Justine Ghekiere bursts clear to win Tour de France Femmes stage seven – as it happened

Jeremy Whittle is our reporter on the scene at Le Grand Bornand:

And that concludes our Tour de France Femmes coverage for today. Thank you for reading and emailing in. We’ll be back for more tomorrow and the concluding stage eight. Will Niewiadoma finish it off? Bye for now.

Kasia Niewiadoma, the race leader, speaks to Iris Slappendel of Eurosport about how her day went.

“I felt very good. At first, at the beginning of the [final] climb, I was like: ‘Wow, we’ve been riding for so long’. Once you get in race mode, you forget about everything, I was able to dial in.

“I am super happy I felt that way because of all the training rides I did with my coach. All the work we did on endurance has paid off.

“To be honest, I was trying not to focus on Demi … there’s a lot of talk about Demi and I, but the whole peloton consists of a lot of talented riders. I felt like Demi was following me for the most part.

“I think she confused part of the [final] climb. She attacked during the descent. Then I could feel her confusion … I tried to stay in the front so I could react quick. If she wanted to stay on my wheel, c’est la vie.

“I think four [bonus] seconds [for Vollering] is nothing. On Alpe d’Huez I think the real battle will start.

“I am looking forward to crossing the Alpe d’Huez finish line and celebrating with whatever we are going to achieve.”

Points classification after stage seven

Top 10 on GC after stage seven

Top five on stage seven:

1. Ghekiere
2. Squiban +1min 15sec
3. Vollering +1min 23sec
4. Niewiadoma +1min 23sec
5. Muzic +1min 27sec

On Eurosport, Niamh Fisher-Black (SD Worx Protime) is asked if the stage went as expected: “Yes and no. I didn’t expect a group to get such a big gap. We were not prepared to ride straight away. And I think Canyon took a little while to do that. We were focused on going into the final climb and seeing how Demi feels, and maybe chip away at that gap … but time gaps were difficult to make [on the final climb].

“It was not our responsibility [to close the gap] – we weren’t thinking about the stage, we were thinking about GC. In the end … all the teams wanted something out of today, and in the end everybody put a rider in [to work] … and the gap comes down.”

Is it a gamble to leave it to the final stage? “It’s a gamble. Cycling is always a gamble … it [Vollering victory] is possible. We’ve just got to keep that in our minds. Big time gaps will be made. We won’t be talking about a minute [gap] at the end of the tour, that’s for sure.”

“I really have no words,” says Ghekiere, before having some words, as is customary.

“It’s really … I think I’m dreaming … yeah, it’s crazy.

“I really want to thank my team. The whole team in the beginning was in the front, and protected me really good, and helped to get me in the break.

“And especially, a really, really big thanks to Julie [Van de Velde]. She rode a really strong race, she did everything for me to get me to the climb without using energy.

“When I took the last points [on the penultimate climb], then I was really dead, and I thought – I’ll just go at my own pace. I could stay away – I can’t believe it, I really can’t believe it.

“That will be a big present to ride the bike with the polka dots [planned by the team tomorrow] …

“I’m really looking forward to riding the last stage of this tour, in this skinsuit, and with the win already: it’s just a dream.”

The AG Insurance–Soudal–Quick-Step rider, Ghekiere, zipped up her polka-dot jersey, put her hands out and then held her head in disbelief as she crossed the line.

It was an absolutely monster ride by her teammate Van de Velde in the break, too. Soon after the live pictures started Ghekiere pointed at her teammate and made it clear to the TV viewers how much work she was putting in.

Ghekiere collapses on the floor in exhaustion and joy. She is crying tears of happiness. A remarkable performance.

Maëva Squiban takes second. That was a huge effort. Vollering finishes third having come past Niewiadoma.

Niewiadoma and Vollering are marking each other to the line. It was the Polish rider who attacked and Vollering was able to follow.

Justine Ghekiere wins stage seven!

500m to go: Attacks behind. Niewiadoma attacks under the flamme rouge! Vollering follows. Pieterse cannot respond.

1km to go: Ghekiere can almost taste this stage win. Phenomenal ride. She still has 1min 11sec. She grimaces with effort as she continues to crank the pedals around, keeping a good cadence. She is nearly there!

1.8km to go: Squiban has clipped off alone to chase the leader but she is 1min 12 sec behind. Vos and Martin are caught up the group of favourites.

2.3km to go: Niewiadoma now puts in a big acceleration! She closes the gap to Rooijakkers. The helicopter gives us some picturesque shots of the winding road up the mountain to Le Grand-Bornand.

2.5km to go: Vos, Martin and Squiban are together and are the closest chasers to our leader.

3km to go: Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix–Deceuninck) storms out of the big front group! A punishing attack and no one is willing or able to react.

Ghekiere powers on alone up front. This is a stunning ride and she still has 1min 30sec!

4km to go: Vollering loses a teammate as Niamh Fisher-Black is dropped.

Ghekiere shows the first signs of fatigue. She is grinding up a steep section and her souplesse is suffering a touch as she sways from side to side in the saddle.

5km to go: Ghekiere has 1min 12sec on her closest chasers and 2min 13 sec on the main group.

Vos and Martin are together behind Ghekiere. Maeve Squiban (Arkea B&B Hotels) has attacked out of the front group and is now with Van de Velde who was dropped a while back.

5.5km to go: Ghekiere was 22nd and 3min down before today. So she is going to be firmly in the mix for GC if she can hold this gap.

6km to go: The group of GC favourites hits the final climb. Up front, Ghekiere has a minute’s advantage.

7km to go: Ghekiere is riding through a massive crowd. Which is good to see. Especially as they are at the side of the road and not in the middle of it.

The defending champion, Vollering, attacks behind! Niewiadoma covers the move.

8km to go: Ghekiere isn’t satisfied with the points on the penultimate climb. She is powering ahead and aiming for the stage win. The gap between her and the main bunch is 2min 23sec.

9.5km to go: Ghekiere (AG Insurance–Soudal–Quick-Step) nabs a further five points as she reaches the QOM point on the Col de Saint-Jean-de-Sixt alone.

11km to go: In terms of Niewiadoma’s GC hopes this is looking good. Her Canyon-SRAM team have had plenty of help to get the breakaway back and now it will be a question of who has the best legs on the final climb. The Polish rider should have plenty left in the tank to battle her closest rivals.

12km to go: Ghekiere has 30sec on the ever-diminishing break. The gap between Ghekiere and the peloton is 2min 30sec.

12.5km to go: Ghekiere has attacked her breakaway colleagues. She is out front alone and is going all-out for the points atop the Col de Saint-Jean-de-Sixt.

13km to go: Van de Velde pops.

14km to go: Julie Van de Velde has put in an absolutely monster ride. She is escorting her teammate Ghekiere to the top of the second-last climb of the day. Will she sit up for a rest after that? You’d suspect so.

14.5km to go: Ruth Edwards is now dropped, and thus the least aesthetically-pleasing jersey in the breakaway is gone.

The gap is down to 3min.

15.5km to go: The gap is 3min 28sec now. And falling fast …

Sarah Roy (Cofidis) is dropped.

18km to go: “It’s nothing crazy in terms of gradient,” says Eurosport’s reporter Manon Lloyd at the finish line, having just driven the final two climbs. “But definitely long enough to create some gaps.”

I guess that lack of steepness might play into the hands of the breakaway if they can co-operate well?

18.5km go to: The gap is 4min. The road hasn’t really kicked up for the Col de Saint-Jean-de-Sixt just yet.

20km to go: “This is where we say it’s a bit like chess on wheels,” says Dani Christmas on commentary of the tactics of all these teams and riders. “There are a million different factors that go into it.”

21km to go: “I don’t think they are going to make it,” Slappendel says of the six-rider breakaway. “Once the peloton starts chasing the gap will fall really quickly.”

Judging by the facial expressions on the riders working on the front of the bunch, safe to say they are chasing already.

The gap is down slightly to 4min 14sec.

23km to go: Ghekiere is the second-best placed on GC in this front group and she is 3min down on the race leader Niewiadoma.

Vollering is pictured in the bunch looking ultra-focused and cool. The riders are all to aware they’ve got some painful climbing coming up very shortly.

24km to go: A good shot below from the start area courtesy of Fenix-Deceuninck’s Twitter.

Now, the peloton is split into two large groups on either side of a wide road on the valley floor. They are powering on to the foot of the Col de Saint-Jean-de-Sixt.