The women’s Tour de France continued this Friday with the sixth stage, 159.2 km long, between Remiremont and Morteau.
Belgian Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance – Soudal), New Zealander Niamh Fisher-Black (Team SD Worx – Protime) and Australian Grace Brown (FDJ – Suez) fought a tight battle in the last 20 kilometres.
However, it was Frenchwoman Cédrine Kerbaol of the CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling Team who crossed the finish line first, going all out by attacking just after the last climb of the day.
Cheered by the roar of the crowd, Kerbaol became the first Frenchwoman to win a stage of the Tour de France since the event began in 2022. It is also the very first victory of her career in the World Tour circuit.
For her part, the Dutchwoman Marianne Vos (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) also played her cards well to finish in second place, 21 seconds behind the big winner just ahead of Olivia Baril’s (Movistar) teammate, the German Liane Lippert.
Simone Boilard (Uno-X Mobility) obtained the best result of the day among the Quebecers, finishing 39the stage rank. As for her, Abitibi native Olivia Baril crossed the finish line at 53e rank.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MOVISTAR
Olivia Barrel
For her part, Magdeleine Vallières-Mills was not part of this sixth stage, having had to end her Tour after a fall on Thursday.
With today’s victory, Kerbaol climbs to second place in the provisional general classification, 16 seconds behind the leader, Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma. The riders will take part in the seventh stage tomorrow, 166.4 km long, between Champagnole and Le Grand-Borand.
Hugo Houle leads Jake Stewart to a top 5
On the Tour of Poland side, the fifth event was won by the Belgian Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), just ahead of his compatriot Jordi Meeus (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) and the Dutch Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike).
Quebecer Hugo Houle, part of the Israel – Premier Tech team, fulfilled his mandate well by protecting his teammates, including Briton Jake Stewart who finished fifth in the event.
“The day went very well. It was a classic sprint stage. It was still very fast even though there were only three riders in the breakaway. It was also a fairly technical finale with several turns,” mentioned the cyclist who narrowly avoided a fall in the last 5 kilometers.
Houle crossed the finish line at 15e rank while his teammate Guillaume Boivin finished 67the of this test.
Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) is still at the top of the provisional general classification with a 19-second lead over Italy’s Diego Ulissi (UAE Emirates). The Tour of Poland will conclude on Sunday in Krakow.