Tour de France Femmes: Vollering takes yellow jersey ahead of final stage thriller

The Tour de France Femmes is heading for a nail-biting finish, with Dutch favorite Demi Vollering seizing the yellow jersey on the penultimate stage. Vollering now holds an eight-second lead over Poland's Kasia Niewiadoma heading into Sunday's final stage, which concludes in Nice.

Vollering launched a decisive attack on the final climb of the 171.9-kilometer eighth stage from Sisteron to Nice, finishing 17 seconds ahead of Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini and Niewiadoma. Niewiadoma had only claimed the yellow jersey the previous day with her victory on Mont Ventoux.

Meanwhile, Antonia Niedermaier of Germany, from Rosenheim, finished 11th, 38 seconds behind the winner. She successfully defended her white jersey for the best young rider and is in a strong fifth place overall. This sets up a potentially dramatic conclusion, reminiscent of the 2024 race where Niewiadoma secured the overall victory by a mere four seconds over Vollering in Alpe d'Huez.

The women's tour continues to deliver suspense until the very last day, a contrast to the men's race where Tadej Pogacar has won the last three editions with significant leads. French defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot withdrew before the eighth stage due to feeling unwell. The Olympic mountain bike champion from Paris 2024 was already 14th overall, nearly 15 minutes behind.