At the end of a rainy day between the Netherlands and Belgium, the Fenix-Deceuninck rider settled a three-way sprint against the general leader and her Polish rival Katarzyna Niewiadoma on Wednesday.
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A surprise in the rain. The day after taking over the general classification, Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) thought she would be breaking in her new yellow jersey by taking a prestigious victory on the Quai des Ardennes in Liège (Belgium) at the end of the 4th stage of the women’s Tour de France. But she was ultimately dominated in the sprint by her Dutch compatriot Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), on Wednesday 14 August, after a photo finish.
Before winning her first professional road race, the 22-year-old rider – fourth in the Paris Olympics in mountain biking and a cyclo-cross specialist – had managed to keep up when the favourite and her Polish rival Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-Sram), third in the Grande Boucle in 2022 and 2023, stepped up the pace on the final climb of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, located 14 km from the finish.
Stage 4: Puck Pieterse wins in a photo finish
After a high-flying sprint, Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) won the 4th stage of the Tour de France Femmes, her first victory among the pros, ahead of Demi Vollering (SD Worx – Protime), who consolidated her yellow jersey, and the Polish Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing) who tried her luck in the final.
Disinterested in the fight for the bonuses offered four kilometers further on, she was forgotten by the two big names, while Demi Vollering recovered two seconds in front of Katarzyna Niewiadoma. To finally make her speed speak in the final straight of the race, resisting the double winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2021 and 2023) on her playing field, while she was already thinking of offering herself a second bouquet in two days.
To complete her perfect day, the Fenix-Deceuninck rider took the best climber’s jersey after this classic-looking stage. LThe first four stages of this 2024 Tour have all been won by Dutch women.
Despite the disappointment of this second place, Demi Vollering keeps her leader’s jersey and even increases her lead. She now has a 22″ lead over Puck Pieterse, her new runner-up, and 34″ over Katarzyna Niewiadoma. Dropped in the last difficulty, the French Juliette Labous (dsm-Firmenich-PostNL) conceded 29″. “I’m a little disappointed, I missed a little bit in the Roche-aux-Faucons. I felt good, but when they accelerated on the summit, I missed a little bit”reacted the one who is now fifth overall, 56″ behind Demi Vollering.
In the same group, Evita Muzic (FDJ-Suez) also relegated, as did Cédrine Kerbaol. (Ceratizit-WNT). They are respectively 13th (at 1’21”) and 9th (at 1’04”) in the general classification before the first arrival in France, in Amnéville (Moselle), Thursday August 15.