Germany’s top hope, Antonia Niedermaier, clearly missed out on a top-ten finish in the individual time trial at the Women’s Tour de France. The Giro d’Italia runner-up from Rosenheim finished 24th in the 21-kilometre time trial from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon, finishing 1 minute and 34 seconds behind the stage winner, Marlen Reusser from Switzerland.
Niedermaier, who had finished fourth in her strong Giro time trial at the start of June, nevertheless moved up to ninth place in the general classification. She is 1 minute and 43 seconds behind Reusser, who took over the yellow jersey from Norway’s Sigrid Haugset. In second place in the general classification, 14 seconds behind, is the Dutch top favourite Demi Vollering, who finished third in the time trial.
“The time trial was really tough. I really liked the climb, but with the tailwind and the downhill sections, it’s difficult for me to get my pacing right,” said Niedermaier on ARD, adding: “We had quite a strong tailwind, which meant the race became extremely fast. I could barely keep up with the pedalling. That makes it extremely difficult for riders like me.”
Last year’s winner, Ferrand-Prévot, is well behind
Meanwhile, for defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, the prospect of another victory has become a distant prospect. The Olympic mountain bike champion from Paris lost 2 minutes and 12 seconds, dropping well down the overall standings.
This means Ferrand-Prévot will have to mount a major comeback in the mountains. There are plenty of opportunities to do so, as the route becomes more mountainous over the next few days. The climb up to Mont Ventoux on Friday, in particular, is a real challenge.
But Wednesday also promises challenging terrain, with no fewer than eight mountain climbs to tackle along the 140-kilometre route from Macon to Belleville-en-Beaujolais.
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