A row about “childish” tactics broke out between title rivals after the penultimate stage of the Tour de France Femmes.
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney expressed frustration after Saturday’s eighth stage, when she lost the yellow jersey to Demi Vollering, who then went on to claim her second Tour title on Sunday.
The incident happened on the final climb of the 106.8-mile mountain stage from Sisteron to Nice, with Niewiadoma-Phinney accusing one of Vollering’s team-mates of forcing her towards the kerb with about 6.5km to go.
She confronted Celia Gery at the end of the stage as the latter spoke to the media, saying: “Why did you do that? Why did you close me to the barriers? Was it part of the plan?”
🤬 An angry Kasia Niewiadoma confronts Célia Gery and FDJ United-SUEZ after pushing her in the barriers before final climb!
🎥 @WielerFlitspic.twitter.com/FQM57U6VOL
— Wielerflits.nl (@WielerFlits) August 8, 2026
Niewiadoma-Phinney, of Poland, said later: “I was super annoyed at the bottom of the climb because Gery blocked me on purpose into the barriers so I had to stop pedalling.
“So I feel like if they want to compete, they should compete fair play and not block to me the barriers because it’s so childish. Honestly I lost a lot of respect for them because of that.”
Having seen the French TV footage, Kasia Niewiadoma was right. 🤷♂️
FDJ-Suez’ strategy was clearly for Vollering (P2) and Gery (P1) to switch positions before the corner, to have Gery slow down afterwards to open up a gap in front of her, forcing Niewiadoma to pass Gery first, and…
— Benji Naesen (@BenjiNaesen) August 8, 2026
It was on the same climb that Vollering delivered the decisive move. She accelerated clear of Niewiadoma-Phinney and Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini on the steep Chemin de l’Arieta climb before extending her advantage on the descent into Nice.
Gery’s team, FDJ United, insisted she had done nothing wrong. Lars Boom, the directeur sportif, told The Athletic: “I spoke with Celia about it. She didn’t block her, she just went back onto Demi’s wheel.”
Niewiadoma-Phinney eventually finished third behind Vollering and Longo Borghini. With the stage win, Vollering moved eight seconds clear of Niewiadoma-Phinney in the general classification going into Sunday’s finale in Nice.
Two years ago, Vollering missed out on Tour victory after finishing four seconds behind Niewiadoma-Phinney on the last stage. She made amends on the 99.2km ninth stage this time. It consisted of four loops around the city and she finished 1min 18sec ahead of her rival.
Vollering made her move on the fourth and final ascent of the Col d’Èze, breaking clear of Niewiadoma-Phinney 600 metres from the summit and pulling away to win the stage and add a second title to her 2023 triumph.
Sealed with a stage win! 🔥 Demi Vollering attacked on the Col d’Èze before riding solo for the final 16km to win Stage 9 and seal the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in style 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/RTqoQasiOD
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) August 9, 2026
She raised her fists, tapped her helmet and made a heart sign as she approached the finish line on the Promenade des Anglais before hoisting her bike above her head in celebration.
