Strong daredevil Kerbaol secures first French stage win on day six, Vos (Second) takes green jersey: Niewiadoma retains yellow

After a tough day that may have cost Demi Vollering the overall win—when the Dutch rider crashed in her yellow jersey and lost nearly two minutes—a relatively easier stage was on the agenda. This gave those affected a chance to recover a bit before the crucial final weekend.

While the stage between Remiremont and Morteau wasn't exactly easy, it was less challenging compared to the previous two stages. It seemed well-suited for the day's breakaway specialists, and that proved to be true, as a large breakaway group formed early in the race.

Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) was essentially the initiator of the breakaway, as she pushed hard on the first climb of the day to grab mountain points, shattering the peloton in the process. Among those who joined her were Silvia Persico and Mischa Bredewold, leading to a ten-rider breakaway. However, this attempt was short-lived, and the race reset.

And the action picked up quickly again! Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Human Powered Health) and Iurani Blanco Calbet (Laboral Kutxa-Euskadi) tried their luck together, and twelve other riders soon joined them. Among them were Fem van Empel (Visma | Lease a Bike), Christine Majerus (SD Worx-Protime), and Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek). With fourteen women, it seemed the breakaway was finally established, but soon after, four more riders, including Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike), joined, giving the group a significant boost in quality.

The group of eighteen quickly built a two-minute lead, putting Vos virtually in the yellow jersey (she was in eighteenth place, just under two minutes behind Kasia Niewiadoma). Meanwhile, Ghekiere collected mountain points one after another, further demonstrating her ambition in this race. While the Belgian focused on this task, Vos pushed hard in the breakaway to collect maximum points, successfully closing in on Charlotte Kool, keeping the battle for the green jersey thrilling.

The lead of the breakaway group gradually shrank, though not at a rapid pace. With thirty kilometers to go, the leaders still had more than a minute's advantage over the peloton, where Canyon//SRAM Racing and especially Movistar were doing the heavy lifting. On the penultimate climb, the Roche du Prêtre, the breakaway group completely fell apart due to accelerations. Vos, Van Empel, and Van Dijk were dropped fairly quickly, while Ghekiere managed to keep up, along with Olympic time trial champion Grace Brown. However, the peloton had also closed in significantly, bringing the lead under a minute.

So what was the situation on the Roche du Prêtre? A lot happened there. Niamh Fisher-Black (SD Worx-Protime) and Brown (FDJ-SUEZ) proved to be the strongest. Ghekiere followed ten seconds behind at the summit, with Soraya Paladin (Canyon//SRAM Racing) and Sheyla Gutiérrez (Movistar) just behind her. During the descent, the peloton surprisingly eased up, allowing the leaders to extend their advantage back to over a minute.

As Paladin and Gutiérrez were caught by the pack, a powerful Ghekiere rejoined the two leaders at the front. The trio entered the final twenty kilometers—still facing one more categorized climb—with a 35-second lead. On that final climb, the Côte des Fins, Juliette Labous (dsm-firmenich PostNL) attacked from the peloton, immediately closing the gap to the breakaway. Although the home rider, who had announced beforehand that she wanted to make her presence felt, couldn't escape, the race was on!

Several attacks followed, opening the door at the back of the group. Vos was dropped about 800 meters from the summit, along with many others (including Kristen Faulkner, who was second in the standings). However, these riders were fortunate that the pace eased just before the summit, allowing them to rejoin the group (even Puck Pieterse's small attack didn't have much effect).

Was it a straightforward run to the finish? Of course not! Cédrine Kerbaol (CERATIZIT-WNT) broke away smoothly, with Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck) on her wheel. However, the Dutch rider couldn't maintain the blistering pace of her French breakaway companion in the descent, leaving Kerbaol to solo her way to victory in her home country.

Kerbaol had clearly gone full gas, quickly gaining a twenty-second lead. Twenty seconds became thirty, with just eight kilometers to go! There were several small groups in the heavily reduced peloton, but they couldn't close the gap on the French rider, who executed a flawless descent like a true daredevil.

With six kilometers to go, Kerbaol held a 32-second lead, and there was even a moment when Niewiadoma’s yellow jersey seemed in jeopardy: the French rider was only 47 seconds behind the Pole, with ten bonus seconds up for grabs. At five kilometers, the gap was 39 seconds; at four, it was 35. What a thrilling game of cat and mouse!

There seemed to be no stopping Kerbaol, who still had a 35-second lead with three kilometers left. That had to be enough, right? Absolutely, as Kerbaol powered her way to the stage win. She also made significant gains in the overall standings. Half a minute later, Vos—unsurprisingly—sprinted to second place, putting her well on her way to securing the green jersey.