French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt wins women's Tour de France at her first attempt
It gave Ferrand-Prévôt a resounding victory. She finished 3 minutes, 42 seconds ahead of 2023 champion Demi Vollering of the Netherlands and 4:09 clear of defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma of Poland.
There was little of the drama of last year's final day, which produced a four-second winning margin for the narrowest victory in the history of the women's and men's races.
The 33-year-old Ferrand-Prévôt had put herself largely in control by winning Saturday's eighth and penultimate stage with an audacious solo breakaway on the last climb. That gave her an overnight lead of 2:37 seconds over Australian rider Sarah Gigante and 3:18 over Vollering.
Sunday's ninth stage from Praz-sur-Arly to Châtel was a 124-kilometer (77-mile) trek featuring three big mountain climbs.
But Ferrand-Prévôt did not face any big attacks and instead launched one of her own with 6 kilometers left.
The crowds cheered her all the way to the finish line and, moments later, the tears flowed as she lay on her back, exhausted but elated.
Vollering was 20 seconds behind in second place and Niewiadoma followed in third place as they sprinted to the line.
Earlier, Ferrand-Prévôt was with Gigante and a few others when they tackled the mammoth climb up Col de Joux Plane — an 11.6-kilometer grind with a gradient of 8.5%.
Gigante is known to have trouble descending at speed and was dropped on the long downhill. She could not make the time up, especially with no teammates to help her, and lost her podium spot, finishing sixth overall.
Having won Olympic gold in mountain biking and conquered the cobblestones of the Paris-Roubaix classic, Ferrand-Prévôt added another line to her glittering resumé with a Tour victory.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
2 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Kepler, Marsh homer, Walker pitches 6 shutout innings as Phillies top Orioles 5-0
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Max Kepler and Brandon Marsh homered and Taijuan Walker pitched six scoreless innings as the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-0 on Tuesday night and extended their winning streak to three games. Marsh opened the scoring in the second inning with an RBI double that scored Nick Castellanos and added a solo homer, his third in seven games, in the eighth inning. Marsh had gone 18 straight games without going deep.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Kepler, Marsh homer, Walker pitches 6 shutout innings as Phillies top Orioles 5-0
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Max Kepler and Brandon Marsh homered and Taijuan Walker pitched six scoreless innings as the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-0 on Tuesday night and extended their winning streak to three games. Marsh opened the scoring in the second inning with an RBI double that scored Nick Castellanos and added a solo homer, his third in seven games, in the eighth inning. Marsh had gone 18 straight games without going deep. Kepler hit a two-run homer in the second inning, his 12th of the season, and Bryson Stott hit an RBI triple off the top of the wall in right field to score Kepler in the fourth. Walker (4-5) allowed four hits and struck out four without a walk in six innings. Dean Kremer (8-8) took the loss for the Orioles after allowing eight hits and four earned runs in six innings. Kremer holds a career .777 win percentage (7-2) against the NL East, the best mark in Orioles franchise history against the division, ahead of Mike Mussina (.667, 8-4). Jordan Westburg had two hits for the Orioles, who lost for the fifth time in six games. Baltimore saw its streak of seven straight games with a homer against Philadelphia, dating to July 24, 2023, come to an end. Key moment Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Kepler's two-run home run in the second inning. Key stat Castellanos extended his hitting streak to six games with a single in the second inning. He advanced to second on a balk and scored on Marsh's double to extend his run-scoring streak to seven games. Up next The Orioles will send LHP Trevor Rogers (4-2, 1.44 ERA) against Phillies LHP Ranger Suárez (8-4, 2.68 ERA) on Wednesday in the series finale.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Altuve and Diaz homer to lead the Astros over the Marlins 7-3
MIAMI (AP) — Jose Altuve and Yainer Diaz homered to help the Houston Astros beat the Miami Marlins 7-3 on Tuesday night. Jeremy Peña drove in two runs as AL West-leading Houston won its second straight game. AJ Blubaugh (1-1) pitched five innings of two-run ball in his first career win. Altuve hit a two-run drive off Cal Quantrill in the first for his 19th homer. Peña made it 4-1 with a two-run triple in the fourth, and Diaz hit a three-run shot in the fifth for his 16th homer. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Quantrill (4-9) permitted seven runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. Jakob Marsee hit his first career homer for Miami, and Eric Wagaman also went deep. The Marlins had won five in a row before Monday's 8-2 loss in the series opener.
