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Gallery: Two dramatic days as the Tour de France Femmes passes through Belgium
Wet weather, young riders prevailing, and a decisive crash – stages 4 and 5 of the Tour de France Femmes had plenty of action for our photographers to capture.
The 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift began with three stages over two hot days in the north of the Netherlands, with local riders taking all stages on offer (plus the GC each day). But when the race headed south into Belgium on stage 4, the next phase of the race began.
There’d be another Dutch winner on stage 4 (Puck Pieterse) and Demi Vollering would extend her overall lead, but the move into Belgium saw the race take on a noticeably different complexion. Flat roads were traded out for the hills of Classics country, hot weather became rain, and real gaps started to open up in the GC.
And then on stage 5, with the race moving from Belgium into France, a late crash turned the Tour on its head.
In this gallery, we look back over stages 4 and 5 of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes, as captured by Ashley and Jered Gruber. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our gallery from the opening three stages.
Here’s an easy one: whose hands are these?Kristen Faulkner, too, has some fancy nails for this TDFF, not to mention her US national champ’s bike and kit.The ever-popular Alison Jackson signs some autographs at the start of stage 4.Speaking of popular: no one’s got more eyes on them at the start of a Tour stage than the maillot jaune.Stage 4 started in Valkenberg, in the Netherlands, and took riders into Belgium.The stage was a real nod to the Spring Classics, with the start of the race visiting climbs made popular by Amstel Gold Race, and the finale being essentially a carbon copy of the end of Liège-Bastogne-Liège.The roads were slick as the riders made their way south into Belgium.Several riders tried their hand at getting away throughout, including Belgium’s Justine Ghekiere.The decisive move would come on the final categorised climb of the day – the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons – with Kasia Niewiadoma (left), being joined by two Fenix-Deceuninck riders – Pauliena Rooijakkers (front) and Puck Pieterse.Oh, and overall leader, Demi Vollering, too.It was carnage behind, with the race splitting to pieces.Soon enough it was just Niewiadoma, Vollering, and Pieterse out front …… as a strong chase group gave pursuit (ultimately without success).It was soggy at the finish in Liège where Niewiadoma attacked just before the sprint …… before Pieterse surged to the front. Vollering made her move late …… and it was very close on the line, with officials taking some minutes to decide who had won.In the end the win went to Pieterse – her first professional road victory in her first-ever stage race –but Vollering wasn’t too disappointed.While she would have preferred to win, the Dutchwoman managed to extend her overall lead over her biggest rivals. Plus she was happy to see her young compatriot win.Stage 5 began in Bastogne and headed, finally, towards France.While it didn’t feature the same iconic climbs as the previous day, stage 5 had more climbing and was a day where anything could happen.In this cracking shot from the Grubers we see the main breakaway of the day. From front to back: Loes Adegeest, Fem van Empel, and Julie Van de Velde.It took until stage 5 of eight but the Tour de France Femmes is now in France.The break rode well, but were ultimately doomed. Even a big crash in the main peloton with 6 km to go couldn’t stop the trio being caught. Ultimately it was a group of five that made it through the carnage unscathed, caught and passed the leaders …… then duked it out for the stage win. Liane Lippert (back left) opened up the sprint early …… and was passed by Niewiadoma (back left) and young Hungarian talent Blanka Vas.Vas took the stage win in what was a bittersweet day for her SD Worx-Protime team.Race leader Vollering went down heavily in the late crash and didn’t get as much team support as she might have in the chase back.What a difference a day makes. Pieterse also went down in the late crash, missing her chance of moving into yellow. She said afterwards: “Now I have some extra nice red things [abrasions] to add to my polka dot jersey.”Niewiadoma came to check on Vollering after the finish.The defending champion lost 1:47 on the stage and dropped to ninth overall.She certainly wasn’t the only one left battered and bruised after the stage.For Blanka Vas, though, it was a day to remember. She said post-race that she’d felt ordinary all day so she was suprised to have a chance to sprint for victory. Winning a stage of the Tour will go some way to salving the frustration of just missing an Olympic medal recently.And for Kasia Niewiadoma, she now leads the Tour de France Femmes, after two third-place finishes in the race’s first two editions. Three stages remain, including two mountain-top finishes, and the big question is: how will Vollering’s crash affect her climbing ability? Can she pull back a deficit that is now 1:19 to Niewiadoma, or will the Polish rider win the Tour de France Femmes?
