Winner Reusser completed the 21-kilometre race in 27 minutes and 30 seconds, covering the route from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon at an average speed of 45.8 km/h. This put her four seconds ahead of the surprise runner-up, Lieke Nooijen (Team Visma | Lease a Bike). Demi Vollering (FDJ United - SUEZ) finished third, 17 seconds behind. As her supposed main rival for the Tour victory, Ferrand-Prévot, took 2 minutes and 13 seconds longer than Reusser and thus finished only 34th, Vollering is now in an excellent position in the battle for the 2026 overall victory.

The individual time trial on this stage took place under conditions that were not exactly straightforward. Whilst the conditions were essentially the same for everyone, they were different from those during the morning’s training session. The wind had changed direction. The first, uphill section of the course had to be tackled into a headwind, whilst on the long descent towards the finish in the second half of the course, the wind was coming from behind. This did not make the situation any easier, particularly for the absolute lightweights such as Ferrand-Prévot.

Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L’IMAD / +1:02 min) finished tenth, Kasia Niewiadoma (CANYON//SRAM / +1:08) came 13th, and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx - Protime / +1:10) right behind her, the other contenders for the podium all finished within a similar time range. Thanks to her strong time trial, Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly / +0:54) also joins this group.

Koch is the top German ahead of Niedermaier

The top German rider was Franziska Koch (FDJ United - SUEZ / +1:27) 20. Antonia Niedermaier (CANYON//SRAM), on the other hand, failed to quite live up to expectations and had to settle for 24th place, 1 minute and 35 seconds behind Reusser.

In the overall standings, however, Niedermaier still managed to break into the top 10 and is currently ninth, 1 minute and 43 seconds behind Reusser, who has now won a Tour stage for the third time overall but is wearing the yellow jersey for the first time. “Yellow like mustard,” said Reusser at the finish line, referring to the destination and the local speciality associated with it. “This is the first time I’ve approached the Tour as the highlight of the season. I’ve prepared accordingly. That’s why we’ve been talking about ‘Project Dijon’ for a long time,” said the 34-year-old.

Reusser now takes a 14-second lead over Vollering into the upcoming stages, with the day on Mont Ventoux and the final stage set to pose the greatest challenges for the Swiss rider. Kerbaol is third, 54 seconds behind, followed by Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility), who started the race in the yellow jersey after her stage win the previous day but, as expected, was unable to defend her lead. Behind them are Longo Borghini, Niewiadoma, Paula Blasi (UAE Team L’IMAD), who is wearing the white jersey, van der Breggen and Niedermaier.

2026 Tour de France Femmes – Results of Stage 4

Here’s how Stage 4 of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes unfolded

138 women set off on the time trial of the fourth stage. Starting in reverse order of the general classification was the Mexican Romina Hinojosa from Team Lotto Intermarché Ladies, a team already battered by four withdrawals. She was followed by Hannah Ludwig (Cofidis Women Team). The German took it very slowly – in the end, she finished last, more than six minutes behind Reusser.

The first fast time was set by one of the three remaining Lotto riders. Sandrine Tas clocked 28:49 minutes and managed to stay in the lead until her Belgian compatriot Lotto Claes (Fenix-Premier Tech), who had started in 48th place, was around 20 seconds faster. After that, it took a rider of Lieke Nooijen’s calibre to improve on that time. The Dutchwoman, who ultimately finished second, did so by almost a minute. Nooijen had started the race in 70th place.

Only the winner, Reusser, managed to beat that time. At the split time after the climb, it still looked as though it would be a clear victory for the favourite from Switzerland. She already had a 19-second lead there. The descent in the second section should have worked even more in her favour. In fact, however, most of the women who ultimately finished among the top in the day’s results made up time on the world time trial champion there. Nooijen made up so much time that it turned into a close race in the end. Nevertheless, Reusser still had a four-second lead at the finish.