Puck Pieterse has won the fourth stage of the Tour de France Femmes. After an incredibly entertaining Ardennes stage that led from the Netherlands to Belgium, the young Fenix-Deceuninck rider took the win in a millimetre sprint ahead of the yellow jersey wearer, Demi Vollering, who came second. Kasia Niewiadoma completed the podium.
With Vollering in the yellow leader’s jersey, the women’s peloton set off on a special stage on Wednesday afternoon. The fourth stage went from Valkenburg to Liège, two places known in the cycling world for the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège respectively. The stage can be seen as a kind of mix of these two spring classics: at the beginning, the riders had to tackle climbs such as the Cauberg and the Bemelerberg, while the second half of the stage included the legendary Redoute and the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons.
As expected, the main contenders for the stage win were either the strong climbers in the peloton (the general classification riders) or the classics specialists. Therefore, the focus was on what Vollering, Marianne Vos, Shirin van Anrooij and Kasia Niewiadoma would achieve. The stage itself started at a relatively steady pace, although the weather conditions were far from ideal. The peloton had to navigate semi-wet roads to reach the finish.
From the Amstel Gold Race to Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and all in wet conditions
The small climbs in South Limburg did not lead to any significant gaps. In fact, no real breakaway group formed. Only the brave Sara Martin (Movistar) dared to go out on the course alone. The 25-year-old Spaniard started a solo mission that seemed almost impossible. Her maximum lead during the transition phase from South Limburg to the Ardennes grew to around one and a half minutes, with SD Worx-Protime setting the pace in the peloton.
On the slopes of Mont-Theux – which were tackled after a significant delay due to a closed railway crossing – Sara Martin’s efforts ended. Her lead melted away due to the numerous pace changes in the peloton. Among those testing the pace was Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck), who kept attacking, probably hoping to wear the polka dot jersey for a few days like last year. This caused the rear peloton – or what was left of it – to fall apart. Even for riders like Lorena Wiebes, the pace was understandably too fast.
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Attention turned to the Redoute. Would it be a crash or not? As it turned out, it was. Puck Pieterse in particular was in top form and attacked frequently. Although there were no big gaps, many riders had to drop back. Only the true (shadow) favourites remained, although it was not yet at the limit. That it was not at the limit became clear when many riders who had fallen back rejoined on the descent of the Redoute, where it was Pieterse and not Kastelijn who took the entire mountain classification. Among those who rejoined were Fem van Empel and Riejanne Markus (both Visma | Lease a Bike).
Strong Pieterse collects mountain points, Vollering makes progress
After the Redoute came the Côte des Forges. Belgian rider Justine Ghekire (AG Insurance-Soudal) had her sights set on the mountain points on this climb. She succeeded, taking all the points and giving it her all at the summit, allowing her to build a considerable lead. Her lead remained at around twenty seconds for a long time while the peloton waited for the decisive Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons. There was a big selection battle. Vollering gave it her all and made it almost impossible to follow her. Only Niewiadoma, Pieterse and Pauliena Rooijakkers were able to keep up.
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So we had a leading group of four riders, as Ghekire had been caught and overtaken. Due to Vollering’s repeated accelerations, Rooijakkers also had to drop back, leaving a trio at the front. Remarkably, Pieterse had taken the last mountain points and thus secured the mountain jersey at the end of the stage. Was there perhaps more to be expected from the cyclocross phenomenon?
Pieterse or Vollering? Suspense until the last second
Pieterse, Niewiadoma and Vollering got on well and quickly built up a 25 second lead over the chasing group. They worked well together, making it increasingly likely that a sprint between the three would decide the stage win.
As the finish line approached, the cooperation at the front remained strong. This meant that a sprint would determine the winner. In the completely rain-soaked streets of Liège, Niewiadoma launched an attack with 750 meters to go. Vollering had to close the gap while Pieterse decided to take a risk. The Polish rider was caught, resulting in a sprint. Pieterse emerged from Vollering’s slipstream and seemed on her way to victory, although the yellow jersey wearer made a strong comeback. What followed was a thrilling millimeter sprint. For a long time it was unclear who had won, but in the end Pieterse was declared the winner. In addition to the stage win and the mountains jersey, she also secured the young rider’s jersey!
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Results Stage 4 Tour de France Femmes 2024
Results provided by FirstCycling.com
