The Happiest Third Place: Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney Wants Yellow After Perfect Tactics

To see her post-stage reaction, it would have been easy to think the beaming Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney had won stage five of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

At the Canyon-SRAM team bus in Belleville-en-Beaujolais, there were hugs with teammates and high fives shared with staff.

The only hint of her near miss third place was summed up by one word exclaimed as she got off the bike: “Almost!”

Niewiadoma’s long-range sprint from 400 meters out nearly caught breakaway companions Marlen Reusser and Demi Vollering napping. She was only passed by for victory 25 meters from the line by the Dutchwoman in a thrilling finish.

Dreaming of yellow

The 2024 race winner radiated contentedness after her last-climb breakaway over Mont Brouilly with Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez). The race’s best rode to the front on a breathless stage.

Niewiadoma-Phinney has moved up to third overall, 1:17 behind the Swiss race leader. It looks like a three-horse race for the Tour de France Femmes ahead of a likely showdown on Mont Ventoux Friday.

The 31-year-old is hungry for another triumph in this race.

“I definitely dream of winning the jersey again. That’s the main goal and whatever comes, as long as we do our best, we know that it’s all good. We came here to fight, and we’ve shown so far we’re fighting. So hopefully we will celebrate big on Sunday.”

No regrets after nearly surprising Vollering

“I’m definitely happy that I gave my best – everything I had. There are no regrets, nothing that I could have or should have done differently,” the Canyon-SRAM captain told media at the finish.

“I’ve been losing sprints in my life so many times. So in the free time [I’ve had], I was always working out all the different scenarios,” she says.

Niewiadoma-Phinney knew from a prior recon in south-eastern France that she would need to go for it from the corner.

It meant she “could try something different instead of waiting for the last 200 meters and getting outsprinted. Everyone knows Demi is one of the fastest in the world, so you have to look for your opportunities elsewhere.”

So, she put her head down and believed in her chances: “I was thinking I cannot look up, I need to keep my head down. Anytime I sprint with my husband [Taylor Phinney], he’s like ‘you gotta stay aero!’”

“Maybe if there was a little bit more luck involved, I would get it. But I’m still happy with how the team rode, having Antonia in the breakaway and then with me in the final, it was both perfect.”

A barrage of attacks and steep hills

Stage five saw constant attacks on the rolling roads around the Beaujolais vineyards. With 2,900 meters of elevation on the menu, an electrifying étape was a feather in the cap of the race organisers.

“The whole day was up and down, plus crazy heat. It was definitely not an easy day in the office,” Niewiadoma-Phinney said.

She admitted to being “a little stressed” when a 19-rider breakaway went away mid-stage, including her teammate Antonia Niedermaier.

“But once FDJ started riding, I could just sit on and Antonia in the front could, so this is quite a perfect situation for us. Then on the second-last climb [the Col de Durbize], I knew it was going to be all-out.”

“And it was. It was not easy. But yeah – bike racing, right?”

While Niewiadoma-Phinney made the running up front on Mont Brouilly, trading blows with Vollering, Niedermaier hung tough in a group behind her leader. The German has moved up to fourth overall and into the white jersey of best young rider.

“Definitely, we can play with that,” she said, talking about tactics.

Niewiadoma-Phinney: It’s tough to defend Tour title

One star who lost out badly in the GC game of snakes and ladders was defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.

She slipped off the back after the attack with 31 kilometers to go on the penultimate climb. She admitted to having ‘no excuses” post-stage.

“It’s really hard to defend it [this race],” Niewiadoma-Phinney said. “Whether it comes from people expecting you to do the same and weird pressure, it’s not an easy one to prepare for.”

“So yeah, I don’t know what’s going on with her or how her preparation went, but it’s something that each year, you have to invest more and more in order to be able to fight for the podium.”

Over the next five days, that battle could go all the way to Nice, even if the feared and famed “Giant of Provence” will have a big say on stage 7.

“I know that maybe Mont Ventoux will create bigger gaps, but then these stages are so hard and anything can happen there. It’s not that we just have a friendly stage in Paris,” Niewiadoma-Phinney said.