Justine Ghekiere Wins Stage and Secures Polka Dot Jersey in the Tour de France Femmes

Saturday marked not only the start of the mountain stages but also the penultimate day of the Tour de France Femmes. The riders of AG Insurance – Soudal faced a tough challenge: 166,4 kilometers from Champagnole to Le Grand-Bornand, with several challenging climbs on the agenda. Justine Ghekiere started the day in the polka dot jersey, determined to defend it.

Unfortunately, the stage also had a tough start. Anya Louw suffered an early crash in the race, with just five kilometers on the clock, and sadly had to abandon the race. She will undergo further examination to assess the extent of her injury.

The course challenged the riders with impressive climbs such as the Col de la Croix de la Serra (first category) and the Col de Saint-Jean-de-Sixt and Grand Bornand - Montée de Chinaillon (both second category). With 86 kilometers to go, Justine and Julie Van De Velde launched an attack. Together with four other riders, including Marianne Vos, they built a lead of approximately five minutes.

With 13 kilometers remaining, Julie, after a long battle, had to let go of the group. Justine decided to continue solo and launched her attack towards the finish. She claimed the maximum mountain points on both the Col de Saint-Jean-de-Sixt and the Grand Bornand - Montée de Chinaillon, crowning her efforts with a glorious victory.

Justine Ghekiere achieved her first World Tour victory, securing AG Insurance – Soudal’s first stage win in the Tour de France Femmes and the team’s tenth win of the season. This makes her the second Belgian rider to claim a stage victory in the Tour. In doing so, she joins the ranks of the Wolfpack’s successes, who triumph once again in Le Grand-Bornand, where Alaphilippe won in 2018, now followed by Justine in the same race.

Julie Van De Velde was awarded the combativity prize and stood on the podium of the Tour de France Femmes for the second time, having previously won the bonus sprint in the fifth stage.

“It’s still hard to grasp, it’s truly overwhelming and leaves me almost speechless. This is without a doubt the most beautiful victory of my career. We went into this stage with a solid plan to defend the polka dot jersey, and to finish it off like this, with both the stage win and the polka dot jersey, is just incredible. Today was absolutely a team effort. What Julie did was incredible; this victory is largely thanks to her. And then Sarah, who protected me so well in the final kilometers, it's really fantastic”, Justine said after her victory.