Marianne Vos narrowly misses second stage win in Tour de France Femmes, but remains in yellow | Tour de France

In the final sprint Vos again seemed to be on her way to a stage win, but in the uphill sprint she was eventually beaten by the Danish champion. In the end, the difference between the riders was two seconds. Demi Vollering crossed the line six seconds later and finished eighth. Annemiek van Vleuten lost time in the general classification.

Vos attacked early in the stage, but was soon caught by the peloton again. The adventurers on the hunt for stage wins could not break even in the kilometers that followed. In the last kilometers Vollering, who belonged to the leading group, crashed in the descent due to slippery conditions. She then formed a group including Vos and together they fought back in the leading group.

Watch Vos’ reaction afterwards:

The Dutch rider of Jumbo-Visma eventually fell short in the final sprint, but that did not affect the standings in the general classification. Vos successfully defended her leader’s jersey and has a sixteen second gap to her closest pursuers. For a moment the yellow was virtually in the hands of Silvia Persico, but she was caught by Vos and associates seven kilometers before the end.

Afterwards, winner Ludwig appeared in front of the cameras in tears. ,,This feels like a comeback after yesterday’s bad day”, she refers to her crash and the dismounting of Marta Cavalli, who after a ‘idiotic action’ of Nicole Frain was ridden out of the Tour. “This just couldn’t get any better. I kept fighting until the end, what a victory. This victory is for my whole team, they kept believing in me. I love you.”

Femke Gerritse secured the polka dot jersey on the Côte du Mesnil-sur-Oger. Gerritse narrowly stayed ahead of Elise Chabbey after a fierce battle and now leads the mountains classification.