Ferrand-Prévôt takes women's TdF on first try

CHATEL, France -- French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt won the women's Tour de France successful her archetypal effort Sunday, launching an onslaught to clinch the last signifier and summation her overnight lead.

It gave Ferrand-Prévôt a resounding victory. She finished 3 minutes, 42 seconds up of 2023 champion Demi Vollering of the Netherlands and 4:09 wide of defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma of Poland.

There was small of the play of past year's last day, which produced a four-second winning borderline for the narrowest triumph successful the past of the women's and men's races.

The 33-year-old Ferrand-Prévôt had enactment herself mostly successful power by winning Saturday's eighth and penultimate signifier with an audacious solo breakaway connected the last climb. That gave her an overnight pb of 2:37 implicit Australian rider Sarah Gigante and 3:18 implicit Vollering.

Sunday's ninth signifier from Praz-sur-Arly to Châtel was a 77-mile trek featuring 3 large upland climbs. But Ferrand-Prévôt did not look immoderate large attacks and alternatively launched 1 of her ain with little than 4 miles left.

The crowds cheered her each the mode to the decorativeness line, and moments later, the tears flowed arsenic she laic connected her back, exhausted but elated.

Vollering was 20 seconds down successful 2nd place, and Niewiadoma followed successful 3rd spot arsenic they sprinted to the line.

Earlier, Ferrand-Prévôt was with Gigante and a fewer others erstwhile they tackled the mammoth ascent up Col de Joux Plane -- a 7.2-mile grind with a gradient of 8.5%.

Gigante is known to person occupation descending astatine velocity and was dropped connected the agelong downhill. She could not marque the clip up, particularly with nary teammates to assistance her, and mislaid her podium spot, finishing sixth overall.

Having won Olympic golden successful upland biking and conquered the cobblestones of the Paris-Roubaix classic, Ferrand-Prévôt added different enactment to her glittering résumé with a Tour victory.