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Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney was prepared for Mont Ventoux. No one was prepared for Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney. The Canyon-SRAM leader took flight on the Bald Mountain to take her first ever stage win at the Tour de France Femmes and step into the yellow jersey, putting her on the cusp of becoming the first rider in the race’s short history to win twice.

During the pre-race press conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, Niewiadoma-Phinney staked her claim, letting her intentions of breaking the legendary climb’s QoM be known very publicly.

‘It’s definitely a very iconic climb,’ she said. ‘It’s going to be hard, it’s a long one, and I don’t believe anyone will be waiting for the final kilometres to make a decisive move.’

She certainly was not waiting.

Kicking away with 9.2km of the monster ascent left with the road still cutting a line through the forest, Marlen Reusser and Demi Vollering didn’t respond. At first the gap stuck around 15 seconds and yo-yoed as the top two riders on GC switched between chasing, attacking and looking at each other.

It was the perfect situation for Niewiadoma-Phinney as the pair behind became entangled in scenario reminiscent of Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz at the 2025 Giro d’Italia. One in the leader’s jersey, the other on the podium, and both refusing to be the one to reel in the attacker.

The gap began to grow.

When the stage began in La Voulte-sur-Rhône in sweltering southern France, Niewiadoma-Phinney sat in third overall, 1min 17sec behind race leader Reusser and 1min 05sec behind Vollering. The expectation was that this podium was all but sealed, yet the order was still to be determined. By the time exhausted legs crossed the finish line atop the most famous mountain in cycling in dribs and drabs, the Polish rider had overhauled the deficit and more. She now sits in the maillot jaune with two stages to go, 15 seconds ahead of Vollering, who put in a spirited final kilometre to claw back some time, and 39 seconds ahead of Reusser.

This was a quintessential Niewiadoma-Phinney day. She does not win on the road often, but when the victories arrive, they are monumental. She only wins big. Somehow this was her first ever stage win in both the Tour and this season, having had a multitude of second places in a strong Classics campaign.

‘I never really liked chasing victories for the sake of winning,’ she said upon reminder that, prior to today, she was the only Tour winner yet to win a stage, ‘I chase for the sake of this beautiful feeling… a pure joy of riding, of feeling like a kid.’

For more on the new maillot jaune, read our profile of Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney.