleine – an 18.6km climb to 2,000m – power-to-weight ratios will be pivotal. 'Pauline's leaner than in the spring,' Tijssen said, 'but this also requires different things when you have to climb the Col de la Madeleine. Then it's logical that you adapt.' Ferrand-Prévot won the Olympic mountain bike title at Paris 2024 but has since devoted herself to road racing with the goal of winning the Tour de France Femmes. 'She's not much leaner than she was a year ago,' Tijssen said. 'Of course, she stays healthy. You know what's happening and you make choices, which we monitor.' The next 48 hours will decide the outcome of the race, which includes summit finishes on the Madeleine and at Châtel, as well as the daunting climb of the Col de Joux Plane on Sunday. Only 35 seconds currently separate the top five in the overall standings, but with more than 6,000 metres of climbing still to come, those gaps are certain to widen.
BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
Ineos carer facing doping probe worked at Man Utd
The Ineos Grenadiers staff member who left the Tour de France after being asked to speak to the International Testing Agency (ITA) about doping allegations relating to the 2012 season worked at Manchester United last cycling team confirmed David Rozman had received an interview request from the ITA after initially being contacted in April, and "stepped back" from Tour duties last Slovenian is one of Ineos' soigneurs, a role that involves working as an assistant to riders and providing a range of services from logistics to has now emerged Rozman worked alongside United's soft tissue therapists for a one month placement in 2024 as part of a 'knowledge exchange' after Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe became co-owner of the Sport has been told United had no knowledge of the recently published historic allegations and insiders claim they have no involvement in declined to comment. Ineos have been approached for comment. Ineos Grenadiers, then known as Team Sky, won the 2012 Tour de France, with Britain's Bradley Wiggins claiming the yellow jersey, and the team went on to win six of the next seven editions of the cycling team has confirmed that Rozman was informally contacted in April 2025 by a member of ITA staff, who asked him about alleged historical communications, claiming that it then commissioned a review by an external law a statement at the time it said: "The team has acted responsibly and with due process, taking the allegations seriously whilst acknowledging that David is a long-standing, dedicated member of the team."The team continues to assess the circumstances and any relevant developments, and has formally requested any relevant information from the ITA. To date the team has received no evidence from any relevant authority."Both David and the team will of course co-operate with the ITA and any other authority."Earlier in July, the Irish Independent reported that in 2012, Rozman had exchanged messages with convicted German doping doctor Mark Schmidt.A documentary by German TV company ARD also linked Ineos to Schmidt but did not name the staff member 2021, Schmidt was sentenced to four years and 10 months in jail after being convicted of administering illegal blood transfusions to athletes within cycling and a number of other sports as part of Operation contacted by BBC Sport, the ITA said its investigations are "conducted confidentially" and "outcomes may only be shared if and when it yields the pursuit of one or more anti-doping rule violations."In June, Ineos director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford scaled back his involvement with Manchester United, having previously played a key role in football stepped down as team principal of Ineos Grenadiers after Ratcliffe acquired his stake in United but has returned to a key role at the cycling team and was present at this year's Tour de 61-year-old oversaw a sustained period of success at British Cycling and Team Sky and became synonymous with the 'marginal gains' his career has involved several controversies. Dr Richard Freeman - the former chief medic at both British Cycling and Team Sky - was banned from all sport for four years for violating anti-doping rules in August 2018, Brailsford appeared before a parliamentary committee to answer questions on the contents of a mystery "jiffy bag" Freeman had instructed be delivered to Wiggins before a 2011 race, amid an allegation it contained the banned anti-inflammatory drug followed the revelation Wiggins received therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) for triamcinolone to treat asthma and allergies shortly before three major and Brailsford maintained the bag contained legal flu medication, and ultimately a parliamentary committee said it was unable to determine what was inside the jiffy a final report in 2018, the MPs accused Team Sky of "crossing an ethical line" in its use of TUEs more British Cycling, Team Sky and Ineos have always denied any wrongdoing.
BBC News
14 hours ago
- BBC News
Where is the next British and Irish Lions tour?
The next men's British and Irish Lions tour will take place in New Zealand in 2029, with the potential for a warm-up match in Las inaugural women's tour in 2027 will see the side visit New Zealand to play three Test matches against the Black Lions will also play pre-Test fixtures on both tours, although full schedules have not been tours feature squads made up of players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and the men's tours have taken place since men currently tour New Zealand, South Africa and Australia on a four-year last men's tour in 2017 against the All Blacks finished in a 1-1 series draw, with the third Test in Auckland ending 15-15. Viva Lions Vegas? Las Vegas is one of several cities in the United States under consideration to host a landmark warm-up match in 2029.A stop in the USA would break up the journey to New Zealand - the most distant of the Lions' three touring about the prospect, Lions chief executive Ben Calveley said: "The kinds of countries we've talked about include North America, everybody in rugby is interested in breaking through in that market."The fixture could form part of a series of events to build interest in rugby union in the run-up to the 2031 and 2033 Rugby World Cups in America. Could the Lions tour France in the future? The French Rugby Federation says it has also held conversations with Lions officials about warm-up matches before the 2027 and 2029 has been flagged as a future series option due to the strength of their national and club sides, the popularity of the sport among the French public, and the relative affordability for travelling Lions vice-president Abdelatif Benazzi said: "I think we can build something for the long term. We start with this, but I don't want it to be just one shot."The Lions have not played France since 1989 in a fixture arranged to celebrate 200 years since the French asked about the prospect, Calveley said: "You can certainly understand why people will get excited about that sort of concept [a series in France]."What's not to like about some of those wonderful clubs you could play against and some of those wonderful venues in the summer as well?" This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team. What is Ask Me Anything? Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio. More questions answered... What was the best winning Lions tour?Who has scored the most points for the British and Irish Lions?Why do the British and Irish Lions wear red jerseys?
