Stage 8: Nothing ordinary about today

Wow. What a day.

Stage 8 initially looked like it might be one of the more straightforward days of this Tour. The profile showed a long, gradual climb through the first half of the race, followed by what appeared to be a predominantly downhill and flat run towards Nice.

But profiles can be deceiving.

Zoom in on those final kilometres and suddenly two climbs appeared - neither particularly long, but both coming at exactly the point where attacking on tired legs could make a huge difference.

And today, these decisive climbs changed everything.

Early on, a two-rider breakaway established itself with Loes Adegeest and Maeve Squiban, and built an advantage of more than 6 mins. For a while, it looked as though they might have a genuine chance of making it all the way.

But the second half of the stage wasn't particularly favourable for two riders trying to stay away. Long, open roads and a gradual run towards Nice meant the peloton could travel significantly faster once teams committed to the chase.

First came Liv AlUla Jayco, then AG Insurance-Soudal and eventually FDJ-SUEZ.

SD Worx-Protime occasionally contributed, but never seemed completely convinced about committing everything to a chase.

AG Insurance's intentions were fairly obvious: another opportunity for Kim Le Court.

FDJ's intentions became even more interesting.

They weren't waiting for tomorrow.

With one final, difficult stage around Nice still to come, it would have been easy to assume that the fight for yellow would be saved for Stage 9.

Instead, FDJ-SUEZ decided to attack today.

And once again, we saw just how important a team can be in unlocking the best version of Demi Vollering.

On the first of those late climbs, Juliette Berthet drove a hard pace. Then Célia Gery took over.

It looked very familiar.

Teammate after teammate sacrificing herself, gradually increasing the pressure and creating the perfect launchpad for their leader.

Stage 5 showed us how powerful that can be. Yesterday on Mont Ventoux, Demi didn't have the same support around her and looked far more vulnerable.

Today, the train was back.

And Demi delivered.

When she attacked on the steep final climb, initially only Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and Elisa Longo Borghini could stay with her.

Kasia's determination was incredible to watch.

That yellow jersey clearly meant so much to her. After yesterday's extraordinary victory on Mont Ventoux, she'd spoken about how different this yellow felt - earned through her own attack and her own performance.

And she was prepared to go incredibly deep to keep it.

She buried herself to stay with Demi.

Almost all the way to the top.

Then, agonisingly, with only metres remaining before the road tipped over, Kasia's legs finally gave way.

Demi was gone.

And this is where today's finale became such an interesting contrast to yesterday.

On Ventoux, Kasia looked almost weightless. High cadence, beautifully controlled, seemingly floating up one of cycling's most famous climbs.

Today, the demands were completely different.

Demi has always been very vocal about strength. She doesn't want to chase extreme weight loss. She wants to be healthy, powerful and strong, and she has spoken openly about the gym work she does to maintain that.

Today we saw exactly why.

Once she created that small separation over the climb, there were still fast, flatter kilometres towards the finish.

And that's where her power became decisive.

The initial gap wasn't huge (only a handful of seconds) but Demi committed immediately. Head down, aerodynamic, producing huge power all the way towards Nice.

Behind, Kasia found herself with Elisa Longo Borghini.

And it was painful to watch.

Kasia desperately needed to limit the gap to save yellow, but she simply didn't have the power left to contribute meaningfully to the chase. Elisa ended up doing the majority of the work.

Yesterday's climb highlighted Kasia's incredible preparation and climbing form.

Today's finale highlighted Demi's completeness.

The ability to climb, attack explosively and then continue producing big power on fast roads is an incredibly valuable combination in a Grand Tour.

And today it won Demi more than the stage.

It gave her yellow.

There is, however, another layer to the story.

After the finish, Kasia was visibly frustrated. She felt that, at the bottom of the decisive climb, Célia Gery had impeded her as Demi launched her attack.

From a rider's perspective, even a momentary hesitation can matter enormously in that situation. If you're forced to brake or change your line as the attack happens, you then have to spend additional energy closing the gap rather than immediately benefiting from the slipstream.

Could those few extra watts have been the difference between Kasia surviving the final metres of the climb or losing contact?

We'll never know.

But Kasia clearly felt it influenced the finale, and her frustration afterwards showed just how much was at stake today.

That's what makes this Tour so compelling.

Yesterday Kasia produced the ride of her life on Mont Ventoux and took yellow.

24 hours later, Demi and FDJ-SUEZ found a completely different terrain and turned the race back in their favour.

Neither rider is unbeatable.

Their strengths are different, their teams are playing different cards, and this Tour continues to expose those differences day after day.

And remarkably, the story is still far from over...we still have one stage left.

Tomorrow's finale around Nice is only 99.2kms, but don't let the distance fool you. It's officially classified as a mountain stage, with four ascents around the Col d'Èze area and very little opportunity for anyone to settle into the race.

After everything we've seen this week, I don't expect anyone to wait.

Kasia will start tomorrow with disappointment, anger, emotion and something to prove.

Demi will start in yellow, with the confidence of today's victory and a team that has rediscovered its strength.

And behind them are riders who have absolutely nothing to lose.

What looked like it might be an ordinary day today turned into a battle for yellow.

Tomorrow, nobody will make the mistake of expecting ordinary.

— Ashleigh

Recovery Is Training

Professional cyclists don't get stronger during hard sessions. They get stronger when they recover from them. Easy rides, good sleep, quality nutrition and rest days allow the body to adapt to training. Sometimes the smartest session is the one you don't do.

Takeaway: Rest isn't time off - it's part of the plan.

To celebrate todays ICONIC @letourfemmes stage and Mont Ventoux summit finish, Castelli is joining our party and giving one lucky winner a premium set of cycling kit !!!

Stand a chance to WIN a Set of Premium @castellicycling Kit - their Corretto W Jersey and matching bib!

To enter:

✅️ Sign up / be a member of the Rocacorba Collective
✅️ Engage with our GIVEAWAY post by tagging your #FollowTheFemmes Watch Party in the comments and mentioning your favourite thing about the TDFFaZ 2026 edition so far!
✅️ Make sure you are following @rocacorbacollective and @castellicycling

Thats it! JOIN OUR PARTY in celebrating LES FEMMES 💛💛